A Time of Need
1882 - 1891
In February of 1882, Father Baker was transferred back to Limestone Hill as pastor of St. Patrick's parish and the superintendent of St. John's Protectory and St. Joseph's Orphanage. He had been in his new position for only a few days when a number of angry creditors descended on the middle-aged priest.
The group informed Father Baker of the $56,000 debt that the Institutions had amassed and demanded immediate payment. The business-savvy priest calmly assured all of the men that they would receive their money and asked them to engage in a trusting relationship built on his good name as a businessman in his early days. The creditors left, satisfied that Father Baker would hold to his word. He then emptied the remains of his personal savings to pay off some of the debt, while setting up verbal agreements to clear the rest. Although the crisis had been averted, Father Baker knew the financial situation was still quite bleak.
One night, while in prayer, the young priest came up with the idea of the Association of Our Lady of Victory. He wrote postmasters all over the country to obtain names and addresses of Catholic women in their towns, and, once he had a good-sized list, he wrote to these women asking them to help him care for his dependent and helpless boys by joining the Association for 25 cents a year. Very quickly, the idea caught on, and in little time, all of the creditors were paid in full. Due to the graciousness of the donors, the Limestone Hill Institutions, once in dire financial trouble, now looked to expand. And, on June 26, 1889, a beautiful new chapel and an enlarged protectory building were dedicated.
"Father Baker's Folly"
In the late 1880s, Buffalo was beginning to harness the power of natural gas. Pools of this efficient and clean resource were being found in several sites by local drillers and the idea of not having to pay any more lighting and heating bills appealed much to Father Baker. After persuading the Bishop of Buffalo to give him a $2,000 donation, the humble priest gathered a group of Pennsylvania drillers to Limestone Hill. At the conclusion of afternoon Mass, Father Baker led a procession of parishioners down his usual "prayer path". When he was done walking, Father Baker took out a small statue of Our Lady of Victory, reached down and buried it in the ground. He instructed the drillers to begin their work in that very spot. Hesitantly, and with much skepticism, the workmen began their task.
After many weeks without any success, the project was dubbed "Father Baker's Folly" by local newspapers and townspeople. One day, the project's foreman came to the humble priest and pleaded with him to give up the search. Most natural gas wells were found at a depth of 600 feet, he explained, while the Limestone Hill drillers had already passed the 800-, 900-, and 1,000-foot marks. Undaunted, Father Baker told the man to have faith and continue on.
Finally, on August 22, 1891, at the unheard-of depth of 1,137 feet, gas was struck. Victoria Well, as Father Baker had named it, spouted gas and flame into the air for many hours, causing a most spectacular scene. No one was more pleased than Father Baker, for his patroness had smiled on him once more. To this day, more than 100 years later, Victoria Well continues to provide natural gas to some of the buildings that make up the OLV Institutions -- an incredible feat considering that most natural gas wells dry up after just a few years.
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