John R. Walker

John R Walker was born May 13, 1804 in New York City, New York, the son of Oliver Walker and Nancy Cressy. He married Susannah Ennis March 1, 1825, in Randolph County, Indiana. They had eleven children and Susannah passed away in 1843 the year after their last child was born.

Their son, William Washington Walker, was born August 15, 1827, in Indiana. He married Elizabeth Wright and they had 5 children, Sarah Ann in 1857, then Henry C., Rachel C., Horace M. and Martha O.

Their daughter, Ellen C. Walker was born in 1829. She married David W. Thomas about 1844, and they had ten children. Ellen passed away in 1868, the year after their last child was born in 1867. Their children were:

Emily J. Thomas 1846

Sarah L. Thomas 1848

George W. Thomas 1850

William A. Thomas 1853

Charles P. Thomas 1855

Henry W. Thomas 1857

David E. Thomas 1859

Sirac Thomas 1862

Wesley Thomas 1865

Helen Thomas 1867

John and Susannah's son, Levi H. Walker, born 1832 in Indiana, married Mary, born October 1835. They had four children: George T. Walker, October 1858, William F. Walker, 1863, Susan Eva Walker, 1867, and Horace A. Walker January 1874. Levi passed away in about 1900 while living in Salinas, San Luis Obispo County, California.

John and Susannah's daughter Mary A Walker was born 1834 in Missouri.

John and Susanna's son, Thaddeus Walker was born 1838 in Missouri. He was found on an 1881 Canada Census in Toronto, Peel, Ontario, age 42, working as a minister, with wife Mary S., 37, from England and five children, Emma F., 9, Mary G., 7, Frank W., 5, Henry P., 3, Herbert O. Lee, 0, and Annie C Brown, 30, from England.

John and Susannah's son, James H. Walker was born 1841 in Illinois, and he married Susan C. about 1868 and had one son Francis G. Walker born 1870. They lived in East Cape Girardeau, Alexander, Illinois in 1880.

In the 1830 census for Randolph County, Indiana John Walker was living next door to James Ennis, his wife’s brother. In 1831 he was baptized into the LDS Church by Zebedee Coltrin, in Randolph County, Indiana. On October 30, 1838, he was a survivor of Haun’s Mill, Caldwell County, Missouri. “Inside the shop John Walker was hit with a ball in his right arm. Unable to reload he and another defender took out for the field. They ran down the bank of the creek. On the way up on the other side, his companion was hit. Walker hid under some lumber standing along side the creek bank.” SOURCE: nortonfamily.net (The Indiana Saints at the Haun’s Mill Massacre)

January 13, 1840, Redress Petitions Alton, Madison County, Illinois:

“I the undersigned do by these presents represent To You my losses and Sufferings in the State of Missouri in the Year 1838 by the Hands of a mob who pillaged and destroyed my Goods in Jackson and Caldwell Countys and Which Losses I Certify To be no Less than Five Hundred Dollars further that I suffered many injuries from this mob By Breaking in my windows, By Thrusting Long Poles Through at My family and Driving them from their Habitation.” signed John R. Walker, Pg. 550.

James Rollins Autobiography, BYU, p.10 - p.11 "While riding on my journey that day, I met a boy at Wood River Bridge, one mile from Alton, I quickly inquired of him, if my wife was in Alton. He said, "Yes, she is very bad at her brother's John Walker's. If you want to see her alive, hurry." The same words that was said to me when I lay asleep on the log. I surely did hurry my jaded horse and landed on the doorstep of John Walker's house. There I found my warning true in every sense as the doctor and women were just putting my wife in bed as I arrived. She was expected to die for days.

Previous to this in a few days after my return she began to recover, when she was well enough, I rented a house and my family and William Walker's family moved together into the house which I had rented. Soon after this, Adam Lightner, my brother-in-law and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner, returned from Louisville, Kentucky, and then they lived in the same house, also, it being a very large house. We all remained there during the summer season. I then moved to Clifftony, a few miles above Alton where we found a house empty, large enough for 3 or 4 families to live in.

We here decided to build a large flat boat for carrying wood to Alton and St. Lewis, this boat we constructed during the winter. Previous to this we hired a smaller boat and loaded it with sugar, maple for the Alton mill. As we arrived with the boat near the mill we endeavored to land the boat and fasten it to the shore, the boat in turning dipped water. I took the rope and swam to the shore, fastened it. In coming around she filled with water and sunk. The wood above the gunells of the boat was taken off by the current and floated down the river. We succeeded in raising the boat and emptied it of its contents that remained and we took the boat and tied it that night to the place where we had loaded it in the morning."

In the 1840 census for Upper Alton, Madison County, Illinois: John R Walker 112001-011001. 28th Quorum Seventies 1845 Nauvoo. Endowed 6 Feb 1846 Nauvoo temple (no wife mentioned).

In the 1850 census for Irish Hollow Precinct, Jo Daviess County, Illinois, son-in-law, David W. Thomas 29, daughter, Ellen Walker Thomas 21, and their children, Emily J. Thomas 5, Sarah L .Thomas 2, George W. Thomas 11 months old, were living with John Walker, 45, farmer, and his children, Levi, 18, Mary A., 16, Thaddeus. 13, James H., 9. John's wife had passed away in 1843 so he was a widower in this census record.

John passed away on July 1, 1853, at the fairly young age of just 49 years old.