Bibliography: Herringshaw, Thomas William. Herringshaw's Encyclopedia of American Biography of the Nineteenth Century, Chicago, IL:American Publishers' Association, 1902. page 70 BAKER, LAFAYETTE C., patriot, author, was born Oct. 13, 1826, in Stafford, N. Y. He was chief of the United States secret service during the civil war; and in 1862 the bureau became attached to the war department, and he was commissioned colonel, and subsequently brigadier-general. He was the author of a work entitled History of the United States Secret Service. He died July 2, 1868, in Philadelphia, Pa.