The Embree Diaries

Henrietta Baker married John W. Embree in 1852 in Cumberland County, Kentucky. They soon departed Kentucky and emigrated to Texas, where John’s elder brother, Elisha, had established himself in the newly formed Bell County.

Henrietta’s parents, John M. Baker and Mary G. Baker, moved from Kentucky by 1859 and established their home in Red River County, where John Baker’s brother, Algernon S. Baker and wife, Mariah, had moved between 1844 and 1848.

Henrietta maintained some of her diary as if it were a series of letters, intending to delivery the diary to her family after completion. Her diary correspondence with her sister, Jennie, indicates the close nature of her relationship to her family. Henrietta’s younger sister, Cat, also called “Cattie”, “Kat”, “Kate” as well as “Puss”, also plays an important role in Henrietta’s life and diary.

Kate eventually married R. C. Miller, John Embree’s business partner. Jennie Baker married Russell L. Moore on October 17, 1861. Both sisters died in 1865. Kate Miller is buried in the South Belton Cemetery, Belton and Jennie Baker Moore is buried in Old Shamrock Cemetery in Red River County.

Henrietta’s brothers, Valentine and Virgil, served in the Confederate Army. Valentine died June 13, 1862. Virgil died in 1863. She also had 3 other brothers, Louis, George, and Robert.