Walker, Livingston Parish, Louisiana File prepared by D.N. Pardue Submitted to the LAGenWeb Archives ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** From the book entitled "The Free State - A History and Place-Names Study of Livingston Parish" by the members of the Livingston Parish American Revolution Bicentennial Committee in cooperation with the Livingston Parish Police Jury and the Louisiana American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, 1976. Reprinted by permission. Dedicated to the memory of Reuben Cooper and Raymond Riggs. WALKER is an incorporated municipality located around the intersection of La. Hwy. 447 and US Hwy. 190. Its corporate limits now include the former incorporated village of Corbin, annexed as the result of a municipal merger election held on March 31, 1971. Records in the State Land Office in Baton Rouge offer conclusive proof that the original name of Walker was Milton Old Field and that it derived its name from Michael Milton, who owned 400 acres of land in Section 36, T6S-R4E. Walker's present limits include all of Section 25, T6S-R3E and the north half of the above mentioned Section 36. Section 30, T6S-R4E was the corporate limits of Corbin. A number of references to Milton (Melton) Old Field can be found in the Livingston Parish Police Jury Minute Book No. 1 (May 17, 1875 - Oct. 4, 1897). The first post office in this area was established by John B. Lock- hart on April 4, 1856, with Michael Milton taking over duties as postmaster on Jan. 14, 1858. During the time the post office was established, Dr. William E. Walker of Springfield was representing Livingston Parish in the state House of Representatives. The high esteem in which Dr. Walker was held can be seen in the following statement taken from The Capitolian Vis-A-Vis, a West Baton Rouge Parish newspaper published by the Whigs, the opposition party to the Democrats. The Dec. 8, 1852 issue stated: Senatorial Nominations The Democrats seeing and knowing this have very properly taken a man from the Piney woods. We confess, however, that we did hope that they would have nom- inated Dr. Walker of Springfield, as we know him to be a young gen- tleman of unequestioned ability; one whose elec- tion, as we are to have a Democrat to represent the District, we should have been happy to announce. According to the Louisiana Adjutant General's Report of 1858, there was a Brigadier General W.E. Walker in command of 853 soldiers in the parishes of St. Helena, St. Tammany, Washington and Livingston. Marcus Carter Rownd, in a history of Co. D, 16th Louisiana Infantry, CSA, tells that Dr. William Elliott Walker orgainzed the company at Springfield in August, 1861, and that before his death of disease near Ansonia, Tenn. he was promoted to lieutenant colonel in charge of the entire regiment. Rownd also stated that Walker served in the Legislature, leaving little doubt that Walker's post office was named for him. Since John B. Lockhart was the first Walker postmaster, and since he purchased land in Section 27, T6S-R3E, it appears that the first Walker Post Office was located east of Lockhart Crossing. It is assumed that Milton moved the post office to his home when he took over as postmaster, as was the custom of that time. Walker Post Office was discontinued on July 6, 1860, and the Walker area was without a local post office until 1876 when Melton Old Field was established in the southwest quarter of Section 30, formerly the corporate limits of Corbin. The delay in re-establishing an office can perhaps be attributed to the Recon- struction policy (1866-1876) of keeping post offices to a minimum. J.J. Martin, L.L. Martin, and Nathan D. Castle each briefly served as postmaster during the year the office was operated. Next, Thomas S. Leftwich and Thomas M. Moseley operated Ralley Hill Post Office in what is now Corbin from June 22, 1880 to Sept. 11, 1884. A geograph- ical site location report, dated May 1, 1880, contained the following note at the bottom of the page: "Some other name than Melton will have to be selected for this proposed office." Circumstantial evidence seems to support the contention that the post office established on May 13, 1890 was called Walker to commemorate the memory of Dr. William E. Walker. For one thing, the Reconstruction policy probably prevented post offices from being named for former Confederate officers. If this is correct, it would explain the succession of names with the return of Walker in 1890 after Reconstruction policies had been overthrown. -- Clark Forrest, Jr. * * * * *