UPDATE for William and Susanah Graham Walker Marriage WILLIAM WALKER b. 1759?-1841 and Susanah Graham b. bet. 1771-1774-1861 were married September 1787 by Richard Whitt, minister, in Montgomery Co.,VA (formerly Montgomery and Fincastle Counties) Robert Graham was surety for Susannah as I have read online but not seen the official document. A trip to the Mormon Library after looking for three hours at a very old microfilm dated 1787 gave me the "Walker Marriage Bond" and a listing of marriages. It seems that Virginia required marriage bonds. This marriage bond was between William Walker and Robert Graham and posted for Fifty pounds if either party was to turn from the marriage. My conclusions are that Susanah is the daughter of Robert. Robert's wife Mary Craig Graham died October 1786 leaving him with two very small daughters, Nancy Agnes and Margaret. Who was to care for them? I have been told by a good source that Mary Cowan may have been living in the Graham home and she took care of Nancy Agnes and Margaret Graham. I think Susanah may have helped Mary Cowan to care for the girls. Mary and Susanah were near the same ages. After William and Susanah married in September she had two daughters of her own about 1788 and 1789. William and Susanah make a decision to move to Tennessee around 1790 and Robert gets married a second time to Mary Cowan and has a second family. Nancy Agnes and Margaret are about five and six years old by now. But do the girls remember much about Susanah who took care of them? Robert had a large two story house on the main road where travelers stopped by. I also think Susanah was born in Ireland making her the oldest child. I sure would love to hear from others and your thoughts about Susanah. Are there any descendants of Samuel and James Graham that might have had a story passed down in their families about an older sister? Samuel Graham married Rachel Montgomery and James Graham married Nancy Montgomery and their parents were John and Ann Agnes Crockett Montgomery. Now that brings me to the CROCKETT family back in Waxhaw, Lancaster Co., SC

Marriage Bond Sept 4, 1787

Know all men by their presence that we William Walker and Robt Graham are held and firmly bound unto his Excellency the governor of this [s....] for the time being in the just & full sum of Fifty pounds after payment of which will truly to be made now bind our silver our seal? with our seals & dated this 4th Day of Sept 1787. The condition of the above obligation to such that whereas there is a marriage shortly intended to be solemnized between William Walker and Susanah Graham. Now if there should be no Impediment why they should not be bound together then the [?inkblot] obligation to be void else to remain in full force. Sealed & Delivered in presence of Bird Smith (signed with seals) William Walker and Robt Graham

We know William Walker and Susannah Graham married. Below is a list of the marriages in Montgomery Co., Virginia

1789 map of the United States showing Tennessee as being part of Virginia and North Carolina

William may have followed Robert Graham to Montgomery Co., VA. where he met Susannah Graham. Or Susannah may have been living in Mecklenburg, NC with the Grahams, who were neighbors to the Walkers. My most recent discovery is two deed abstracts that tell about Robert and Samuel Graham buying land in Mecklenburg, NC. As Charles Buchanan Graham said "the Grahams were in Pennsylvania but the soil was too hard; the Grahams came to North Carolina but the soil was too soft which brought them to VA where the soil was just right"

Children of James and Mary Walker

As quoted by Walker relatives "Granddad Walker was born in Ireland" Emily Rogers Baskett granddaughter-in-law of William Walker son of old Granddad Will who told this to her family and was told to me by Trudy Campbell Cannon. "Granddad Walker married a Graham girl from Virginia" William Martin Walker told his children and grandchildren. I love these quotes that were handed down in the family and to me they are as real as a document signed on paper. Granddad Will also kept sheep and bees. "Granddad Will brought a clock over the mountain in a covered wagon" was told to me by Joy Walker Martin who later got the clock from her dad, William Walker, youngest son of Andrew Walker the youngest son of Granddad Will

Another recent discovery is of John and James Walker brothers to William Walker living in Mecklenburg. John Walker Private Stewarts Pa Regt. 1776 20 months 25th June 1818 and February , 1833 Rev war pension in Livingston Co., KY March 1834 S1265 1780 Private in Rev War 8 mths. company of Capt Smith of the regt commanded by Col Sock in the N Carolina Military. John married Mary Rowan and went to Blount Co., Tennessee and had many descendants. James may not have married. I still have more research to do on James
This is the grandfather clock that was brought over the mountain in a wagon

The family traveled by cover wagon over the mountain from VA to Washington Co., NC (now Washington Co., TN). On August 31, 1793, William Walker bought land from ROBERT CARSON ; 84 acres for L50 and 100 acres for L60 in present Washington Co., TN. They settled along the headwaters of the Big Limestone Creek. The land is located in Sulphur Springs Community, the original house is still standing, having been remodeled several times. The original house was a log house facing the Limestone Creek. Today the front of the house faces southeast beside the new Sulphur Springs Road, which when built, caused the Walker cousins to have quite a squabble among themselves; each one had land that was being taken for the road. All along the road was farm land owned by the brothers and cousins, which is still in ownership by descendants today

William Walker died 1846 in Washington Co., TN. [Death date for Granddad Walker was found in handwritten notes by Ethel Walker Templeton] He may be buried in the Old section of the Fairview Cemetery located on the grounds of the Fairview Methodist Church. Susannah lived almost twenty years after William. She continued to live at the home place with Andrew and Susannah, the youngest son and daughter

This house sets in the meadow facing the creek and the ridge where the old road use to run. The back of the house faces what later became the new Sulphur Springs Road that ran "smack dab" through the middle of the Walker land. Brothers and Cousins were very upset with this new road. This house is on land later owned by John Keys who married Nancy Ann Walker daughter of Andrew Walker. This house is down the road from the Zachariah Walker house and the William Walker home place shown above. I have just found out more about this house, many thanks to John Mauk Kennerly the great grandson of John and Nancy Ann Walker Keys. Nancy Ann may be the woman who died (November 02, 1922) standing on the front porch of this old house. John died December 28, 1901

1880 Census Washington Co., TN

This house was probably built by John Keys husband of Nancy Walker daughter of Andrew and Sarah Brown Walker and I suspect this house and the Cox homestead being the same house. So now I am thinking the house where James and Hannah Cox lived is really the Granddad William Walker house. When Andrew Walker died in 1869 Sarah continued to live there in 1870 with Mary E. Keys but by 1880 she was living with Henry M & Hester Walker and by 1890 Sarah dies and is buried at Fairview Cemetery. Sometime between 1870 and 1880 the James Cox family was in Sulphur Springs and I am most certain they bought the William and Susannah Walker home. So who bought the house in 1900 from James Cox who was now living in Bowmantown? Many years later Ray Kennerly a descendant of Nancy E Hicks Kennerly was living in the house. The house has undergone much restoration. Fred Smith husband of Thelma Cox (Thelma was daughter of Isaac and Leota Walker Cox and he remembers many stories about the Walker family and the Sulphur Springs area. He recently told family the William Walker house was also the Cox home

So according to Fred Smith this house above would not be the Cox homestead but the John Keys home. James Washington & Hannah Hale Cox have many descendants throughout Washington and Sullivan Counties in Tennessee. James & Hannah were living in Sulphur Springs after the Civil War and I speculate that James was most likely in bad health from being a prisoner of war ; they had bought land from the widow of Joseph Duncan. After Hannah died in 1894 James married again to Mira Hammit and was living in Bowmantown in 1900. Both Mira and James were deceased by 1910

The Walkers were of the Christian faith, all requesting they be buried in a decent Christian burial. Burials were in protestant cemeteries, mainly Baptist and Methodist. At the present, Decoration Day is still being honored as a day to place flowers on the graves of the families. The women especially were of a deep-rooted Christian faith attending camp meeting services at Sulphur Springs. As early as 1820, mothers and daughters prepared foods, making cakes, breads for the meals that would be consumed during the one week, two week or maybe three week camp meeting at the Sulphur Springs camp grounds. Men worked hard to get their harvesting finished, preparing their wagons and horses for the long journey, some that would take days or even weeks to arrive at the camp grounds. People came early to find a suitable place to hitch their wagons and tents. Some of the Walkers had cabins on the camp grounds where family members would get together to enjoy each others company. Sermons were heard everyday, along with lots of shouting and singing and praising God. Then at night after supper, folks would talk over the sermon, the years crops, the new generations of the future, inquire about kinfolks who had moved away to settle out west or to another area of the new country. Sometimes they spent the whole night in prayer and most of the night someone could be heard shouting. Baptismal in the sulfur springs nearby was a great moment of celebration. In 1842, the Sulphur Springs Methodist Church was organized and earlier the Limestone Baptist Church was organized. James and Anna Walker Deakins and John and Lucretia Martin Walker were members of the Limestone Baptist Church ; Margaret Walker and Benjamin Hunt were married in the Limestone Baptist Church May 29, 1827. William and Mary Brown Walker were members of the Pleasant Grove Methodist Church where he gave land for the church and the cemetery. Andrew and Sarah Brown Walker were members of the Sulphur Springs Methodist Church. John and Lucretia Martin Walker were charter members of the Limestone Baptist Church and later generations were split between the two churches. Today the stained glass windows in the methodist church tell the story of family members who left this heritage

The will of William Walker dated August 9, 1841 reads thus