Moses Fleetwood Walker (1856 - 1924)

Born 7 Oct 1856 in Mount Pleasant, Jefferson, Ohio, United States

Husband of Arabella C. S. (Taylor) Walker — married 9 Jul 1882 in Hudson, Lenawee, Michigan, United States

Husband of Ednah Jane (Mason) Walker — married 11 May 1898 in Lorain, Ohio, United States

Died 11 May 1924 at age 67 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio, United States

Problems/Questions Profile managers: US Black Heritage Project WikiTree [send private message] and Emma MacBeath [send private message]

Moses Walker is a part of US Black history. Join: US Black Heritage Project Discuss: black_heritage

Biography

Moses Walker is Notable.

Moses Walker was an Ohioan.

Moses Fleetwood Walker was the first Black American to play professional baseball in the major-leagues during his 1884 season with the Toledo Blue Stockings.^[1]

Moses Fleetwood "Fleet" Walker was born on October 7th, 1856 in Mount Pleasant, Ohio. He was the son of Moses Walker and Caroline O'Hara.^[2][3] He grew up in Steubenville, Ohio where his father worked as a physician and a minister.^[3][4][5]

Moses attended Oberlin College. He was enrolled in the preparatory program in 1877-1878 and the college program from 1878-1881.^[6] Fleet and his brother Weldy played baseball on the Oberlin College team. Fleet later transferred to the University of Michigan. He began to play baseball professionally and played throughout the 1880s. He was a skilled catcher. When he played his first game with the Toledo Blue Stockings, an American Association team, he became the first Black player in the major leagues. He also played for teams in Cleveland, Waterbury, Syracuse, and Newark.^[7][8]

Fleet married Arabella C. S. Taylor on July 9th, 1882 in Hudson, Michigan.^[9][8] They had three children: Cleatho Walker (abt.1882-) or Clodolinda Walker (1883-), Thomas Fleetwood Walker (1884-1939), and George Walker (1886-).^[10] Arabella died of cancer in 1895.

Fleet married Ednah Jane Mason on May 11th, 1898 in Lorain County, Ohio.^[11] They lived in Steubenville, Ohio in 1900^[10] and later moved to Cadiz, Ohio where they were enumerated in the 1910 and 1920 census. Fleet pursued various business interests during this period of his life^[12][13] - see Business Endeavors section below.

Moses died on May 11th, 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio.^[2] He was buried in Union Cemetery in Steubenville, Ohio.^[14]

Business Endeavors

Fleet and his brother Weldy Wilberforce Walker (1860-1937), who also played major baseball, published The Equator, a newspaper dedicated to African-American issues and causes while residing in Steubenville, Ohio, in the first years of the Twentieth Century. ^[7]

Fleet was an inventor and received patents for an exploding artillery shell in 1891.^[7]

Following his baseball career, Fleet lived in Syracuse, Cleveland, and Steubenville, Ohio, where he worked as a postal clerk and as a hotel operator. Fleet and his wife Ednah moved to Cadiz, Ohio in 1904, where they took over operation of an opera house.^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia: Moses Fleetwood Walker
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Ohio, Death Certificates, #27001, Moses Fleetwood Walker, 11 May 1924, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, USA; "Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953," database with images, FamilySearch, (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X6MN-ST9 : accessed 15 May 2024).
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} "United States Census, 1860," Steubenville ward 2, Jefferson County, Ohio, USA; page 17, family 117, Moses F. Walker in Moses Walker household; FamilySearch, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCGY-1VH.
4. ↑ "United States Census, 1870," Third Ward Steubenville City, Jefferson County, Ohio, USA; page 6, family 47, Moses F. Walker in Moses Walker household; FamilySearch, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6VT-747.
5. ↑ "United States Census, 1880," ED 110, Steubenville, Jefferson County, Ohio, USA; page 32, family 330, Moses Walker in Moses Walker household; FamilySearch, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M89D-SRB.
6. ↑ General Catalogue of Oberlin College, 1833-1908, (Oberlin, Ohio: O.S. Hubbell Printing Co., 1909), page 1015, Moses Fleetwood Walker; image copy, Internet Archive, (https://archive.org/details/generalcatalogue00oberrich/page/1014 : accessed 15 May 2024).
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3} Harrison County Bio: Moses Fleetwood Walker on "Heritage and History" page, Harrison County, Ohio, https://www.harrisoncountyohio.org/heritage-and-history : accessed 15 May 2024.
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} Society for American Baseball Research Biography: John R. Husman, "Moses Fleetwood Walker," Society for American Baseball Research, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/fleet-walker : accessed 15 May 2024.
9. ↑ Michigan, Marriage Records volume 2, Lenawee County, page 243, record #1398, Moses F. Walker and Arabella C.S. Taylor, 9 Jul 1882; "Michigan Marriages, 1868-1925", database with images, FamilySearch, (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NQSC-Y32 : accessed 15 May 2024).
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} "United States Census, 1900," ED 82, Steubenville ward 4, Jefferson County, Ohio, USA; sheet 20B, family 443, Fleet Walker household; FamilySearch, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMDW-SBP.
11. ↑ Ohio, Lorain County, Marriage Records, volume 7, page 531, Moses Fleetwood Walker and Ednah Jane Mason, 11 May 1898; "Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2016", database with images, FamilySearch, (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XD2J-BJ4 : accessed 15 May 2024).
12. ↑ "United States Census, 1910," ED 76, Cadiz, Harrison County, Ohio, USA; sheet 27A, family 530, Moses Walker household; FamilySearch, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLXW-V7R.
13. ↑ "United States Census, 1920," ED 161, Cadiz, Harrison County, Ohio, USA; sheet 21B, family 565, M F Walker household; FamilySearch, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDG8-YR6.
14. ↑ "Find a Grave," database with images, (Find A Grave: Memorial #1565 : accessed 15 May 2024), Memorial page for Moses Fleetwood “Fleet” Walker (7 Oct 1856-11 May 1924), citing Union Cemetery, Steubenville, Jefferson County, Ohio, USA (plot: Section P, Lot V); Maintained by Find a Grave.

See also:

• Wikidata: Item Q1252979