ROBERT HARRIS WALKER
And Family
Robert Harris WALKER was born 28 Oct 1816, in Monticello, Jasper County,
Georgia.
The 1820 Census for
Georgia
,
Jasper,
Monticello
shows James WALKER and wife with two children under 10 years of age. (Robert
Harris and John Randolph). In 1830, Robert is shown living with his mother and
father and 5 siblings in
Georgia
,
Talbot,
Young
Valley
.
He was the first of twelve children born to James R. and Elizabeth
Morrow
WALKER
, who were both born in
Mecklenburg County
,
North Carolina
and were married there
28 Dec 1815
.
By 1830, Robert’s parents, James R. and Elizabeth and their family had
migrated west across the state to Talbot County, Georgia, where their seventh
child, William
Wilson
WALKER
was
born in July of 1831. In 1832, the
family had made another move across the state borders to
Alabama
, first, to
Butler
County
for a very short period, then to
Tallapoosa
County
, where their last five children were born.
Here in
Tallapoosa
, was where Robert met and married Louisa
Lucinda KEITH, daughter of Jeremiah and Louisa Haney Doster KEITH, on
12 Nov 1838
.
The 1840 Census for Alabama, Tallapoosa County, Unknown Townships, shows
one male, Robt WALKER (20-30 yrs), one female (10-15 yrs) and one male (under 5
yrs).
(It is assumed they
erred on the age of the female, as it has to be Louisa Lucinda (19 yrs)
and the male has to be their first child, Benjamin Franklin WALKER.
The family was living next to Louisa’s mother, L. H. (Louisa Haney)
KEITH with five children, and next to her brother, Nerias KEITH with wife
Synthia BAIN. ( Nerias was a signed witness to Robert and Louisa’s marriage in
1838!)
Robert and Louisa made their home and remained in Tallapoosa County until
about 1845, during which time they had four children, Benjamin Franklin WALKER
born 21 Aug 1839, James Nathaniel WALKER born 21 Sep 1840, John T. WALKER born
23 Feb 1843
and Rodolphus B. WALKER born
2 Nov 1844
. They
then migrated to Monroe County, Mississippi where they had five children, Louisa
Elizabeth WALKER born in 1847, Robert Joseph WALKER born 9 Jul 1849 and died
three months later on 3 Sep 1849, William Henry WALKER born 16 Nov 1850, George
Washington WALKER born 22 Nov 1853 and Lucinda Amanda WALKER born 16 Feb 1855.
The 1850 Census for
Mississippi
,
Monroe
County
,
Western Division, shows Robt H. WALKER (35) and Lucinda (32) with five children,
Franklin (14), James (12), John (10), Adolphus (6) and Elizabeth (4).
(The census was taken on
12
Nov 1850
,
just 4 days before William Henry was born. Robert
J. was born and died the year before).
Then somewhere between mid 1855 and early 1858, the family moved to
Jackson
Township
,
Ouachita County
,
Arkansas
where
Elmira
Belle WALKER was born on
8 Oct 1858
and Jeremiah Jonathan WALKER was born
16 Sep 1861
.
The 1860 Census for
Arkansas
,
Ouachita
County
,
Jackson
Township
,
shows Robt H. WALKER (44) and Lucinda (39) with nine children, Franklin (20),
James (19), John (17), Rodolphus (16), Louisa (13), William (10), George (7),
Lucinda (5) and
Elmira
(2). (Jeremiah J. was yet to be born
the following year).
Late in 1861, of the ten living children, ranging in age from 22 years to
an infant, only the first born, Benjamin Franklin WALKER had married an Ella
WRIGHT in 1861, and the Civil War had just begun.
It is not clear what happened to Robert and Louisa, but at this point,
they just seem to disappear. There
is speculation that they attempted to migrate to
Utah
. There
are stories of them being victims of a Civil War skirmish.
There are also records that put them in
Texas
during the 1860’s, but none of these
can be verified. To-date, Robert and
Louisa and all of their children have NOT been found in the 1870 Census.
The family had to have moved
to Spring Hill Township, Hempstead County, Arkansas sometime during the late
1860’s as there was an extremely
close relationship between them and the Tapley and Elizabeth Moncrief CURTIS
family. Tapley and his family were
in Jackson Township, Dallas County,
Arkansas
in the 1850
Census.
But in the 1860,
1870
and 1880 Census, they
were living in
Spring
Hill
Township
,
Hempstead County
,
Arkansas
.
Three of the
Walker
siblings, married three of the Curtis
siblings.
Rodolphus WALKER married Celia C. CURTIS on 27 Aug 1872, in Spring Hill.
They lived in Spring Hill and had four children, then Rodolphus died on
29 Dec 1879
and Celia and the children went to live
her parents and family. Celia
died on 4 Jun 1928 in Redlands,
Arkansas
.
Lucinda Amanda WALKER married George Washington CURTIS on 4 Jun 1874 in
Hope County,
Arkansas
. They lived in
Spring Hill
,
Arkansas
and had ten children. Both
George and Mandy died in
Spring Hills
,
Arkansas
, Mandy on
2 Oct 1933
and George on
1 May 1940
.
Jeremiah Jonathan WALKER
married
Tennessee
CURTIS on
24 Dec 1882
in Spring Hill.
They lived in
La Grange
Twp,
Lafayette County
,
Arkansas
and had five children. It
is believed that both J. J. and Tenney died between 1906 and 1908 more than
likely in
La Grange
,
Arkansas
.
James Nathaniel WALKER had
joined the Mormon church in Jul 1866 and immigrated
to Salt Lake City, Utah where, on 25 Jan 1868, he married Rosanna Frances
ESKELSON, daughter of James and Sophie Jacobson ESKELSON.
The family lived in
Salt Lake City
until 1876 when they were called to help
settle
St Joseph
,
Arizona
. They
had eight children. James also
married Emma DANSIE, daughter of James and Maria Rolfe DANSIE, on
4 Oct 1876
and they had four children.
James died in
Colonia Dublan
,
Mexico
on
25 Oct 1912
.
Rosa
died in Vernal,
Utah
on
3 Mar 1927
. James’s
second wife Emma died in Riverton,
Utah
on
20 Mar 1920
.
George Washington WALKER married Josephine E. QUILLIN, daughter of Jesse
Holman and Elmira Morris QUILLIN, on 24 May 1877 in Spring Hill, Hempstead
County,
Alabama
and they had one child. It
is not known when and where George and Josephine died.
Elmira
Belle WALKER married George GODFREY in
abt. 1880 and they had one child. Godfrey
died about 1885 and
Elmira
married a James WHITE in early 1886.
Elmira
and James had four children.
Elmira
died in
Arkansas
in about 1893.
There are three
WALKER
children unaccounted for here, John T.,
Louisa Elizabeth and William Henry .
There appears to be no record after 1860 of whether they died or of just
what happened to them.
Sources:
Walker Family by
Royce Black
Walker Family by
William Jones
Walker Family by
John Hunt West
Walker/Curtis Family
by Sue Snider
Walker/Curtis Family
by Jake Smith
Walker/Curtis Family
by
Roy
Sanders
US Federal Census
– 1840 to 1870
LDS Ancestral File
& IGI – Familysearch.org
This is a work in
progress and contains some information that may not be verified.
Written by -
Robert D. Walker
1021 E Cambridge Rd
Kaysville
,
UT
84037
reklaw2@comcast.net