William Wallace Walker Jr. (1844 - 1901)

Born 12 Aug 1844 in Tensas Parish, Louisiana

Husband of Nancy Emelina Alice (Routh) Walker — married 29 Jan 1863 in Schulenburg, Fayette, Texas, United States

Husband of Eudocia Agnes (Henderson) Walker — married 23 Feb 1876 in Schulenburg, Fayette, Texas, United States

Descendants

Died 5 May 1901 at age 56 in Schulenburg, Fayette County, Texas

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Biography

Dr. William Wallace Walker, Jr. was born August 12, 1844 in Tensas Parish, Louisiana, and died May 5, 1901 in Schulenburg, Fayette County, Texas. Son of William Wallace Walker Sr. and Evaline Smalley.

He married 1st Nancy Emelina Alice Routh January 29, 1863. She was born December 1, 1847 in Chickasaw County, Mississippi and died July 30, 1875 in Fayette County, Texas, daughter of Dr. Kenzie Routh and Amanda Melvina Murrell. He married 2nd Eudocia Agnes Henderson February 23, 1876. She was born July 2, 1848 and died November 6, 1935 in Schulenburg, Fayette County, Texas, daughter of Col. Alfred Henderson and (FNU) Callaway.

He was attending Emory College, at Oxford, Georgia, when the Civil War broke out. He quit his studies and returned home to enlist in Captain Isaac F. Harrison's Company A (also known as the Tensas Cavalry), of Colonel Wirt Adams' Regiment of Mississippi Cavalry in Tensas Parish on February 28, 1862.

Dr. Walker's obituary mentioned that he distinguished himself at the battle of Shiloh and was wounded. After the battle of Shiloh, Wirt Adam's Regiment remained in observation of the Union army. During a reconnaissance on April 8, 1862, Captain Harrison's company, in which Dr. Walker served, was specifically cited for a brilliant charge that resulted in the capture of sixty prisoners. During the Siege of Corinth in May 1862, Captain Harrison's "Tensas Cavalry" was again commended for the capture of an additional forty prisoners. Colonel Adams' regiment played an important part in operations against General (then Colonel) Phil Sheridan's command near Booneville on July 1, 1862. Colonel Adams especially complimented Captain Harrison and his men in his after-action report.

During the spring of 1863, Captain Harrison's "Tensas Cavalry" became the nucleus of his newly- formed Fifteenth Louisiana Cavalry Battalion. This new unit continued the fine record of its predecessor and was reorganized, and redesignated the Third Louisiana Cavalry Regiment late in 1863 and early 1864. Not long after being reorganized, Colonel Harrison's 3rd Louisiana Cavalry was reported on "Special Service" in the District of North Louisiana. During this period, the regiment was most likely performing duties of a clandestine nature such as scouting, spying, and carrying out acts of small-scale sabotage. In the spring of 1864, the regiment's "Special Service" details ended and it returned to regular duty. The 3rd Louisiana Cavalry continued to distinguish itself until the end of the war. The regiment was officially surrendered with all the other Trans-Mississippi troops at Galveston, Texas, on June 2, 1865.

Before mustering out of his regiment, Walker had married Emma Alice Routh on January 29, 1865, daughter of Dr. Kenzie Routh, a well-known and successful physician in the Pinoak or Tuttle Store section of Fayette County in Texas. After the end of the war he settled on one of Dr. Routh's farms. Realizing he couldn't support his family by manual labor, he moved to New Orleans to attend Tulane University, graduating in 1871 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He then returned to Texas, first setting up his practice in LaGrange, in Fayette County, but later moving to Cistern in the same county.

From Cistern, Dr. Walker moved his practice to High Hill in Fayette County. He remained in practice there until the Southern Pacific Railroad was extended through Schulenburg in the same county, when he joined the mass exodus of other High Hill residents to that new railroad town.

The Spanish-American War of 1898 was the perfect opportunity for ex- Confederate Veterans to prove their patriotism to the nation that was still recovering from the effects of the Civil War, and Dr. Walker was among them.

He demonstrated his patriotism by proposing to raise a company of volunteers for the war. In a letter to his friend, Ford Rose, dated April 15, 1898, he wrote: "I know this letter will make your mother angry at me and tear her hair and paw up the earth like my wife has been doing the past week, but there are times when mothers (like my own in 1861) and wives must not interfere with duty. I expect to raise a Cavalry Co. as soon as our tardy government gets ready to call for volunteers." He continued his letter by stating he had authority to raise a company from Governor Charles A. Culberson and General W. H. Mabry, and offered Rose a commission in his company. He told Rose that he hoped to get as many Texas A & M University "boys" to fill the command positions as possible. He then stated that "I know from 4 years experiance [sic][in the Civil War], I could soon get my boys to know how to obey Genl N.B. Forrest's order to charge viz.[namely], 'Mix with them boys'."

After raising his company which became Troop G (also known as the "Schulenburg Cavalry") of the First Texas Cavalry, United States Volunteers, he was commissioned a captain in the state capital of Austin on May 5, 1898.

The regiment was then transferred to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio on June 9, 1898. Some of the troops were later distributed to other forts throughout Texas, but Captain Walker's Troop G stayed at Fort Sam Houston. Captain Walker was also detailed as a recruiting officer on special orders to Eagle Lake, Texas from 26 to 27 June 1898.

The 1st Texas Cavalry Regiment was not destined to see action in Cuba. This must have been a bitter disappointment for Dr. Walker as he later wrote in a letter to the editor of the "Schulenburg Sticker" (September 8, 1898 edition): "I would have given one of my ears to have led Troop "G" in a charge, fear my hopes are passed forever unless some complications may arise over the Philippines." The boredom of stateside service was probably too much for this old cavalryman. When it became obvious his regiment would not see action he wired General George M. Sternberg, Surgeon-General of the Army, to offer his services as a surgeon on detached duty, and requested that he be sent to Cuba.

Dr. Walker then received Special Orders from the War Department dated August 13, 1898, to report immediately to Tampa, Florida, to take the first available transport to Santiago. When he arrived in Tampa, the officer in charge told Dr. Walker that no orders had been received to transport him to Cuba. The officer wired General Sternberg for instructions who replied: "Give a responsible position, Dr. Walker is one of the outstanding physicians and surgeons of the South."

Upon his arriving in Cuba, Dr. Walker was assigned to duty on General William R. Schafter's staff and then to General Henry W. Lawton's staff when General Schafter was relieved from duty. After serving actively in the field, he was reassigned to General Bates' staff. General Bates then ordered him to accompany the 164 sick and wounded men of the First Illinois Infantry Regiment on board the troopship S.S. Berlin on its return trip to Camp Wikoff at Montauk Point on Long Island, New York. While on board the S.S. Berlin, Walker chanced to meet his son, Lieutenant Kenzie Walker, who was cited for gallantry as adjutant of the Ninth U.S. Cavalry in its assault on San Juan Hill. Lieutenant Walker, who bore an amazing resemblance to his father, would rise to the rank of Major General in the army.

Dr. Walker reached Montauk Point on August 31 and was placed in charge of the officers' ward in the general hospital at Camp Wikoff by order of Major General Joseph Wheeler. General "Fighting Joe" Wheeler was one of the most famous ex-Confederates to serve in the Spanish-American War. The General's daughter, Annie Wheeler, was head nurse at the officers' ward . It was Dr. Walker's painful duty to tell her that her brother, Lieutenant Wheeler, who had served on her father's staff had drowned. For the three weeks that Dr. Walker was in charge of the ward only one patient died.

Major General Wheeler, Commander of Camp Wikoff, said: "In the space of less than three weeks, twenty thousand soldiers, fully half of whom were suffering from diseases contracted in Cuba, were landed upon the barren fields of Montauk Point." During its operation one hundred twenty-six men died at Camp Wikoff. Needless to say, the conditions at the camp and the resulting deaths caused a national scandal. Dr. Walker was at Camp Wikoff when he wrote a letter to the editor of the "Schulenburg Sticker" (September 8, 1898 edition) stating that : "This is a terrible place and time, it makes my heart bleed to see so many of my countrymen and comrades dying for wan't [sic] of proper medicine and treatment and the gross negligence and heartlessness of the medical staff. Right here in 100 miles of New York I cannot get medicines for typhoid fever, or chlorinated soda to wash out the bowels in typhoid fever and dysentery [cases], the two principal diseases killing our boys. . . . There is gross mismanagement some where and it is costing many lives. Too many politicians and rich men's sons are appointed to office. It is 10.a.m. and some of the doctors have not yet visited their wards to prescribe for the sick. I was at work at 5:30 a.m. I can't tolerate this kind of work."

Dr. Walker became so disheartened at what he saw that he wrote in the same letter, "I reported my arrival to General Sternberg for orders and asked him to send me to my Reg. I could do 100 times more good here but I am disgusted at mismanagement and wan't [sic] of care and common humanity exhibited by the medical staff. I am heartily ashamed of my profession." He then received special orders dated September 19, 1898, relieving him from duty with the Medical Department and returning him to his regiment in San Antonio.

While Dr. Walker was on special orders, his regiment was becoming increasingly upset over not seeing any actual service at the front. The only action the regiment saw was an epic battle with bedbugs as reported in the local paper and the troopers barely won. Since the men were not going to see any actual combat they were anxious to be discharged, but the mustering out orders were slow in coming. Upon his return to Fort Sam Houston, Captain Walker took care of all the unfinished business with Troop G and tendered his resignation effective November 1, 1898. The regiment was mustered out of United States service on November 14, 1898.

After serving as a surgeon in Cuba, Dr. Walker returned to Schulenburg to continue his practice until his death on May 5, 1901. According to his daughter, on many occasions he would arrive home with icicles on his beard and so cold that he had to be helped off his horse. His last illness was contracted while returning from a charity case under such conditions.

Dr. Walker was a Master Mason, and from 1869 until his death, a member of the Baptist Church. He also served as adjutant and commander of Camp B. Timmons United Confederate Veterans and was among the many thousands who attended the great Confederate reunion in Houston, Texas in May 1895. (Contributor: Lonestar (47672736 FAG)

Dr. William Wallace Walker, Jr. is buried at Schulenburg City Cemetery in Schulenburg, Fayette County, Texas.Contributor: Lonestar (47672736) FAG

Will

Case # 2268 Estate of William Wallace Walker, M. D. Eudocia Agnes Henderson Walker informs the Court that her husband, William Wallace Walker, had died on 1901 in the town of Schulenburg, Texas, leaving property valued at $8,000.00 or more, and a will. WILL 1. States that he was of sound mid else I would not be able to write the same, and fully realizing that the best lawyers do not write wills that are not broken, he expresses the hope that his children will respect his wishes as expressed in the will. 2. Life insurance of $5,000 - pay to each child $50 as follows: Edwin R Walker, William H Walker, Kenzie W Walker, Mary M Walker, Emma Walker, Felton Walker The first for named children "Being children of my first wife, Emma A Routh", having been paid in full. 3. All other property of whatever kind devised to wife. Date 5-23-1896 Witnesses: F C Walters & C Neumann Will filed: 3 August 1901 Inventory- Lots 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 - Blk 10 Schulenburg, Texas $3,000.00 Appraisers: Fred Ebeling, William Voelkel, H Graf Date: 1-2-1902

Sources

• 1850 United States Federal Census
• 1860 United States Federal Census
• 1880 United States Federal Census
• 1900 United States Federal Census
• Directory of Deceased American Physicians, 1804-1929
• Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current
• Daughters of the American Revolution

Lineage Book : NSDAR : Volume 096 : 1912 Pg. 265

• Texas, Index Card Collections, 1800-1900
• Texas, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1817-1965
• Texas, U.S., Death Certificates, 1903-1982
• Texas, U.S., Marriage Index, 1824-2017
• U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995
• U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934
• U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current
• U.S., Returns from Military Posts, 1806-1916
• U.S., Spanish American War Volunteers Index to Compiled Military Service Records, 1898

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