John Walker Sr (1770 - 1835)

Born 1770 in Cherokee Nation East

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Lowrey) Walker — married 1800 in Cherokee Nation East

Descendants

Died 1835 at about age 65 in Tennessee, USA

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Biography

John was Cherokee.

John Walker was born about 1773 in the Cherokee Nation, the son of Ka-ti, a Cherokee woman, and a white man named John Walker. He married three times, first to a Cherokee woman whose name is unknown. They were the parents of a son, Carter "Thigh". His second wife was Ann Durant; they had no children together. His third wife was Elizabeth Lowrey, also Cherokee. They were the parents of John, Jr.. ^[1]

John fought with Gideon Morgan's Cherokee regiment against the Muscogee (Creek) in the War of 1812 with the rank of Major. ^[2] He was a signer of the treaties of 1806, ^[3] 1817, ^[4] and 1819. ^[5] He took a reservation of land "to include his dwelling home and ferry" under the Treaty of 1819. ^[6]

He settled in the Calhoun area of Tennessee, ran a ferry along the Hiwassee River, was the founder of the town of Calhoun, Tennessee, and was one of the founders of McMinn County. ^[7]

He and his son, John "Jack" Walker, Jr. were supporters of the ‘Treaty Party’ which believed that the Cherokee should not wait for the U.S. Government to take their land and force removal, but should move west on their own. Major John may have attempted to murder John Ross in Washington, DC in 1819. ^[8] His son, Jack, Jr. was murdered following a council meeting at Red Clay, TN, in 1834. Major Walker believed that this was a political assassination ordered by John Ross and went to Ross’ home with the intent to kill him. Ross was closely guarded and the attempt failed. ^[9]

Major John Walker died in 1835. Elizabeth appears alone on the 1835 Cherokee Census.

Research Notes

There were three male relatives named John Walker ...

.1 John Walker, I - a white man, m: Ka-ti (Indian woman)

..2 John Walker, II - son of the above (m: Elizabeth Lowrey) variously referred to as John Walker, Jr. and John Walker, Sr.

...3 John "Jack" Walker, III - son of the above (also referred to as John Walker, Jr.).

The third John Walker (III) was a member of the Treaty Party and was murdered following the council at Red Clay in 1834. The second and third John Walkers are often confused or combined with each other.

Sources

1. ↑ Hampton, David K. Cherokee Mixed-Bloods. Arc Press of Cane Hill, Lincoln, Arkansas. 2005
2. ↑ National Park Service, Horseshoe Bend Muster Roll Muster
3. ↑ Treaty digitized at 1806
4. ↑ Treaty digitized at 1817
5. ↑ Treaty digitized at 1819
6. ↑ Baker, Jack D. transcriber. Cherokee Emigration Rolls 1817-1835. Baker Publishing Co., Oklahoma City, OK. 1977. Original Records: National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs 1793-1999. p. 13, transcript of documents in the Records of the Cherokee Agency in Tennessee.
7. ↑ History of Tennessee: McMinn, Southern Historical Press, 1980; reprint of Goodspeed Publishing Co., Nashville, 1886.
8. ↑ Anderson, Brown, Rogers, eds., The Payne-Butrick Papers. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 2010. Vol. 1, p. 185
9. ↑ King, Duane and Evans, E. Raymond. 'The Death of John Walker, Jr.' Journal of Cherokee Studies v1 #1 Summer 1976 p4-16

• "Cherokee Ferry Crossings" by Tony Holmes; Journal of East Tennessee History #62; 1990

• "History of the Cherokee Indians and Their Legends and Folk Lore" Emmett Starr & The Warden Company of Oklahoma City, OK in 1921.