First found in Forfarshire, where they held a family seat from ancient times. Agnes Bakester of Yorkshire was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379.

In the 20th century, the ancestors of many of those Boernician-Scottish people still populate North America. They distributed themselves on either side of the border at the time of the War of Independence. United Empire Loyalists went north to Canada and those who wanted a new nation stayed south. Both groups went on to found great nations. Some of the first North American settlers with Baxter name or one of its variants: George Baxter, who came to New Netherland in 1642; Hen Baxter, who arrived in Virginia in 1654; Hannah Baxter, who settled in Maryland in 1668; Richard Baxter who settled in Charles County in Maryland in 1660 (he was an ancestor of U.S. President John Adams).

Motto Translated: Truth conquers.

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