Civil war officer, attorney, secretary of state, county commissioner, assistant adjutant general. He was born in Luxembourg, Germany and came to America when he was 19 years of age. He lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin until 1855, where he studied law and was admitted to the practice. In January 1856, he moved to New Ulm, Minn. He commanded the New Ulm militia volunteers who tried to capture Ink-pa-dut-ah, the leader of a hostile band of Dakota during the Spirit Lake Massacre of 1857. He was a delegate to the convention that framed the state's constitution in 1857. He opened a law office and was the first attorney to practice in New Ulm. He was Minnesota's first Secretary of State, assuming office on May 4, 1858.

When the civil war broke out, it is said that he personally applied to Governor Ramsey to accept the militia regiment, of which he was the colonel, to be included in the governor's first call for volunteers. When Ramsey refused to accept them, Baasen was so upset that he pulled his commission as a militia colonel out of his pocket and tore it into bits in the presence of the astonished governor, saying that if he could not go with his regiment he would go alone and "all hell" could not stop him.

In August 1861, he enlisted for the Union as a Private in Company H, 1st Minnesota Infantry. An opening in the officer's ranks eventually occurred. The process of selecting an officer was highly political and there was much jockeying for promotion on the part of those who had the ambition for the rank. In practice, the men of each unit were called upon to elect their own officers, but Governor Ramsey did not hesitate to ignore their votes if he had a more compelling reason politically to promote one soldier over another. Apparently, Pvt. Baasen was not the man the men of Co. H wanted as their commander. Forty-nine of the men wrote to James Baker, Minnesota's secretary of state, to oppose Baasen's efforts to be made first lieutenant, because, they said, "he is exceedingly obnoxious to most of the company." Nevertheless, on Jan 8, 1862, while the men of the First Minnesota were camped at Poolsville, Md., Baasen was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant in Company H. On July 10, 1862, he was appointed regimental quartermaster and performed this duty throughout his enlistment.

He served until May, 1864. After the war, he returned to New Ulm and resumed his law practice. He held the office of county attorney for Brown county for many years. He resided in Nicollet county from 1870 to 1876 and while there held the office of county commissioner. He was appointed by Governor Lind as an assistant adjutant general of the state. He was a member of the constitutional convention and a member of the delegation; in 1857 he was a member of the Territorial Legislature of Minnesota as well as the state Legislature in 1873.