Susanna Baker (maiden name: Walker) was born around 1804 in County Down in present-day Northern Ireland. She married John Baker around 1827, and they had at least five children: Samuel, born around 1828; Thomas, born on December 30, 1832; Joseph, born around 1839; Elizabeth, born on June 2, 1842; and James, born around 1846. The family immigrated to America aboard the brig Amelia in 1831, and by that fall, they had settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
They lived in Pittsburgh until around 1842, when they moved to Findley, Pennsylvania. Her husband worked as a farmer, and by 1850, they owned $790 of real estate. Her husband died in 1857. By 1860, she owned $1,800 of real estate and $600 of personal property, and a decade later, her wealth had grown to $5,000 of real estate and $1,025 of personal property. By 1880, she was living in her daughter Elizabeth’s household in Findley. She applied for a parents’ pension in August 1883 and eventually secured one. She died on February 22, 1887.