Mary (Richardson) Walker (1811 - 1897)

Born 1 Apr 1811 in West Baldwin, Baldwin, Cumberland, Massachusetts, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Elkanah Walker — married 5 Mar 1838 in Cumberland County, Maine, USA

Descendants

Died 5 Dec 1897 at age 86 in Forest Grove, Washington, Oregon, United States

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Mary (Richardson) Walker was involved in the westward expansion of the USA. Westward Ho! Join: Trails and Wagon Trains Project Discuss: wagon_trains_and_trails

Biography

Wagon Train Details

"Wagon Trains", large groups of covered wagons that travelled together for safety and protection, were a common way for pioneers to travel as they migrated west. These are the known details of the wagon train this person travelled on:

For more information on wagon trains you can also check out the Trails and Wagon Trains sub-project

Mary Richardson was the daughter of Joseph Richardson and his wife, Charlotte of West Baldwin, Cumberland County (greater Portland), in Maine. When she was born in 1811, Maine was a district of the US state of Massachusetts. It became its own US state in 1820.

Mary Richardson married (Reverend) Elkanah Walker in 1838 in Cumberland County, Maine. They had eight children, all born in Oregon Territory.^[1]

1. Cyrus Hamlin Walker, born December 7, 1838 at Waiilatpu. He was the first white male born in Oregon Territory
2. Abigail Boutwell Walker, born May 24, 1840, at Tshimakain; mother of Ruth Karr McKee. Tshimakain Mission is now Ford, Washington
3. Marcus Whitman Walker, born March 16, 1842, at Tshimakain
4. Joseph Elkanah Walker, born February 10, 1844, at Tshimakain
5. Jeremiah Walker, born March 7, 1846, at Tshimakain
6. John Richardson Walker, born December 31, 1847, at Tshimakain
7. Levi Chamberlain Walker, February 8, 1850, in Forest Grove
8. Samuel Thompson Walker, May 2, 1852, in Forest Grove, Oregon

Shortly after their 1838 marriage, Elkanah and Mary traveled with The Mission Party of 1838 to Oregon Territory, originally settling (and helping to found) the Tshimakain Mission in what is now Ford, Washington, USA.

Mary's diary (along with that of fellow Mission Party of 1838 pioneer wife, Myra Eells) were published as a book by the University of Nebraska.

Mary and her husband Elkanah Walker's personal papers are currently housed at the Oregon Historical Society, in the Davies Family Research Library.

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia Entry for Mary (Richardson) Walker

• Wikipedia Entry for Mary (Richardson) Walker

• On to Oregon: The Diaries of Mary Walker and Myra Eells Mary Richardson Walker, Myra Fairbanks Eells, University of Nebraska Press, 1963. (link is to online preview of book, but it appears to only be available for purchase in print)

• Guide to the Elkanah and Mary Walker papers, 1828-1885, Northwest Digital Archives, Oregon Historical Society]

• Death Date & location for Mary Richardson Walker at all-biographies.com Mrs. Mary Richardson Walker