Ens. Gideon Walker

He m: Rachel Foster in 1763.

Gideon Walker was an "ensign" in Ethan Allen's unit, called the Green Mountain Boys, who captured Ft. Ticonderoga in 1775. A number of these men were given land by the government around Whiting and settled there.

Gideon Walker's brother, Daniel Walker married as his second wife, an English lady named Mary Young. Mary influenced Daniel to espouse the side of the British, in the Revolutionary War. In Claredon, Vermont, the Committee of Safety, of which Gideon Walker was a member, notified Daniel, that because of his support of the Crown, if he was found off his farm, he would be declared an outlaw. Shortly after, Daniel and his family fled to Canada.

NSDAR Ancestor No. A119372.

• WALKER, GIDEON DAR Ancestor #: A119372
• Service: VERMONT Rank: ENSIGN
• Birth: 11-20-1738 ATTLEBORO BRISTOL CO MASSACHUSETTS
• Death: 11-2-1793 WHITING ADDISON CO VERMONT
• Service Source: GOODRICH, ROLLS OF THE SOLS IN THE REV WAR, 1775-1783 PP 93,153,178,309,471
• Service Description: 1) PVT,COL EBENEZER ALLEN,ENS,COLS ALLEN,
• 2) THOS LEE,GIDEON WARREN

His Death Certificate reads, Full Name of Deceased: Ensign Gideon Walker

The rank of Ensign during the Revolutionary War war equal to that of a Second lieutenant. in todays US Army.

From: The Story of My Ancestors in America by Rev. Edwin Sawyer Walker, 1895

Gideon Walker, was a "Minuteman" during the American Revolution. On the 6th of July, 1777, the fort at Ticonderoga fell to the British and a "hasty retreat was made by the Americans across Lake Champlain, through Vermont to the southward. This retreat leaving the scattered settlements of Vermont utterly defenseless, carried dismay throughout the frontier towns of the New Hampshire Grants, and large numbers of the settlers were sent southward, to remain until the impending danger should be passed.

Gideon Walker started his wife, with four children, on horseback, for Cheshire, Massachusetts, where they found a refuge with a cousin, Lewis Walker. The eldest of these children was Jesse, a lad ten years of age; the others were Rachel, aged eight years; Levi, five years, and Amos two years respectively. With these four children, the heroic woman, Rachel Walker, wended her way alone, over the mountains to a place of safety, while her husband, a ready "Minuteman," with the quickly summoned forces of Warner, joined in the pursuit of the enemy, on his way to Bennington."

From Early Families of Rutland, Vermont by Swan

"In April 1768 Gideon moved from Coventry, Rhode Island, o Clarendon, Vermont. Thaddeus Curtis sold him his first land in Rutland in December 1770 and he settled there soon after. His log house was on the site of the West Street Cemetery. Historian James D. butler states Gideon had the first child born in the East Parish. After the fall of Fort Ticonderoga in July 1777 he, his wife, and four children fled on horseback to Cheshire, Massachusetts. He was a Revolutionary soldier and soon after hostilities ceased he moved to Whiting in 1784."

History of Addison County, Vermont Edited by H. P. Smith D. Mason & Co., Publishers 1886

Chapter XXXVII History of the Town of Whiting Page 722

"In the spring of 1783 Gideon and Jesse Walker, father and son, came to Whiting and purchased of Elihu Marshall the improvements he had made on the banks of Otter Creek. Here they planted grain, cut hay, etc., preparatory to removing their families hither, which they did in the spring of 1784, from Rutland, using the ice of Otter Creek as a highway until they reached "Brown's Camp" near Miller's bridge, in Salisbury, which was on the old Military Road leading from Ticonderoga to Charlestown, or Number Four, N. H. Jesse Walker used to relate that for a period of three weeks he and his father subsisted entirely upon potatoes and English turnips, seasoned with a small quantity of salt, and all that time labored arduously in refitting the old Marshall log house for the reception of their family; and that on their return to Rutland they passed through Pittsford, where they procured a loaf of bread made of Indian meal and baked on a board before the fire, which he claimed was the sweetest morsel that ever passed his lips.

Gideon Walker was a native of Rhode Island, born in 1736; he married Rachel Foster in 1765, and, after residing in Rutland for a time, where he built the first grist-mill in the town, came to Whiting, as we have stated; and a part of the old farm is still in the possession of his grandson, Amos E. His six sons, Jesse, Levi, Amos E., James O., Gideon, jr., and Samuel V., all settled on adjoining farms. His daughter Rachel became the wife of Aaron Beach, brother of Samuel Beach, and their child, Norah, was the first born in the township. Gideon, jr., was massacred at the surrender of Fort Niagara, during the War of 1812. James O. built a tavern in 1800, which is still known as the old Walker tavern stand, now owned by George S. Walker. Gideon, sr., served in the Revolution, receiving his commission as ensign from Governor Chittenden in 1781. When the British were going south toward Bennington, after the battle of Hubbardton, they impressed him and his four oxen into service. Before they reached Bennington he escaped, however; but his oxen "made beef for the British." He was chosen moderator of the first proprietors' meeting held in the town, which convened at his house. He took an active interest in public affairs, and died in 1793. His representatives now living in the town are two, grandsons, judge Abel and Amos E., and a great-grandson, George S. Walker. Judge Abel has been county judge two years, represented the town in the Legislature during the years 1839-40 and 1843 ; was a delegate to the convention to revise the constitution of the State; has been a justice of the peace about forty years, and has held all the offices in the gift of his townsmen. He has also done much law business, and has quite a local reputation as a public speaker. Whitfield Walker, a grandson of Jesse, was an able man, whose death in 1874, in his eightieth year, was greatly lamented."

Gideon's brother, Daniel Walker, was married to Mary Young, an English woman, and sided with the British during the Revolution. In Claredon, Vermont, the Committee of Safety, of which his brother Gideon Walker was a member, notified Daniel, that because of his support of the Crown, if he was found off his farm, he would be declared an outlaw. Daniel, with five other Tory men, started for Canada immediately, his family soon followed him to Ernestown, Lennox & Addington Co., Ontario before 1795. Possibly Gideon's father also went to Canada.

Added by: Walter Ashworth, second cousin 6x removed _________________________________ List of Freemen residing in the town on September 3, 1782 lists Gideon Walker

Capt. John Coffin, Lt. Noadiah Russell, Lt. Abel Preston, Ebenezer Hardy, John Russell, John Gilbert, Salmon Dutton, Lt. Reuben Gilbert, Thomas Baldwin, Enos Gilbert, Abner Gilbert, Ely Gilbert, Thomas Gilbert, Isaac Baldwin, Captain Leonard Proctor, Abel Roby, Gideon Walker, Joseph Rice, Jonathan Atherton, David Wetherbee, capt. Joshua Parker, Shadrick Dodge, William Spaulding, John Stone, Ephraim Dutton, Jesse Spauliding, William Spaulding Jr., Josuah Fletcher, Salmon Hardy, James Hall, Samuel Chamberlain, Andrew Archibald, Asa Wheeler, Samuel Wyman.

http://www.usgennet.org/usa/vt/county/windsor/cavendish/index.htm