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OHIO GENEALOGY EXPRESS
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Fairfield County, Ohio
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BIOGRAPHIES
WILLIAM W. WALKER. The
opportunities of business life are limitless in this free
land where labor is not hampered by caste or class.
Advancement depends upon a man's promotion, coming in
recognition of skill and ability along a chosen line of
endeavor. When one has attained to a position of
responsibility, it is an indication of his diligence and
capability and it is such qualities that have won Captain
William W. Walker his present position as foreman of
the carpenter department and as wreck master for the
Cincinnati & Muskingum Valley Railroad Company.
The Captain was born upon a farm, in Wayne county, New
York, February 22, 1837. His father. George H. Walker,
was a native of England and when in his eighteenth year
came, to the United States, settling in Wayne county, New
York. He was a carpenter by trade and followed that
pursuit to a greater or less extent throughout his business
career, but also extended his efforts to other lines of
industrial activity. He engaged in the manufacture of native
lumber, operating a small saw-mill in Wayne county, New
York, for a number of years. At length he determined to
seek a home farther west, believing that he might have
better business opportunities in a less thickly settled
region where competition was not so great. Accordingly in
October, 1841, he removed his family to Pike county, Ohio,
where he remained for two years and then came to Fairfield
county. He took up his abode in Berne township in the
vicinity of Sugar Grove, where he engaged in carpentering
and at the same time operated a sawmill on the waters of the
Hocking river. A fragment of the old mill is still standing
there, a landmark of the early days. Mr. Walker
was a public-spirited man, active in the support of all that
he believed would prove of general good. He was very
generous and liberal and was much respected throughout the
community in which he made his home. While living in Wayne
county, New York, Mr. Walker was united in
marriage to Charlotte W. Lawson. a native of that
county and a daughter of John Lawson. Both
Mr. and Mrs. Walker held membership in the German
Reformed church and their lives were in consistent harmony
with its teachings and principles. They became the parents
of fifteen children, eight sons and seven daughters. Two of
the number died in infancy, but thirteen reached years of
maturity. They were: William H.; Frederick G.;
Elizabeth, the deceased wife of Thomas Mock;
George H., who resides in Clarksville; Mary J.,
who has passed away; Rose Ann; Florence;
Benjamin and Edward L., twins, the latter now
deceased; George W. and Benjamin F., who were
also twins and have passed away: Adelaide, deceased;
and Martha, the wife of William Hummil,
of Fairfield county. The father of this family passed away
in 1882, and his wife, surviving him for a number of years,
was called to her final home in 1891.
Captain William H. Walker, whose name introduces
this record, spent his boyhood days in the usual manner of
farmer lads. The sun shone down upon many a field which he
plowed and he continued his work in the fields until after
crops were harvested in the autumn, when he would enter the
district schools in the neighborhood and there pursue his
studies until returning spring again called him to the work
of the fields. As soon as he was old enough to assist his
father in the mill he also gave a part of his attention to
its operation and under his father's direction he learned
the carpenter's trade. Together they worked until the
Captain was twenty-one years of age.
He became deeply interested in the troubles which
eventually involved the country in Civil war. In 1856 he
went to the territory of Kansas, residing there a part of
the time during the famous Kansas and Nebraska troubles. The
unsettled state of business and politics there caused him to
return to Fairfield county, where he continued business with
his father until after the inauguration of the Civil war.
Hardly had the smoke from Fort Sumter's guns cleared away
when he offered his services to the government, enlisting on
the 19th of April, 1861, as a member of Company A,
.Seventeenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, at the first call of
President Lincoln for seventy-five thousand
men. John M. Connell, of Lancaster, was in command of
the regiment, which was ordered to Virginia and participated
in the battle of Laurel Hill. On the expiration of the three
months' term of service, September 30, 1861, Mr. Walker
re-enlisted for three years, becoming a member of Company I
of the same regiment with which he first went to the front.
This command was ordered to Kentucky and its first
engagement was at Wild Cat Mountain. Captain Walker
participated in thirty-six regular engagements, including
the battles of Missionary Ridge, Chickamauga, Pittshurg
Landing, Corinth,, the siege and fall of Atlanta, and the
celebrated march of Sherman to the sea. He was in many
engagements and often in the thickest of the light, and at
the battle of Missionary Ridge received a gunshot wound in
the right leg: and again in front of Atlanta he was shot in
both legs, which injury laid him up three months. During the
battle of Kenesaw Mountain he was stabbed in the back of the
head by a bayonet. In 1863 he was commissioned second
lieutenant and in 1864 he was promoted to the rank of first
lieutenant, while in 1865 he was promoted to captain and
when mustered out was brevetted major. When the war was over
Captain Walker
returned to Lancaster and resumed carpenter work. Soon after
he entered the employ of the Cincinnati & Muskinguni
Railroad in the wood department of their various shops, and
his diligence and capability won him promotion step by step
until he was made foreman of the wood department and master
of wreckage, having control of hundreds of miles and
employing a number of gangs of men, who are employed in
various ways.
In 1861 Captain Walker was united in
marriage to Miss Caroline Mock, a daughter of
David and Leah (LeMott) Mock. She was born and reared in
Fairfield county and died in 1876, leaving three children:
Durben W., who is employed in the railroad shops;
Mina L., the wife of Michael Hankson; and
Katie, who died at the age of eleven years.
For his second wife Captain Walker married
Jane Hamilton, of Amanda, this county, the
wedding being celebrated in 1879. She is a native of this
county and a daughter of Jacob and Maria
Hamilton. The children born of the second marriage
are William Floyd, who is employed in the
railroad shops; and Maria E., at home.
The Captain gives his political support to the
Republican party and is a firm endorser of its principles.
He cast his first presidential vote for Abraham
Lincoln and the last up to this time for William
McKinley. His fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth
and ability, have called him to public office and for
thirteen years he was a member of the city council,
representing the fifth ward. Fraternally he is connected
with Alpine Lodge. No. 566, I. O. O. F., and Hock Hocking
Encampment, No. 28. He is also a member of the Knights of
Honor; Benjamin Butterfield Post, No. 77, G. A. R.; Union
Veteran Legion; and is chairman of the Board of trustees in
the Odd Fellows lodge. As has been truly remarked after all
that may be done for a man in the way of giving him early
opportunities for obtaining the requirements which are
sought in the public schools and books, he must essentially
formulate, determine and give shape to his own character and
this is what Mr. Walker has done. He has
persevered in the pursuit of a persistent purpose and has
gained the most satisfactory reward. His life is exemplary
in all respect and he well deserves representation in this
volume. |
JAMES W. WILSON
James W. Wilson is a representative of pioneer
families of Fairfield county and makes his home on section
33, Greenfield township, where he follows farming. Here he
was born on the 5th of May, 1818. His paternal grandfather
was the Hon. Nathaniel Wilson, a native
of Scotland, who after emigrating to the new world resided
near Carlisle, Pennsylvania, for a time and then came to
Ohio, settling in Fairfield county, where he was a
distinguished early resident. He served as a member of the
state legislature and as a justice of the peace, and his
worth and ability made him a leader of public thought and
action. After about eight years' residence in Fairfield
county he was called to his reward in the home beyond.
His son, William Wilson, the father of our
subject, was born within two miles of Carlisle,
Pennsylvania, and there remained until his removal to
Fairfield county, Ohio. He and his four brothers located
near Lancaster, three of them making their homes on section
33. The father of our subject was united in marriage to
Rachel Wells, a daughter of General James Wells, an
old Revolutionary soldier, who was severely wounded by the
Indians. His ancestry could be traced back to James
Wells, an Englishman, who on crossing the Atlantic
settled in Baltimore, Maryland. He was twice married and had
twelve children by each marriage. Among the number was
General James Wells, who was born in
Frederick county, Maryland, in the year 1751. while his
death occurred on the 29th of January, 1814, when he was
sixty-three years. of age. He served as a soldier
under Washington and tradition says that it was in the
Revolutionary war that he won the title of general. In 1775
he married Rachel Brown, a daughter of
Colonel Richard Brown. On the 17th of
April, 1795, he was made an associate judge of Somerset
county, Pennsylvania. Later he removed from that county to
Holiday's Cove on the Ohio river, where his father-in-law
then lived. In the fall of 1801 he arrived in Ohio, at which
time there were only three or four log cabins at Lancaster,
and when the land sales took place he bought twelve hundred
and eighty acres in one body, in Greenfield township. He
gave the greater part of his attention to farming and at one
time served as justice of the peace of Greenfield township.
Among his children was Rachel Wells, who on
the 14th of October, 1802, became the wife of William
Wilson. Their marriage took place at the forks of the
Hocking in Greenfield township. His death occurred September
26, 1851, and his wife passed away in 1842 at the age of
fifty-five years. After their marriage they lived in a
little log cabin in Greenfield township and in true pioneer
style their early married life was passed. Unto them were
born ten children: Amanda, Minerva, Calista,
Elizabeth, Rachel, Louisa, Nathaniel,
James W., William Harvey and
Ambrose. Only two of the number are now living, namely:
James W., of this review: and Louisa,
the wife of Henry Pence, a resident of
Bradville. Page county, Iowa.
James W. Wilson, of this review, was . the seventh
child and second son of the family and the only one still
living in Fairfield county. He remained upon the home farm,
where he is now living until twenty-one years of age, after
which he spent two years in Indiana. On the expiration of
that period he returned and has since remained upon the
farm, giving his entire life to agricultural pursuits. He
has ever been progressive in his methods of farming and the
fields have returned to him a golden tribute in return for
his careful labors and active management.
On the 17th of January, 1844, James W. Wilson
was united in marriage to Rosann Wolf, a native of
Pickaway county, Ohio, born on the 1st of January, 1819, and
a daughter of Philip and Rebecca (Phillip)
Wolf, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the
latter of Maryland. Her father was twice married, Mrs.
Wilson being the youngest of eleven children. She was
reared in Pickaway county, Ohio, and by her marriage has
become the mother of seven children: George, who is
living in Pickaway county; Gustine, who lives at
home; John, of Pickaway county; McLury, who
resides south of Lancaster; Rachel and Rebecca,
who are at home; and Lucretia, who is deceased.
Throughout his entire life Mr. Wilson has
given his political support to the Democracy, but has had no
desire for public office, preferring that his attention
should be given to his. farming interests, in which he has
met with a very creditable degree of success, being numbered
among the well-to-do farmers of his vicinity. |
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