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Our Maternal

Walker

Family Ancestors

 

An Introduction

Origins of the Surname

Variations of the Surname

Direct Ancestors

Family Location Information

Source Documents

Website Resources

Family Images Gallery

Contact Information

OUR Walker FAMILY

An Introduction

    It is believed that, our 4th great-grandfather, William Walker was born circa 1755 in Virginia.  Although it is quite probable that he served in the Revolutionary War no verifiable records have been found.  It is known that he married his wife Sarah in Virginia and that they lived in Montgomery County, which is located in southwestern Virginia.     To this union at least six known off-spring were born between 1790 and 1801.

     It is believed that sometime around 1792.   William moved his family a distance of about 200 miles over the Appalachians into Kentucky.  Most likely he traveled south west on the Great Wagon Road from Christiansburg Virginia to the Cumberland Gap. 

     William eventually settled in a locality then in Mason County and now encompassed by Floyd County.  William first appears in this place around 1793.  Based upon research of property transactions of families allied with Walker such as Brown, Salisbury and Lesley it appears that William settled near Allen City where Beaver Creek joins with the Levisa River. 

     William Walker continued to live in Floyd County until his death in 1818. County court records show that August 17, 1818, his son Robert Walker moved to be named as administrator of his father’s estate. Apparently the court ruled against his motion which would lead one to wonder about his relationships with his siblings. 

     Around 1826 the Walker Family began to leave Floyd County for better land and opportunities in the west.  Eventually William’s son Moses, as well as daughters Jemima and husband Robert Brown, Jane and husband Richard F. Giddens, Rhoda and husband Milton Lesley all removed to Illinois.  It is believed that Moses and the Brown family left first with the Giddens and Leslies removing to Edgar County, Illinois.  It appears that Moses Walker had eventually settled in Vermillion County by 1829 along with his sisters Jane Giddens and Rhoda Lesley.

     William Walker’s eldest son Robert remained in Floyd County, as well as his daughter Elizabeth wife of William Salisbury.   Floyd County land records show several transactions for Robert Walker and William Salisbury between 1826-30 most of them on Beaver Creek.

     We are descended through the aforementioned Jemima (Walker) Brown, 1791-1871.  Jemima married Robert Brown in 1816 at Floyd County, Kentucky.  Our lineage continues through their daughter Lydia Ann Brown, 1834-1913.  

Walker

Origins of the Surname*

Walker is an English and Scottish occupational name for a fuller, Middle English walkere, Old English wealcere, an agent derivative of wealcan ‘to walk, tread’. This was the regular term for the occupation during the Middle Ages in western and northern England. The Walker surname compares with  Fuller and Tucker as a surname related to the processing of cloth..  As a Scottish surname it has also been used as a translation of Gaelic Mac an Fhucadair ‘son of the fuller’.

The Walker surname was first found in Yorkshire, England where the Walker family was seated from early times.  This ancient and distinguished surname, with over fifty entries in the "Dictionary of National Biography", and having no less than sixty Coats of Arms, is of Anglo-Scottish origins. It is either an occupational name for a fuller, or a locational name from a place called Walker in Northumberland. If occupational it derives from the pre 7th Century word "wealcere", and describes the work of the fuller to scour and thicken raw cloth in a large vessel containing a water mixture by trampling on it. Job descriptive surnames denoted the actual occupation of the namebearer, and became hereditary when a son followed the father into the same skill or business. If locational, Walker in Northumberland is recorded as Walkyr in the "Inquisitiones post mortem", dated 1268 from the Old Scandinavian word "kiarr", and means "The wall by the marsh". Early examples of recordings include Robert le Walker, in the Assize Court Rolls of Yorkshire in 1260, whilst Sir Edward Walker (1612 - 1677), was the purchaser of Shakespeare's house at Stratford-on-Avon in 1675. Robert Walker (1789 - 1854) the curate of Seathwaite, Cumberland, was popularly known as "Wonderful Walker", and commemorated by Wordsworth. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard le Walkere. This was dated 1248, in "Select Documents of the Abbey of Bec", Warwickshire, during the reign of Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4 Family Facts (Ancestry.com)

Source: SurnameDB: Free database of surname meanings

 

Some of the first settlers, in America, with this family name or some of its variants were: John Walker, Roger Walker, and Isabel Walker, who all immigrated to Virginia in 1623; Augustine Walker, who settled in Lynn, Massachusetts in 1630; James Walker, who arrived in St. Christopher in 1635

 

*Although the Domesday Book compiled by William the Conqueror required surnames, the use of them in the British Isles did not become fixed until the time period between 1250 and 1450.  The broad range of ethnic and linguistic roots for British surnames reflects the history of Britain as an oft-invaded land. These roots include, but are not limited to, Old English, Middle English, Old French, Old Norse, Irish, Gaelic, Celtic, Pictish, Welsh, Gaulish, Germanic, Latin, Greek and Hebrew. 

     Throughout the British Isles, there are basically five types of native surnames. Some surnames were derived from a man's occupation (Carpenter, Taylor, Brewer, Mason), a practice that was commonplace by the end of the 14th century.  Place names reflected a location of residence and were also commonly used (Hill, Brook, Forrest, Dale) as a basis for the surname, for reasons that can be easily understood.  Nicknames that stuck also became surnames.  About one-third of all US surnames in the United States are Patronymic in origin, and identified the first bearer of the name by his father (or grandfather in the case of some Irish names).  Acquired ornamental names were simply made up, and had no specific reflection on the first who bore the name. They simply sounded nice, or were made up as a means of identification, generally much later than most surnames were adopted.

 Source: http://www.obcgs.com/LASTNAMES.htm

Walker Variations of

 the Surname

The complexity of researching records is compounded by the fact that in many cases an ancestors surname may have been misspelled.  This is especially true when searching census documents. Spelling variations of this family name include: Spelling variations of this family name include: Walker, Walkere and others.

 

The Soundex system was developed in an effort to assist with identifying spelling variations for a given surname. Soundex is a method of indexing names in the 1880, 1900, 1910, and 1920 US Census, and can aid genealogists in their research.   The Soundex Code for Walker is W426.  Other surnames sharing this Soundex Code: WALKER | WALKEROFWIGTON | WELCHER | WELKER | WILKERSON | WOOLGAR .

Source: Surname Resources at ROOTSWEB

Searching for more Information about this and other surnames?

Then take a look at our:

SURNAME LOCATOR RESOURCES WEBPAGE

Walker

Direct Ancestors

Additional information about our DIRECT ANCESTORS and their

families may be reviewed by clicking on the name LINK(s) below.

NAME

BIRTH / DEATH / LOCATIONS

WALKER, William

b: ABT 1755 in Virginia

d: 1818 in Floyd Co., Kentucky

WALKER, Jemima

b: 29 JUN 1791 in Montgomery County, Virginia

d: 8 MAY 1871 in Johnson Twp., Maries Co., Missouri

The following LINK will take you to a complete listing of individuals with this surname.

MMPS Surname Locator

Free Genealogy Surname Search Help from Google

This free genealogy site to help you get the best genealogy searches from Google™ by using your family tree, for your research. It will create a series of different searches using tips or "tricks" that

will likely improve your results. The different searches will give you many different ways of using Google and the Internet to find ancestry information about this or any other Surname. 

Walker

Family Location Information

Researching the locations where our ancestors lived has provided us with valuable evidence needed to fill-in the gaps in our family trees.  It has also led us to many interesting facts that enhance the overall picture of each family group.  The names of states and counties on the following list were derived from the known places where the persons in the “Direct Ancestors” list (see above) were born, married, and/or died.

COUNTRY

STATE

COUNTY / SUBDIVISION

UNITED STATES

VIRGINIA

Montgomery

KENTUCKY

Floyd

ILLINOIS

Edgar

MISSOURI

Maries

Use this LINK to find out more about the locations listed above.

ANCESTRAL LOCATIONS

Walker Source Documents

The documents contained herein have been located during our research of this family, and used as evidence to prove many of the facts contained within the database of this family’s record.

 

     Most of these documents can be considered as primary or secondary.  Primary evidence is usually defined as the best available to prove the fact in question, usually in an original document or record.  Secondary evidence is in essence all that evidence which is inferior in its origin to primary evidence. That does not mean secondary evidence is always in error, but there is a greater chance of error.  Examples of this type of evidence would be a copy of an original record, or oral testimony of a record’s contents.  Published genealogies and family histories are also secondary evidence.

     Classifying evidence as either primary or secondary does not tell anything about its accuracy or ultimate value.  This is especially true of secondary evidence.  Thus it is always a good idea to ask the following questions: (1) How far removed from the original is it, (when it is a copy)?;  (2) What was the reason for the creation of the source which contains this evidence?; and (3) Who was responsible for creating this secondary evidence and what interest did they have in its accuracy?

SOURCE:  Greenwood, Val D., The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, 2nd edition, Genealogical Publishing  Co., Baltimore, MD 21202, 1990, pgs. 62-63

 

You are welcome to download any of the documents contained within this archive.

  Should you encounter a problem obtaining a copy you may get in touch with

 us via the contact information found at the end of this page.

Use the following LINK to view the source documents pertaining to this family.

SOURCE DOCUMENTS

Walker

Website Resources

The following search engine and websites may provide you with additional information to assist with your research about persons with this surname.

 

 

o        Search Genealogy Surnames for Walker

o        Search All-Biographies for Walker

 

Source: Surname Genealogy Search - SurnameWeb

Search these Sites for WALKER:

Ancestry.com  - Genealogy.com - CousinConnect.com - DistantCousin.com - MyCinnamonToast;

 

Additional Sites That We Recommend

Linkpendium Surnames - Web sites, obituaries, biographies, and other material specific to a surname.

Surname Finder | Free Ancestry Search Resource - online since 1998, providing easy access to free and commercial resources for 1,731,359 surnames. On each surname specific "finder" page, you can search a variety of online databases all pre-programmed with your surname.

Cyndi's List - Surnames, Family Associations & Family Newsletters Index - Sites or resources dedicated to specific, individual family surnames.

Free Genealogy Search Help for Google - This free genealogy site will help you use Google™ for your research. It will create a series of different searches using tips or "tricks" that will likely improve your results. The different searches will give you many different ways of using Google to find ancestry information on the Internet. 

FamilySearch.org - Family History and Genealogy Records - The largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world.

Top Genealogical Websites - These mighty roots resources compiled by “Family Tree Magazine”, will give you the power to bust through research brick walls and find answers about your ancestors—all from your home computer.

SurnameDB Free database of surname meanings - This site SurnameDB.Com contains a large FREE to access database (almost 50,000 surnames) on the history and meaning of family last names.

 

Walker Family Images Gallery

During our research we have collected images and photographs that are of general interest to a particular family.  Some of them are presented on this website because we believe they tend to provide the reader with additional information which may aid in the understanding of our ancestors past lives.

 

If you have any photographs or other images relating to this

ancestral family we would greatly appreciate hearing from you.

Use the following LINKS to ascertain whether we have any images that pertain to this family.

FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHS and IMAGES

Contact Information

Email

Snail Mail:

Fred
889 Dante Ct.
Mantua, NJ 08051

USA

Email

Pony Express:

Tom
27 Christopher Dr.
Burton, NB E2V3H4
Canada