Eaton County USGenWeb Archives - Biographies

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Submitted by Cindy Bryant 

JOHN T. WALKER



	This name will be recognized by our readers as that of one of
the well-to-do and substantial farmers of Eaton County, who is
at present residing at Duck Lake, Brookfield township.  Mr.
Walker has been extensively engaged in farming and has met with
flattering success in this occupation.  His father Matthew P.
Walker, a native of Maryland, removed to Pennsylvania, from
there to Ohio, and finally in 1868 came to Michigan and settled
in Calhoun County.  His parents died when he was quite a young
man.  He was called out in the War of 1812 but never entered the
service.  Religiously he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church from the time he was twenty-two years old; he was a
prominent Class-Leader for more than twenty-five years.  His
death occurred March, 1871, at the age of seventy five years. 
The grandfather, John Walker, was a revolutionary soldier, but
no record can be given of his life as very little is known
concerning him.  The mother, Susan Griswold, a native of
Pennsylvania, died at the age of sixty-five years.  She was the
mother of eleven children, six of whom are living.



	Mr. Walker's early days were spent upon a farm and like all
boys of those pioneer days he attended school in a log
schoolhouse, which was primitive in all its arrangements.  The
seats consisted of a rough hewn slab and were held to the floor
by pin legs.  Before he reached the age of maturity he began
working for himself, engaging to work by the month on the
adjoining farms.



	Mr. Walker twice married.  The first time in 1848 he married
Miss Mary A. Lewis, a native of New York.  After this marriage
he rented land in Trumbull County, Ohio and engaged in farming. 
Mrs. Walker died June 25, 1861.  She was the mother of six
children: Charles E.; Albert N. (deceased), Horace J., Amelia
M., Edgar E. and Mary E. (deceased).  He was again united in
marriage in 1863 with Mrs. Emily M. (Fox) Ferguson, who was born
in Connecticut June 16, 1826.  She was formerly the wife of
Benjamin Ferguson, who died in Ohio in 1855.  The fruit of the
first union was three children - Ira N., Albert W., and Daniel. 
Of the second marriage, one son was born, Arthur T., now
deceased.



	Mr. Walker worked in the freight department of the Atlantic &
Great Western Railroad at Leavittsburg, being stationed in Ohio
from 1863 until 1868.  During that period he came to Eaton
County, Mich., and bought 80 acres of partly-improved land,
which he has proceeded to clear and has brought to a high state
of cultivation.  On this estate he has a comfortable home a view
of which appears on another page.  The barn and other  buildings
are substantial, while in addition to his agricultural interests
Mr. Walker keeps a good grade of stock.



	In former years Mr. Walker was a Whig in politics, an he is now
a stanch adherent of the Republican party.  For several years he
has served as one of the school officers and by his efficiency
has  aided greatly in the educational work in the township.  He
and his wife are both members of the Methodist Episcopal Church
and by their social qualities have made their home an attractive
meeting place for their many friends.  While a resident of Ohio
he also took great interest in church work and was
Superintendent of the Sunday school for a number of years there
as well as in Michigan.



Taken from "Portrait Biographical Album of Barry and Eaton

Counties, Mich." Chicago: Chapman Bros, 1891. pages 618, 621