Dorsey Franklin (D. F.) Baker was born to Edwin Franklin Baker and Sarah Anne Miller Baker on August 23, 1880 in Walla Walla, Washington, and named for his paternal grandfather, Dorsey Syng Baker. One of seven children, he spent his childhood in Walla Walla and Southern California, specifically Pasadena and Ojai. The family returned to Walla Walla in the 1890s when Edwin went into business with his brothers. Dorsey returned to Southern California to attend Pomona College, from which he graduated cum laude with a legum baccalaureus degree in 1901. He then attended Harvard Law school and graduated in 1905. He married Edna Lucille Moore in Moscow, Idaho on May 8, 1907, and the couple moved to Walla Walla. They bore children Charles Franklin, Edna B., Edwin M., Marion, and Sarah Lucille between 1909 and 1922. According to the 1910 census, Baker was a banker for the family bank, Baker-Boyer National bank. By 1920 he was listed as an agent for the family Farm Loan Company, where he presumably spent the remainder of his career. He was also an active member of the Whitman College Board of Trustees, and was responsible for many of their financial records during his tenure. He died on December 15, 1961 at the age of 81.