William Alexander Walker (abt. 1770 - 1824)

Born about 1770 in Greenbrier, Rockbridge, Colony of Virginia

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 22 Jan 1824 at about age 54 in Upper Sandusky, Wyandot, Ohio, United States

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Biography

William was born about 1770 "in or near Green Brier, some of his relatives say, Rockbridge County, Va." ^{[1] [2]} He was the son of John Walker IV and Elizabeth Long. ^[3]

YDNA analysis suggests William was actually related paternally to another line of Walkers from Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. He may be related to the Wigton Walkers maternally.^[4]

Capture by the Delawares

William was captured by a war party of the Delawares in the early part of the summer of 1781. He would have been about eleven years old then. ^{[1] [5]}

William "had been abducted by the Delaware Indians from his home in Virginia when he was about eleven years old. Later ransomed by Adam Brown, he was brought up in the Wyandott tribe and married Catherine Rankin, a French and Wyandott woman. He was the government sub-agent under John Johnson." ^[6]

According to Wyandot historian and archivist Thelma Marsh,

Young William was taken from Greenbrier County, Virginia and brought to the Delaware settlement on the Whetstone Creek, now Delaware, Ohio. Here he was adopted into a family who treated him very well. It is not known just how long he remained with this family, but probably four or five years. The Delawares and the Wyandotts met in a large body at Detroit. Here a white man by the name of Adam Brown saw Walker and recognized him. He had known his family in Virginia, for Brown had been captured by the Wyandotts after he was a grown man, and had been adopted into the Wyandott Tribe. Brown decided to ransom young Walker from the Delawares. This took considerable time in negotiations, and some stretching of customary proceedings, but it was done. The family he had lived with was to get valuable presents from the King's store-blankets, clothes, guns, ammunition, etc. William Walker made his home with Adam Brown from then on until his marriage to Catherine Rankin. ^[7]

Marriage and Family

William married Catherine Rankin about 1789.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Connelly, William E. The Provisional Government of Nebraska Territory and The Journals of William Walker, Provisional Governor of Nebraska Territory, (Lincoln, NE: State Journal Company, 1899), 5; digital images, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/provisionalgover00conn :accessed 5 July 2022).
2. ↑ Hancks, Larry K., The emigrant tribes: Wyandot, Delaware & Shawnee, a Chronology in PDF format (Kansas City, KS: Larry K. Hancks, 1998), 284; electronic copy in Portable Document Format, Wyandot Nation of Kansas website (https://www.wyandot.org/wyandotKS/wyandot-history-in-kansas/) : originally downloaded 8 July 2022.)
3. ↑ White, Emma Siggins, Genealogy of the descendants of John Walker of Wigton, Scotland : with records of a few allied families, also war records and some fragmentary notes pertaining to the history of Virginia, 1600-1902 (Kansas City, Missouri : Tierman-Dart Printing Co., 1902), p. 6; digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/239000/ : downloaded 10 December 2022).
4. ↑ Analysis. Wigton Walker YDNA;" WeRelate (https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Analysis._Wigton_Walker_YDNA
5. ↑ Hancks, The Emigrant Tribes ___ ; p. 40.
6. ↑ "Ohio SP Walker, William, Jr., House," National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records: Ohio; National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records, 2013 - 2017; Record Group 79: Records of the National Park Service, 1785 - 2006; National Archives at College Park, Maryland; online version on 10 December 2022 available through the NARA online catalog at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71992076
7. ↑ Marsh, Thelma, "Walker Family," Wyandot Nation of Kansas website (https://www.wyandot.org/wyandotKS/walker-family/ : accessed 10 December 2022); excerpt from Thelma Marsh’s Moccasin Trails to the Cross.

See also:

• Marsh, Thelma G., "William Walker, Sr.," Thelma G. Marsh Collection (MS-193); Bowling Green, Ohio: Center for Archival Collection, Bowling Green State University, 1997; accessed via "Index cards of Wyandott tribe, Upper Sandusky, Ohio, ca. 1795-1910," FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS5D-NSQN-G : accessed 10 December 2022), FHL microfilm 2074379, Image Group 8271768; image 745 of 892.
• Marsh, Thelma R. Moccasin Trails to the Cross : A History of the Mission to the Wyandott Indians on the Sandusky Plains. Upper Sandusky, OH: John Stewart United Methodist Church, 1974.
• Find A Grave: Memorial #78362239
• "William Walker, The Wyandotte;" online profile, WeRelate (https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:William_Walker_%28130%29 : accessed 10 December 2022)
• "Analysis. Wigton Walker YDNA;" WeRelate (https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Analysis._Wigton_Walker_YDNA : accessed 10 December 2022).