Stone Gardens: Hero or villian? - The controversial tenure of Madison County Sheriff Ralph Francis Baker
- Dennis McCaslin
- 3 hours ago
- 4 min read
Ralph Francis Baker entered the world on September 1 1938 at Fleming Creek in Madison Count. He was the only son of William McKinley Baker a former vaudeville musician who played steel guitar with the Weaver Brothers and Evangeline Verruchi Baker the 1927 queen of the Tontitown Grape Festival.
His father later ran a store and cafe along Arkansas Highway 23 selling ice cream ammunitio, bait, cheeseburgers , and fries. That store became the site of William Baker's suicide by shotgun in 1977 followed soon after by a fire that destroyed the building.
Baker grew up near St. Paul with passions for hunting and bare knuckle fighting on back roads. He married Noreta Burrell on March 3 1956. The couple raised two daughters Billie and Patricia both of whom settled in Huntsville. Baker and Noreta together with other family members acquired more than 2300 acres of land across Madison, Washington , and Franklin counties between 1967 and 1997.
They paid roughly $484, 250 in cash for most of it with only one small mortgage. Tax records showed Baker personally owned at least 1450 acres along with a black 1991 Corvette bearing the plate Booger1 , a Honda Acura, two Harley Davidson motorcycles ,five trucks and nineteen cows.
Baker joined the Madison County Sheriff's Department and served a total of 27 years. He became sheriff in 1973 and held the office until his death, a span of 25 years that tied for the longest tenure in Arkansas at the time.
He graduated from the Police Academy in Camden in 1971. He sat on the board of the Arkansas Sheriff's Association belonged to the National Sheriff's Association and supported the Sheriff's Boys and Girls Ranches. During his time in office the department earned a reputation for reliability.
Residents put bumper stickers on their vehicles that read "Ralph Cares".
Baker counted President Bill Clinton among his early political supporters. At Baker's funeral a letter from the president and first lady arrived. It read M"ay Ralph live on in your good memories of him".
In 1994 Baker responded to the murder of Billie Jean Phillips a 35 year old convenience store owner in Alabam whom he called a close friend. He was out celebrating the opening day of squirrel season when the call came. From his radio he contacted Arkansas State Police investigator Doug Fogley in a frantic exchange noting that prosecutor Howard Rusty Cain Jr. had been involved with Phillips.
Baker expressed worry about keeping Cain away from the crime scene. Over the following hours Baker and Fogley allowed Cain repeated access to the scene despite later reports of possible blood on Cain's shoes. A special prosecutor and former FBI agent later took over the case and clashed with Baker over leads involving local drug traffic.
They resigned after Baker pushed for their removal. Notes from the investigation reached the FBI. The Phillips murder remains unsolved.
Public allegations later surfaced that Baker protected large scale marijuana operations. Author David Mac McElyea detailed in the book 'When Money Grew on Trees' how Baker shielded his multimillion dollar grow in the 1980s. An Arkansas Democrat Gazette investigation in 1997 examined Baker's land deals his reluctance to pursue certain meth suspects and claims that the FBI had opened a corruption probe into him.
The series reported that many locals expressed fear of speaking openly about the sheriff.
Baker told friends the articles damaged his career and contributed to periods of depression.
On January 5 1998 Baker drove his patrol cruiser in the early morning hours near St. Paul while investigating a stolen vehicle report. Heavy rains had flooded the area. He attempted to cross a low- water bridge on Baldwin Creek Road.
The vehicle was swept sideways off the bridge, overturned, and crushed at the top. It tumbled downstream and settled upside down. Baker remained inside still wearing his seatbelt.
The force of the current pinned him against the wreckage even after the windshield broke out and debris filled the interior. His body was recovered from the White River.
News of the drowning spread quickly. Some residents refused to accept the official account. They argued that a veteran lawman with decades of experience would never risk such a crossing in those conditions. Rumors circulated that Baker had faked his death to escape mounting pressure from the drug investigations and the Democrat Gazette reports.
The stories likened him to Elvis Presley whose legend persisted beyond the grave. A 1991 film titled Frame Up featured a sheriff character sharing Baker's name and exploring themes of corruption though the script was not a direct biography.
Baker's funeral took place on January 9 1998 at the St. Paul High School gymnasium. An estimated 2000 people attended. Law enforcement officers arrived from across Arkansas. The procession moved through Huntsville where hundreds of school children and friends lined the streets in silence as the hearse passed.
Reverend Roy Cain delivered the service and told the crowd not to waste time looking for someone like Ralph because they do not exist. A letter from President and Mrs. Bill Clinton was read aloud.Baker was buried in Brashears Cemetery in Saint Paul.
Seven Madison County deputies fired a 21-gun salute over the grave. His headstone shares space with Noreta. The front displays a sheriff's badge engraving reading " Ralph Baker - Sheriff Madison County " along with the couple's 1956 marriage date. The reverse carries the Bible verse from Isaiah 40 31: "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as eagles".
In June 2001 Baker's daughter Billie Baker Whorton posted a message on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund website addressed directly to her father.
She wrote that her son Jacob Baker Whorton Baker's oldest grandson had just graduated from the Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy in Springdale with honors.
Jacob won first place in sharpshooting and received the same trophy Baker had earned years earlier at the same academy. Billie noted the trophies would be placed together. She closed with the words "We miss you so much and your number one grandson Jacob Baker Whorton will do you proud. Rest in peace sweet Daddy we miss you. Love your daughter Billie.'
The grave in Brashears Cemetery stands as a focal point for the conflicting accounts of Baker's service. Local history records both the department he built and the questions that followed him into the river that January morning.
