James Henry Walker Sr. (1799 - 1861)

Born 9 Aug 1799 in North Carolina, United States

Husband of Isabella S. (Meredith) Walker — married 20 Apr 1831 in Oxford area, North Carolina

Husband of Lucetta (Stuart) Walker — married 19 Feb 1845 in Hempstead, Arkansas

Descendants

Died 1861 at about age 61 in Hempstead, Arkansas, United States

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Biography

Dr. James Henry Walker, a Presbyterian minister, became one of the largest slave holders in Hempstead county, Arkansas.

Dr. James H. Walker (b. 1800, d. 1861). Dr. Walkers family came to Arkansas with the Cheatham family in the early 1830s.

Walker was traveling down the Southwest Trail in Arkansas on his way to Texas but he recognized that the land in Hempstead County would be amenable to cotton growing. In 1834 he brought his family and that of his business partner to Columbus.

Soon after arriving, he and his son-in-law Matthew Cheatham formed the largest mercantile in town, Walker and Cheatham Store and Exchange. Out of this concern they also served as bankers, brokers, commission merchants, factors and general agents. From the 1840s into the 1850s Walker served as a Trustee of the Real Estate Bank of Arkansas.

Walker set up a medical practice in Columbus and is listed in Goodspeeds for Southern Arkansas as a minister in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church but a family history states that he is not found in the churchs archives. He is; however, listed as a minister of the Gospel in the Hempstead County marriage records. With the blending of Lucetta and James children the Walkers had to enlarge their home in Columbus to 18 rooms. Often his expansive home served as a guest house for travelers. There were two schools in Columbus, the Male and Female Academies. Dr. Walker served as a director of the Male Academy.

Along with his commercial influence Dr. Walker represented Hempstead County in the 1835 General Assembly of Arkansas Territory. In 1836 he was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. He ran for a senate seat in 1836 was defeated by General George Hill but ran again in 1838 and was elected. In 1840 he was re-elected but resigned in that year to concentrate on his businesses. At this point he had accumulated his neighbor Ned Johnson Jr.s considerable landholdings through his marriage to Lucetta, as well as his mercantile and his own land. Dr.

Walker is buried next to Lucetta (his 2nd wife) in Big Mound in a brick box tomb with ledger. His marker is very simple and features no iconography.

Wives

1. Isabella S. Meredith (married April 20, 1831, Oxford, North Carolina)
2. Lucetta Stuart (married 2/19/1845 in Hemstead, Arkansas)

1850 U.S. Census Saline, Hempstead, Arkansas

1. James H Walker Male 51 North Carolina (born 1799)
2. Lucetta Walker Female 49 Kentucky (born 1801)
3. Robert D Walker Male 19 Tennessee (born 1831)
4. Isabella Walker Female 10 Arkansas (born 1840)
5. Mary I Walker Female 8 Arkansas (born 1842)
6. Robert W Walker Male 6 Arkansas (born 1844)
7. Rebecca Wood Female 33 Kentucky
8. Wm O Kelly Male 30 Virginia
9. Soloman Hatch Male 22 Germany
10. Thos Stewart Male 35 North Carolina

Sources

• https://www.myheritage.com/names/isabella_meredith
• Wedding Record to Isabella Meredith http://www.genealogybuff.com/nc/nc-marr-m.htm
• 1850 U.S. Census, Saline, Hempstead, Arkansas https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M67Z-8CV
• http://www.argenweb.net/hempstead/augustus.htm
• http://www.arkansaspreservation.com/national-register-listings/mounds-cemetery
• Wedding Record to Lucetta Stuart http://files.usgwarchives.net/ar/hempstead/vitals/marriages/hemgroom.txt
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/80865540/james-h-walker