George Washington Wesley Walker (1837 - 1915)

Born 10 Oct 1837 in Browningsville, Maryland, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Rachel Browning (Purdum) Walker — married 16 Jun 1858 in Purdum home, Browningsville, Montgomery Co, MD

Descendants

Died 7 May 1915 at age 77 in Browningsville, Maryland, United States

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Biography

1837 Birth and Childhood

George Washington Wesley Walker was born October 10, 1837 in Browningsville on the Walker farm which had come into the family through his mother's father, Peter Boyer. At his birth his father was 45 and his mother 32.

There was a log schoolhouse in Browningsville where Wesley Walker and the other children attended school. It was small--25 feet by 29 feet. Each side of the building had a window. A large fireplace was used for heating. "Along the sides of the room just under each window a board was nailed in a slanting position to form a desk. In front of this was placed a slab bench over which the children stepped to get seated." ^[1]

At the time Wesley Walker was in school -- approximately 1843-1851 -- no children there had store slate pencils. Children took slate from a vein of slate rock on the hillside between Browningsville and Bethesda Church, and shaped their own pencils. For studying at night, light came from the open fire place, tallow candles or an old grease lamp. Only in 1860 or 1865 were coal oil lamps first used in that community. "His teachers were "Uncle Jim" Purdum and Benjamin Burdette. "The school term lasted as long as the parents felt they could pay the teacher. It wasn't many months each year." Wesley's school days ended for him in 1851, at the age of 14. ^[1]

1850 Census

In 1850, Wesley Walker was at home with his family in Clarksburg, Montgomery County, Maryland. His father, George B. Walker, age 58 (born about 1792 in Maryland) was a farmer with real estate valued at $1800. ^[2] The household was comprised of

George B Walker 58

Margaret Walker 46

William Walker 23

Wesley Walker 13

Mary M Walker 8

Clarissa Deggs 18 (black, servant)

Music

Music was a life-long interest and dominant career theme. Although his formal schooling was ended, he never ceased a desire for learning, especially related to music. His daughter Parepa pictured him:

"as he worked on the farm with his father and brothers his mind was engaged with such problems as how churches could be educated away from hymn-line singing. The rattle of the mower, the thud of the thresher could never drown out the melodies of his visualized invisible choirs." ^[1]

"Into the community came a local teacher by the name of Baylis Booker. There came also to Damascus a blind man named Clayton, who did some teaching. From these men and `Uncle Tommy' Baker who was a note-singer, George Wesley got his first knowledge of the art he loved." ^[1]

"At that time the minister was the only member of the congregation who had a hymn book. He read two lines of the hymn and the congregation sang those lines; then he read two more lines and the congregation again sang. How everybody got the same pitch I do not know. Someone guessed it, I presume, and the rest followed. This unsatisfactory method caused my father's desire for a musical instrument; he wanted a melodeon on which he could learn to play. A friend, Joshua Purdum, and father each ordered a melodeon. They arrived, but Grandfather Walker opposed the purchase to such an extent that father took his instrument to the home of his older brother, William. To his brother's home he would go to study and practice on his beloved instrument. Before long father married and brought his bride to live on his father's farm. I think grandfather had allowed the melodeon to come home even before the bride came." ^[3]

Courtship and Marriage (1858)

Adjoining the farm of George Bryan and Peggy Walker was the farm of John Lewis and Jemima King Purdum, with eight daughters and six sons, who were frequent playmates of the Walker children. Among them was a pretty little girl with black hair and black eyes named Rachel Browning Purdum. Years later it would be remembered that in the summer of 1840, when Wesley was not quite three years old, while watching carpenters building an addition to the house, he said, "See here mans, Rachie 'n' me's going to live here." ^[1]

Born July 16, 1835, and two years older than Wesley, Rachel attended school in the same log school house.

Wesley and Rachel were finally married June 16, 1858 by the Rev. Alfred Baker , at the Purdum house in the presence of immediate family and a few friends and Wesley brought `Rachie' home to live. ^[1] Their honeymoon took them to Washington, D.C., "where a few days were spent in seeing the many places of interest."

Singing Schools and Organ Sales

"In 1858, the year he was married, George Wesley Walker took his blackboard and tuning fork and on horseback rode off to organize his first singing school in "Old Brown's Church", near Long Corner, Howard County. It was about the year 1864 he and his brother-in-law Joshua Purdum, each purchased a melodian. This musical instrument he of¬ten carried in his buggy to his singing school in the early days of his teaching." ^[1]

"Father carried his blackboard and other equipment on horseback. Later he used a sulky with a box under the seat in which he could place his melodeon and blackboard and chart. There was room for only one on the sulky, but when he wanted to take a companion he placed a board on the top of the sulky seat. ^[3]

At first, musical instruments were rare in the Browningsville area. "Until about 1866 there were only three pianos in that section of Montgomery County. They were owned by Luther G. King of King's Valley; P. M. Smith of Damascus, and William Boyer, of Browningsville. Thus a significant need was there to fill, when, "at an early age he secured the position of salesman for pianos and organs. . He was especially interested in organs in churches. In some communities this effort met with great opposition as there were many people who did not believe in `Worshipping God with a chist of whistles'. The first church into which he succeeded in placing an organ was Bethesda M. E., Browningsville. Records show that he sold more than 1000 pianos and organs in as many homes. ^[1]

"After teaching a few years there were so many demands for his service that he spent much of his time teaching. Some times he had one class in the afternoon and another at night. He usually taught two terms, 13 lessons in a term, at one dollar a person. During the first term he taught the essentials or rudiments of music from a chart and a blackboard.

"First the pupils were taught to sing the scale of C by sounding the tones, then by naming them as, do, re, me, fa sol, la, si do. In teaching the rhythms of the exercises father required each student to use the hand in keeping the time. When the class could sing the C scale tones in succession and by skips another scale was developed and learned.

"The book which was used in the second term was the "New Lute of Zion". The first 38 pages of this book are called the "Music Teacher". It gives the fundamentals of singing and playing. Two-thirds of the hymns therein are printed with each part on a separate staff. The tenor is on the first staff, alto next below, soprano next, and bass at the bottom of the group. At the close of the second term the class gave a musical program and invited the public. Father talked rapidly, was enthusiastic and kept interest to a high pitch." ^[3]

"Father had marvelous energy and endurance. Many were the times he worked on the farm or with his threshing machine all day and then drove to his singing school at night and back home to work the next morning. Perhaps the fact that he drove a trusty horse and slept as the horse jogged along helped him to be ready for work next morning. Sometimes when he roused from his nap on wheels his horse would be eating by the road¬side, it may have been that father was snoring a solo which suggested to his horse to take refreshment by the way. ^[4]

Travel: The First Kansas Trip, 1859

Both Wesley and Rachel were fond of travel. "The plan my wife and I took to make the hard places in life easy, the rough places smooth, and the heavy burdens light, was the making of many visits to friends and kin in different States of the Union....Next after our wedding trip was a two thousand mile run across the Mississippi and Missouri rivers as far west as Kansas, spending some time en route with friends in Virginia and Ohio. This was an even hundred day excursion greatly en¬joyed by us." ^[5]

"He was fond of travel and in 1859 went to Kansas in company with Asbury Bell (husband of Rachel's sister Mariamne) and Eben Beall and their wives, when traveling was done in the old jersey wagon. He took up 160 acres of land two miles east of Lawrence. That farm has been resold several times but today bears the name of `Walker Mound'. ^[1]

The Kansas trip of 1859 has an interesting context. In 1854 a small civil war had begun between Missouri border ruffians and Kansas free soilers. "John Brown and his sons had just a few years previously murdered several innocent people with broad swords. I've often wondered why Prof. Walker would travel hundred of miles to the most dangerous place in the U. S. at that time. One answer might be that a New England organization was offering financial compensation to easterners who pledged to move to Kansas in order to ensure that Kansas would enter the Union as a free state during the late 1850's. Prof. Walker may have been motivated by that desire." ^[6]

Civil War

On August 18, 1860, Wesley Walker's father, George Bryan Walker, died.

During the Civil War, Wesley Walker directed his energy to making sure the important community institutions continued. "I remember so well, when a small boy, how in civil war times when it tried the souls of men to be true to the Sunday School and church, Prof. Walker and Brother Samuel Hobbs, who still survives him, how they stood the storm and bore the burdens and responsibilities of the work. Prof. Walker led the singing and taught us to sing the old songs that made hearts glad. ^[7]

In October 1862 Confederate soldiers were in the area, probably those under command of General J.E.B Stuart, who raided James W. Burdette's farm nearby. "Professor Walker instructed several farm hands to take his horses along with the horses of close neighbors deep into the upper woods. These horses were supposedly hidden by a large white oak tree in a slight depression in the woods north of their cabin." ^[6]

"One day a soldier came walking up the farm lane to Prof. and Rachel Walker's cabin. The soldier was apparently ill, and Prof. Walker took him into his home... Soon after, the soldier died...Prof. Walker wrote to the soldier's parents...but as the family was poor, they instructed Prof. Walker to bury their son...The soldier was buried in the family grave plot on Mendelssohn Terrace Farm, alongside Prof. Walker's parents and Captain and Mrs. Peter Boyer." ^[6]

The Civil War supplied at least one of the farm hands on the Walker farm. " David King "probably came to Browningsville either during or shortly after the Civil War." He had been a member of Company B, 37th Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment, called the "Virginia Mountain Boys." and had enlisted at Abingdon, VA on 22 April 1861. King had been wounded rather severely in one arm and settled in Browningsville as a shoe maker. He also worked as a day laborer on farms in the area, including Prof. Walker's. ^[6]

Wife and Mother (1864-1880)

Wesley and Rachel's first child, Mary Alice, was born in September, 1859, a little over a year after their wedding. Less than a year after that, George's father died, on August 18, 1860. But the children continued to arrive. A half year later, in March 1861, John Lewis was born. In 1864, when Miriam Augusta Webster was born and died in infancy, there were a five and three year old at home on the Walker farm. Two years later Margaret Jemima Roberta arrived, followed by William Alfred Baker in a little less than another two years. Christmas 1867 saw a family of Wesley (30), Rachel (31), Mary Alice (8), John Lewis (6), Roberta (almost 2), and William (2 months).

Rachel..."was the backbone of our home life. It was she who saved the butter and egg money and educated most of her children. Mother was very saving. [She] could spin and weave. [She] made her own tallow candles and loved to cook in the fireplace. Her corn pones that were baked in an old-time Dutch oven were grand. Also her pot roasts cooked in the fireplace were splendid... She had a wonderful recipe for curing hams. [She] also made her own chip beef. In her days very little was bought at the store. Economy, kindliness and love were her characteristics." ^[8]

Since "father's work called him from home much of his time, and that gave mother more responsibilities. She kept the home fires burning and did much to help her children take their places in the world." "To his wife's standing by qualities he owed much of his success." ^[1]

"She was one of the early members of the Methodist Protestant Church [Providence Church, in Kemptown], joining it in girlhood and remaining a member all her life [notwithstanding her husband's very active membership in Bethesda M. E. Church]. She contributed to that church and also to the Methodist Episcopal church to which her family belonged. She was a liberal giver to foreign missions. Other philanthropies receiving her contributions were the Good Templars, the W.C.T.U. Women's Temple of Chicago, and Famine Funds for China and India." ^[8] "She did not confine herself to one denomination or creed, but helped wherever and whenever occasion demanded. ^[9]

Like Wesley, she enjoyed music all her life. She attended singing schools when young and sung alto. As a mother, she allowed her children time to practice on musical instruments.

"Mother did most of the doctoring of our minor illnesses. She was raised in days when doctors were scarce and her mother had taught her how to gather and prepare the herbs and roots for different ailments. We all loved our mother and she had a wonderful knack of comforting us in time of trouble." ^[8]

"Mother was very intuitive. She always seemed to know what was going to happen ahead of time and it was very difficult to keep a secret from her. She could read your thoughts." ^[8]

The Second Kansas Trip and Other Travels - 1869

In 1869, ten years after the first trip, "with his wife and little two-year old son William A., ...he made the second trip to Kansas. Mary Alice, 10, John Everett, 8, and Margaret Jemima Roberta, 3, were not mentioned on the trip. This trip was intended as a permanent move. A farm was obtained outside of Lawrence, Kansas, which may be the land today known as "Walker's Mound." But "Rachel hated Kansas and was homesick for Maryland." In the end, Maryland attachments were too strong- -the idea of a home in the West was abandoned. ^[1]

"We planned with much interest our next trip, and enjoyed every hour of the journey to Minnesota, where we heard W. J. Bryan lecture at the State fair. Coming east on our return, we stopped with friends in Illinois and Indiana (also spent a short time in Cincinnati), thence to Washington, D.C., and home, after an absence of sixty days.^[5]

Summer Singing Schools - 1870

"In the summer of 1870, father attended Dr. Lowell Mason's Summer Normal School in Florida, N. Y. Getting a glimpse of better things ahead, he was unwilling to go on without being better trained himself, so a year later he again attended Dr. Mason's school in Binghamton, N.Y. In these summer schools he had the help of Chester G. Allen, Dr. Mason, Theodore F. Seward and others. For years afterward father and Mr. Seward, the editor of "The New York Musical Gazette", exchanged letters. In one edition of Seward's publication, Prof. Walker described his music teaching:

"I find it to be a great pleasure instead of a task to teach, through the valuable instructions received at the Normal. I am enabled to teach the subject in such a simple manner that I have no difficulty in bringing every pupil to a clear understanding of each department. With the Music Teacher and your chart the work is truly delightful." ^[3]

There were also moments of discouragement:

"We have felt especially interested in his work on account of the difficulty of the field in which he was laboring. Music is in about as low a state in his vicinity as in any section of the country, we should judge. He attended the Normal at Florida in 1870, against the advice of friends who urged him to have nothing to do with those `Northern humbugs.' He was at Binghamton last summer, but remained only a part of the term on account of sickness in his familiy. There has been so little appreciation of his efforts that he had felt much discouraged at times, but has lately had a very pleasant lift. At the dedication of a new church in the town where he lives, Rev. J. H. Dashiel, of Georgetown, officiated, and the president of the Maryland Annual Conference was present and had an opportunity to hear the singing of Mr. Walker's choir and both were so delighted and expressed their approbation so strongly that the townspeople are also stimulated to a better show of appreciation. Persevere, friend Walker, the truth will prevail sooner or later." ^[3]

Commotion over a Church Dedication - 1872

One account which appeared in Seward's publication read:

"Our friend, G. W. Walker, who will be remembered by Normals of 1870 and 1871, has recently passed through an experience that differs from anything that has heretofore come to our knowledge. It seems he has trained a choir that is so superior to any other in that part of the country, that its reputation has extended very widely. It is known as the Bethesda choir, being connected with the church of that name. A short time since, another church was erected in the same neighborhood, and Mr. Walker was requested to assist with his choir at the dedication services of the new building. This invitation was cordially accepted, and no remuneration whatever was expected for the assistance either of the choir or its leader.

It happened that there was in the new church no special place for the choir, and, as the chorus was quite a large one, Mr. Walker very properly asked the privilege of convening the choir in the church on the evening previous to the dedication, for the purpose of assigning to each singer his proper position. Strange to say, this request was refused. It was made a second time, and again refused. Mr. Walker therefore felt that no course remained for him to pursue but to withdraw the promise of his assistance.

He was afterward approached by the committee of arrangements and earnestly requested to propose terms on which he would renew the engagement. He finally offered to do it if the sum of $20 was placed at his disposal, half of which would be used towards paying the debt of the church and half to be invested in books for the choir, but not one cent for Mr. Walker's personal benefit. This proposition was rejected, and not only that, but Mr. Walker has since been subjected to the meanest possible treatment on account of it. In a private letter he says, "The event has caused a great commotion in our community. Some of my best friends are connected with the new church, and are greatly enraged with myself and the choir." He wishes to know whether his course is justifiable; to which we reply that he did exactly right, and those who abuse him for it must be the most un¬reasonable beings on the face of the earth. We hope Mr. Walker will stand firmly in the dignified position he has assumed." ^[10]

The Property Secure (1875)

"By deed dated December 20, 1875, George obtained clear title to the property from his brothers and sisters....In about 1880, he commissioned John Mount, a local builder, to build a Gothic Revival style manor house, which he named Mendelssohn Terrace. The house is a three bay by five bay, two and a half story , L-shaped frame house sitting on a hill, facing south, overlooking the valley of Bennett Creek. The front porch has a flat roof, with a turned balustraded railing and four wooden columns for support. There are three cross gables on the south elevation, each with eight-light Gothic windows. The home has been placed on the Historic Register...For more than fifty years, Mendelssohn Terrace was the musical and literary center of the area...Local choirs and schools gathered there and George played the organ in the Bethesda United Methodist Church near his home for more than fifty-six years. ^[11]

Mendelssohn Terrace is a Maryland Historical site. ^[12]

The Family Complete (1880)

More children joined the family. In 1870 it was Rosabelle, who would later die of typhoid at the age of 21; Fidelia Seward (Della) in 1871, Parepa in 1872 and Vivia in 1874--four girls in close order. On March 17, 1872 Wesley's mother died. Six years later the last child, a boy named Muller would be born, in that room of the "old house on the Walker farm called the preacher's bedroom. ^[8]

Rachel was often at home caring for her family while Wesley travelled, but as her family grew older she too was able to express her fondness for going places. She attended the U. S. Centennial in 1876 in Philadelphia. Later in life she visited in Virginia, Illinois, Minnesota, Ocean Grove, New Jersey, Floral Park, New York. When she was less engaged with family cares Rachel turned to growing flowers. [She] took pride in a half barrel filled with colla lilies and a variety of chrysanthemums blooming in the green house in winter time. [She] was fond of reading and enjoyed someone reading to her while she knit or sewed. ^[4]

At Christmas of 1880 the family was complete: Wesley at 43, Rachel at 44, Mary Alice 21, John Lewis 19, Roberta 13, William 13, Rosabelle 10, Della 9, Parepa 8, Vivia 6, and Muller, 5 months.

In 1953, Della recalled her childhood in those days. "In the old log house on the farm ...I...was born August 11, 1871. The old house is now nearly all on the ground...A bedroom adjoined the kitchen on the west. It was in this bedroom that I was born, probably. ^[13]

"A number of ancient oak trees grew on the slope of the hill between the house and spring at the foot of the hill sloping toward the west. Under these trees the four little sisters, Rosa, Della, Parepa and Vivia found ideal play room. The oak limbs hung long and near the ground. We could grasp a limb and swing out over the slope of the hill. Stones were plentiful with which we built rooms around the oak trees and dwelt there in play. Ethel Jean Hobbs often joined us in play. She was digging with a hoe one evening. I walked up near her just as she lifted her hoe to chop. The hoe struck me just above the eye. The scar is my gentle reminder of those happy childhood play days. ^[13]

North of the old Walker homestead was an apple orchard - Pippins, Catlins, Winesaps (sour), Brooks, Pearmean, and a pear tree. Yes, the pound apple tree grew there too. This orchard served several purposes. Fruit for the family and apple butter, a stimulant to good behavior for Mother called for apple tree switches to tame the trend to disobedience in her flock of gay ladies, four of which were born in five years. A small hen house stood in the orchard with door hinges that cried out as the wind blew it open and shut. It was a small door off the ground 12 or 14 inches. What a delightful place to play and climb an orchard is. It took but a few days for the cider to become intoxicating.^[13]

Before we were old enough to go to public school a mile and a half way we were sent to Sunday School. Aunt Martha Purdum was my teacher. I can recall sitting with my feet not able to reach the floor. If we stayed to church service after Sunday School we had been told to sit by the side of Aunt Eveline or Aunt Martha.

When we went to public school we had to walk 1 1/2 miles to "Light Hill School." Naturally, we did not go much in winter time. Part of the road was low, muddy and wet. We went much of the time in care of Mollie Purdum. She was our big sister at school, directing our play and keeping us doing what we should do. Mr. Charlie Browning, Mr. Titus Day, Cousin Fletcher Boyer were the teachers, I remember. We had to cross two creeks and smaller streams as well. Bennett's Creek, which runs through Browningsville, and another which crossed the road and emptied into Bennett's Creek. Sometimes summer rains would greatly increase the flow of water and we could not cross these streams without aid of horse and buggy. The water would rise to the side of a buggy. ^[13]

A daughter joins the Church – 1880

The Bethesda Methodist Episcopal Church property was adjacent to our farm. A few minutes walk from our home. Mother sent us to Sunday School at an early age. Perhaps some of us went without shoes in warm weather. Father was deeply interested in church affairs, especially the church music. The interest of the whole family centered in the church, so naturally the small children followed the example of the older ones and wanted to become Christians and members of the church.

In the years of my young life the program which led to church membership was like this: In the fall of the year protracted meetings were held--that is, night after night. The minister preached an evan¬gelistic sermon, then invited all who felt a desire to forsake their sins and had a wish to live Christ-like lives to come forward and kneel in prayer at the alter asking God to forgive their sins and promising Him to try to live a good life with His help. To me, a child of 9 years, I was not conscious of a sinful life. I had been told how God loves us and wanted our love in return, so to me it meant to show my love for God by trying to be good and do good and that would please God. Love and obedience, as I see it now, was what God wanted of us. We were allowed to join the church when we felt willing to try to meet this requirement. Sister Rosa, our cousins Florrie and Rosa Purdum and I joined church at the same time.

At that time a class meeting, so called, was held every other Sunday morning after Sunday School. At this meeting church members were called on by a leader to give some testimony concerning their spiritual experience. We small girls sat on the front seat of the so called "Amen Corner". Each in her own way responded when the leader called on us tell¬ing them we loved Jesus and wanted to live to please Him and please pray for us. ^[13]

State Temperance Alliance - 1881

Wesley Walker took stands, first against tobacco, then against alcohol. "I remember so well how he stood like a rock that was immovable against the evil of the use of tobacco, and I remember how he taught us boys that people could make a good living without even raising it. He proved it, as he had given us an example. Then taking a stand against the use of cider, wine and all intoxicating liquors. Of course, we thought him a crank on all these things. But how we have been saying for years, now, 'Oh for many more cranks like him." ^[7]

"Father made cider for vinegar and drank cider mixed with milk. It took but a few days for the cider to become intoxicating...After the order of Good Templars was organized many people gave up the use of cider because there were some who abused themselves by using cider after it became in¬toxicating. The Good Templar lodge became popular and was the means of teaching many young people self-control as well as how to preside over a public meeting and to stand on their feet and express their thoughts. I joined the lodge when I was twelve years old. We took a pledge not to use any intoxicating liquors, wine, or cider. In 1881 father and his choir were invited to furnish music for the State Temperance Alliance meetings in Baltimore for three days and evenings. The Alliance agreed to pay for three quartets of singers, the leader and organist. Father took four quartets of singers." ^[13]

"He had a reputation as "zealous in the temperance cause," as one who "always stood for Prohibition. As agent for organs and pianos, he travelled far and near, but always carried with him tacks and hammer and placards, and on buildings, fences and trees he would tack up his temperance poster and mottos." ^[7]

Browningsville Cornet Band, 1884

One direct result of his interest in music was the organization of the Browningsville Cornet Band. William A. Walker, his second son, had studied cornet and played with the Plane No. 4 Band. The Browningsville group of men bought out the Plane No. 4 Band, and William Walker was the leader for a number of years. ^[1] The Browningsville Band was organized in 1884 in a Browningsville paint shop. ^[14] William Walker was 17 at the time. 75 years later in 1959, William's son Dwight was President of the Band.

Weddings at Mendelssohn Terrace (1889)

When the children were old enough to marry, many of the weddings took place at Mendelssohn Terrace. The first of the children to marry was Roberta in 1889 when she was 23. The following year, also at the age of 23, was William Alfred Baker. John Lewis Everett also married at this time.

The Literary Society (1890 - 1891)

The Walkers were involved in a Literary Society, as evidenced by the following clipping:

The Literary Society held a meeting in Linden Hall on Thursday night last. The attendance was very large despite the condition of the roads. The meeting was called to order at 7 o'clock, the president, Prof. G. W. Walker, presided. It was opened by singing by the choir, following the regular order of business.

Miss H. Emma Day played one of her choice selected solos. The question for debate was then announced in order by the president, which was, "Is the Mind of Woman Superior to that of Man." Rev. G. F. Kindley and Leonard Snyder, debaters in the affirmative; Misses Hattie Hobbs and A. E. Walker, in the negative. The question was very intelligently debated especially by the negative side, the decision of the judges was in the negative. The way the Misses Hobbs and Walker gave it to the "dumb" minds of the men was a caution to their listeners.

A very exquisite quartette was sang [sic] by Sally Lawson and M. R. Hobbs, Prof G. W. Walker and A. L. Burdette.

Reading--by Miss Rosie Walker.

"Old Maryland" was sang very elegantly by the little Misses Esther Hobbs, Earny Browning, Della Walker and Parepa Walker.

The noted soloist, Miss Addie Hobbs, sung "Twirchhaw Ferry." She held the audience spellbound as if by magic, and in conclusion brought down storms of applause.

Reading--by Miss Cassie Burdett. Solo, by Miss Mollie Purdum, organ accompaniment by Miss Alice Walker.

^[15]

The days of readings by Rosie would not last; Rosabelle died of typhoid at the age of 21 on July 28, 1891. ^[8]

Weddings at Mendelssohn Terrace (1893 - 1903)

Mary Alice Eudora, by then aged 34, in 1893 married Dr. Charles Scanlon and went to Three Churches, West Virginia to live. ^[16] Left at home that year were Della, 22, Parepa 21, Vivia, 19, and Muller, 13.

Wesley continued both farming and leading singing schools. "When he was home he was very stern and had little to say but when he was away from home he was very jovial, would sing funny songs and tell splendid jokes. I always enjoyed travelling with him....

"As a leader and director of amateur singers his equal was hard to find. I have attended meetings when the singing was at a very low ebb. Someone would say Prof. Walker is here and after he took charge you would never know it was the same people singing." ^[8]

In 1900 Vivia married at the age of 26 after waiting 7 years. "As Jacob of old worked and waited seven years for Rachael, so the Rev. Roby F. Day, pastor of St. Paul's M.P. Church, Inwood, worked and waited seven years for Vivia Walker, his wife....He was twenty-two when he asked Vivia Walker to marry him. He wonders now how he ever plucked up the courage, since his ministry was yet in the distance, his college days just beginning, and he didn't have a job nor a dollar...He said they would have to wait for marriage until he finished college, but he couldn't wait to ask her. Vivia Walker accepted him and said she would wait." At first the wait was to be five years; changes in program made it six. "I'll wait for you," she told him. He was coming close to the end of the sixth year when something else turned up and they tacked on another year--making it seven in all. "I'll wait for you," repeated Vivia Walker. Finally he was ordained on September 18, 1899, which was Vivia Walker's birthday. He spent the day in Illinois and she spent it in Maryland. They set the wedding day for December 4, 1899, and determined that, now that they had waited so long, the wedding would be a red letter event in the village. The church at Browningsville...was decorated as never before or since; the choir had arranged a special program, there were bridesmaids, ushers, flower girls--everything, for a high noon, history making ceremony.

At 11 A.M. it began to rain; at 11:30 the rain was coming down in sheets; at noon the flood gates had opened, and at one o'clock Browningsville was all but under water. There was a suggestion that the wedding be postponed. "Not this time!" said the Rev. Roby F. Day. "Like Jacob, I've waited seven years for Rachael, and today I take her -- in the face of a second Deluge!" And so they brought a minister to the house and were married with all of the 'trimmin's' left out. "And I've been the happiest man in the world ever since," says the Rev. Roby F. Day." ^[17]

In 1903, at the age of 23, Muller married Helen A. Day at the Providence Church, Kemptown. "The Browningsville Band, with lights in their hats to enable them to see the music, played several selections and the wedding march. Now, left unmarried at home were Parepa, aged 31; she would marry ten years later at the age of 41--and Della, aged 32; she would marry five years later at 37.

Later Travels

In a published excerpt entitled "My Wife and I," Wesley wrote of their travels later in life:

Having gotten the habit now of seeing places and things, as a matter of course, we took a week of sight seeing at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893.

We have many friends and kindred in Ohio, families who spent their youth in old Maryland, and these we visited when the spirit moved us to take the road again, spending most of a winter in delightful companionship with them.

Our next pleasure trip we made east instead of west, taking in Baltimore, Ocean Grove, N.J., attending the camp meeting several days, New York and Floral Park. Loving flowers with her whole soul, my wife here found the keenest delight in wandering through John Lewis Childs 300 acres of glorious color and perfume. We had for our guides W. U. Bird and wife, formerly of Damascus, Md., and most royal hosts they were, their hospitality and kindness making a very bright spot in our memory. Returning, we stopped again in New York, at Ocean Grove for several days and in Baltimore. During this itinerary we had our first boat ride on the great Atlantic Ocean.

Our pleasure excursions took us to ten different States, then of the thirteen largest cities of the country, also two World's Fairs, traveling about eight thousand miles, purely for recreation, in the prime of life and vigorous health, when our perceptions and enjoy¬ments of their delights were keenest. Since we can travel the path of life but once, how important it is that we lay aside the muck rake of labor and toil long enough and often enough to gather in the fragrant flowers in life's best days of youth and vigor, than to pile them on a closed coffin lid. ^[8]

Philanthropy

George Wesley Walker's "sympathies and interest went beyond the beautiful hills which limited the horizon of his home in upper Montgomery County. His name is on the charter of the Independent Order of Good Templars of Browningsville. He was one of the leaders in forming a Library Association and helped establish a public library in Browningsville. He kept religious and temperance tracts and enclosed one in the letters which he wrote. ^[1] At his death it was recalled, "his motto was, 'I try to do some good every day.'" ^[7]

Twenty years after his death, a daughter wrote, "He still lives in the hearts of the people because he lived for people. A famine in China--his choir gave a concert to raise money for relief; churches needing financial aid were helped with the same willingness. He never tired of singing the gospel into the hearts of people, nor creating temperance sentiment by means of prohibition songs. ^[1]

Golden Wedding Anniversary, June 16, 1908

At their 50th wedding anniversary, the following poem was read by their daughter Della:

O' Golden year of closest bond, Thy flight has been on speedy wing Too soon thou reached thy space of time And brought again the happy chime Of wedding bells to ring.

What store of treasures hath to these Who now this golden link unite; The years by God allotted brought? What deeds of worth by them been wrought How shines their soul life's light?

Full many a song has floated far From out their home toward the sky To bless the world; while in the home A sweeter song--too frail to roam-- The evening lullaby.

Life with its share of toil and strife Has not been void of happiness, And as old age comes gently down, It rests on them a hallowed crown Reward of faithfulness.

Father and mother, shed afar The light of life that makes souls free And may thy children always shine Reflecting God's truth and love divine Through all the years to be. ^[18]

Rachel's last years

Four months after the Golden Wedding Celebration, Rachel was stricken with a cerebral hemorrhage on October 29, 1908. She partially recovered and was able to go about but could not sew or knit. One hand was no longer normal. Though detained at home she remained interested in life around her and still wanted to hear an account of lodge meeting, church service, or entertainment. In failing health for these two years, her "condition did not take a serious turn until two months ago. Her second youngest daughter Parepa, a graduate nurse..efficiently ministered to her in her final illness." She died July 4, 1910, aged 75 years minus 12 days. "How serene Sister Walker looked in her beautiful casket, sweet contentment in her expression, and beautiful flowers strewn about her--flowers such as she had always loved to care for, as she was a true lover of flowrs. Her remains were tenderly borne to the cemetery by six nephews, the oldest sons of the six sisters residing in Maryland, viz. Messrs. Bradley Brandenburg, John Baker, John Penn, Fletcher Boyer, James Mullinix, and Lincoln Burdette. ^[9] Rev. Caleb Joshua Burdette, a first cousin of hers, conducted the funeral service from the 23rd Psalm in Bethesda M. E. Church Her will, dated July 10, 1910, was proved October 4, 1910 ^[19]

Wesley's Last Years.

In late life Wesley "presented to the world a face resembling the face of Abraham Lincoln. He was driving near Comus when a man met him and reported to Mr. Maxwell, a Comus merchant, that he saw Abe Lincoln driving down the road." A decade earlier, his brother-in-law Asbury Bell of Colorado, on seeing a photograph of Wesley, had written, "we could discover very perceptibly that age was leaving her traces on your features and there is in general appearance a very striking resemblance of old Uncle Abe. ^[4]

Father was fond of reading and always had interesting books and papers in his home. He subscribed to church, temperance, county and daily papers. I never saw him pick up secular papers to read on Sunday morning if awaiting breakfast or before going to church.

Father left this record in a book: "I have taught singing in 49 different churches and in 69 halls during my 50 years of teaching." He taught in Howard, Carroll, Frederick and Montgomery Counties. He sold pianos and organs all over the state. He sold to churches at wholesale, then sometimes gave a concert for them to help pay for the organ. He had led the singing at Bethesda Church for 56 years, had heard 65 pastors preach and had directed the music for 43, claiming "I never had an unpleasant word with any of them." ^[20]

His motto was "I try to do some good every day." ^[20] He kept at this until the very last. In 1993, in the attic of Mendelssohn Terrace, was found a book he had given his deaf grandson Gwynne, "Billy Sunday" The Man and His Message. On the inside cover was the inscription, "This book presented to John Raymond Gwynne Walker by his Grand Father G. W. Walker May 1st, 1915, with the Wish He Shall read every Word of it."

Wesley died May 7, 1915 at the age of 77. "Several days before the Lord called him home he was conscious that his physical strength was fast failing him, and two days before his death I received this note from him, 'I am waiting, only waiting with prospects bright of a happy meeting with my many friends that have gone on before. Tell my friends everywhere, fail in all else but be sure of a preparation to meet the death angel who is sure to call for us sooner or later.' He made his own funeral arrangements, attending to every detail, preacher, undertaker, pall bearers, music and the kind of funeral he desired--plain and no flowers, and the difference in cost between a plain and elaborate funeral to be given to missions." ^[7]

Rev. C. J. Burdette, a life-long friend, preached the funeral sermon on May 9, 1915. It was estimated that fifteen hundred people attended his funeral. ^[20]. His friend, Rev. Howard O. Keen, recalled the sermon text as II Tim 4:8; the text reads, "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." Roby F. Day recalled the text as I Tim 6:6,7,8, "the same text that was used at Grandfather Bryan Walker's." ^[21]

To his wife's 'standing-by qualities' he owed much of his success. ^[1] His will, dated May 16, 1914, was proved June 1, 1915. ^[22]

Burial

George Washington Wesley Walker (born 10 October 1837 on Walker Farm, near Browningsville, Montgomery County, Maryland; married 16 June 1858 on Purdum Farm, near Browningsville; died 7 May 1915 on Walker Farm, near Browningsville, Montgomery County, Maryland) and Rachel Browning Purdum (born 16 July 1835 the daughter of John L. Purdum and Jemima King; died 4 July 1910). Both are buried at Bethesda Church Cemetery, near Browningsville, Montgomery County, Maryland.^[23]

Children

They had eleven children, two of whom died in infancy. The ten of whom records have been kept are:

1. Mary Alice Eudora, b. Sept 15, 1859

2. John Lewis Everett, b. Mar 4, 1861

3. Miriam Augusta Webster (b. Feb 14 1864, d. in infancy)

4. Margaret Jemima Roberta, b. Jan 7, 1866

5. William Alfred Baker, b. Nov 1, 1867

6. Rosabelle (Jan 31 1870 - Jul 28 1891)

7. Fidelia Seward, b. Aug 11, 1871

8. Parepa Wesley Weed, b. Sep 11, 1872

9. Rachel Vivia Cochel , b. Sep 16, 1874

10. George Mendelssohn Muller, b. Jun 27, 1880

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14} Parepa W. Day, Mt. Airy Community Reporter (Mount Airy, Maryland), June 22, 1934
2. ↑ 1850 United States Census. Entry for George B. Walker Accessed 20 July 2023 jhd
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4} Della Walker Snyder, "Prof. George W. Walker, Father of Montgomery Singing Schools", Mt. Airy Community Reporter, September 7, 1934.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Fidelia Walker Snyder, "The Music Career of Prof. George W. Walker," Mt. Airy Community Reporter, September 7, 1934.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} G. W. W. Walker, My Wife and I, published excerpt, source unknown.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3} Gene Walker, correspondence, 31 July 1991
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4} C. J. Burdette, quoted by Rev. H. A. Keen (Pastor, Methodist Protestant Church, Hobbs, Caroline County, Md), "In Memoriam: Prof. G. W. Walker," Baltimore: The Methodist, Vol XXXVII, #34, Aug 26, 1915, p. 23
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7} George Muller M. Walker, Description written in 1942.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} "Beautiful Life of Mrs. Rachel Browning Walker", Ellicott City Times, July 16, 1910.
10. ↑ New York Musical Gazette, November 1872, in collection of Fletcher Boyer, quoted in Fidelia Walker Snyder, "The Music Career of Prof. George W. Walker," Mt. Airy Community Reporter, September 7, 1934
11. ↑ William Neal Hurley, Jr., The Walker Families: Book Two in the series "Our Maryland Heritage". Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books, 1997, p. 53
12. ↑ Maryland State Archives. [ https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/stagsere/se1/se5/016000/016300/016328/pdf/msa_se5_16328.pdf Mendelssoh Terrace] Accessed 30 August 2021 jhd
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5} Fidelia Seward Walker Snyder, Handwritten memoirs, 1953, copied by daughter in 1985.
14. ↑ James B. Rowland, "Cornet Band's 75 Years Outlive Newer Trends," Washington Evening Star, 1959
15. ↑ Clipping between c. 1890. Heading "Browningsville Items" March 2. Date must be 1891 or prior since Rosabelle is still living and Alice is Alice Walker (not yet married) in the article. A majority of participants are Walker descendants:

    G. W. Walker

    A. L. Burdette

    H. Emma Day

    Hattie Hobbs

    Rosie Walker

    Alice E. Walker

    Sally Lawson

    Cassie Burdette

    M. R. Hobbs

    Mollie Purdum

16. ↑ According to the marriage records of Bethesda Church, they were married "at the home of the bride." Source: Gene Walker
17. ↑ Clipping from newspaper, possibly Inwood, NY, on occasion of Rev. Roby Day's "27th consecutive recall to the congregation," about 1930.
18. ↑ Composed by Parepa Walker; read by Della Walker Snyder; in Stewart E. Walker, III, "Professor George Wesley Washington Walker, Pioneer Singing School Master," April 1, 1984. Appeared in Frederick News, June 19, 1908, page 5
19. ↑ Montgomery County Wills HCA 8:3346; Hurley, Walker, 54
20. ↑ ^{20.0 20.1 20.2} Howard O. Keen, "Prof. G. Wesley Walker", The Maryland Templar, June 1915, p. 17
21. ↑ "But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content." King James Version.
22. ↑ (MCW HCA 14:479)
23. ↑ Ancestor of Stewart E. Walker. DNA Participant 247593, Group-66

Acknowledgements

• Walker-22864 was created by Phil Brunner through the import of PhilipWilliamBrunner.ged on Sep 5, 2016.