George Bryan Walker (1792 - 1860)

Born 4 Mar 1792 in Purdum, Montgomery, Maryland, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Margaret (Boyer) Walker — married 2 Mar 1822 in Maryland

Descendants

Died 11 Sep 1860 at age 68 in Maryland, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Jack Day [send private message]

Biography

1792 Birth and Parentage

George Bryan Walker, probably the second youngest son of George Walker and Ann Martha Bryan Gray, was born in March 4, 1792. ^[1] He was born in Purdum, Montgomery County, Maryland. ^[2]

1822 Marriage

On March 7, 1822 in Montgomery County, at the age of 30, he married 17 year old Margaret 'Peggy' Boyer, daughter of Peter Boyer and Mary Musseter. She was born March 27, 1805 on the Peter Boyer farm, the year her father died; she was the daughter of Peter Boyer and Anna Mary Mussetter and died 17 March 1872 on the Walker Farm). ^[2]

The George B. Walker Family Bible

A Family Bible was found in 1993 the attic of the Walker home which appears to be the George B. Walker family Bible. Entries in original script, quite possibly that of George B. Walker himseslf, continue until 1853, seven years before George's death, and record his particulars, that of his wife and children, as well as his father George, and his grandparents Francis and Catherine.

Quite possibly the Family Bible was acquired at the time of the marriage in 1822, and the events of the marriage were faithfully recorded thereafter. ^[3]

1831 The Walker Farm and Log Cabin

George and Peggy Boyer Walker acquired the farm of her father, Peter Boyer, and moved to it in 1831. ^[4]

The farm, currently comprising 192 acres, encompasses parts of four original land patents granted from the Lords Baltimore.

• Henry and Elizabeth, 52.5 acres, had first been patented to Henry Hall, Gentleman, of Anne Arundel County in 1761.
• Henry and Elizabeth Enlarged, 2302.25 acres, was patented to him two years later, by Lord Baltimore, who was "held of the Manor of Conegocheague." ^[5]
• Flagg Patch, 140 acres, was patented to Thomas Beane of Prince Georges County in 1754,
• Solomon's Roguery, 495 acres, was patented to George Cook in 1774.

Most of the house later named Mendelssohn Terrace was on Henry and Elizabeth Enlarged, of which 504 acres were sold on 15 Mar 1773 for £161/6/8 to Joseph Talbott, "late of Calvert but now Fred. County, Farmer." ^[6]

On 25 July 1795, William Ballinger of Frederick County deeded 128 acres of Henry and Elizabeth Enlarged to Peter Boyer for £209/10. ^[7] To this 128 acres, Peter Boyer, Jr. added 16.5 acres of adjacent land, also part of Henry and Elizabeth Enlarged, which he purchased from John Bear for $253 on 23 December 1828. It would appear that this enlarged tract of land was nearly identical to that purchased by George B. Walker on 28 April 1830 (142.75 acres) from Peter Boyer, Jr., for the sum of $1870. ^[8]

"George Bryan Walker was an industrious and hardworking man and also very religious." ^[9] He "built a large barn. The floor was tongued and grooved out of thick oak fastened down with oak pins so that he and his neighbors could tramp out wheat with horses."

"The house...was a five room log cabin built many years before under the shade of friendly branches of wide-spreading oaks more than a century old." ^[10]

The old house...consisted of two parts. The part at west end consisted of a kitchen with large fire place with a high mantle above. A bedroom adjoined the kitchen on the west...The south kitchen door was a double door. The upper half could be open and the lower half remain closed. One large room was above the kitchen and bedroom. Large logs ran across one end of this room...A coffee mill was fastened against the partition which formed a closet at one corner of the room.

The "upper part of the house" -- three steps higher than the other! -- consisted of a large room and bedroom, a closed stair¬way which entered a room in which there was no outside window, but a small four pane window between this and the next bedroom. This second room had two windows facing the east...

The downstairs bedroom in [the] upper part of the house was a company room called the preacher's bedroom.

The family garden...was east of the house. Two large box bushes (boxwoods) stood one on each side of the garden gate at the entrance. You pushed your way between them. There were snowball bushes beside the box bush. A grassy walk divided the garden into two parts. A grape arbor covered part of the walkway and pear trees grew there, too. Red peonies, tall white lilies, hyacinths, daffodils, bachelor buttons grew along the walk. Raspberries along the fence, and burgamond, purplish red, bloomed in the tangle of briars. All these plants had been put in the garden in Grandfather Walker's time.

North of the old Walker homestead was an apple orchard - Pippins, Catlins, Winesaps (sour), Brooks, Pearmean, and a pear tree...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... ^[11]

Bethesda Methodist Episcopal Church

A devout Methodist, he was also deeply opposed to slavery and would not own any. ^[12] "He was conservative in his religious outlook and was against the use of musical instruments in the church. This opposition to musical instruments resulted in a conflict with his son George... [who] bought a melodeon before he married but did not dare take it home. He had to keep it at his brother's house." ^[9]

Education

"George Bryan Walker and his wife believed in education and civic progress. Educational opportunities were limited; they aimed to supply the lack by providing their family with inspirational literature.

Opposition to Slavery

"Opposing slavery he worked with his own hands. Sunday was a holy day in their home; food for the Sabbath was prepared on Saturday.

"One instant in his life illumines the sterling quality of his character. A merchant in the little village decided to include intoxicating drinks in his merchandise and brought in a barrel of whiskey. When this became known to Mr. Walker, he mounted his horse with a petition in hand and rode the countryside, visiting the farm houses and town homes securing a pledge from the people that they would not patronize that merchant if he sold liquor. That barrel was taken out of town under cover of darkness at night, and to the writer's knowledge no merchant has ever repeated the attempt. Thus the village was saved from the ravages of a curse of curses and the merchant was saved to the life of a respected, beloved citizen." ^[10]

1840 Census

In 1840 George B. Walker was a resident of Montgomery County, and headed a household of six persons including ^[13]

1 male (40-50) -- George Bryan Walker

1 female (30-40) -- Peggy Boyer Walker

1 female (15-20), Sarah Ann Walker

1 male (15-20), Nathan James Walker

1 male (10-15), William Reynolds Walker

1 male (under 5), George Washington Wesley Walker

1850 Census

In 1850 George B. Walker's location has become more specific; he is in the Second Clarksburg Election District of Montgomery County. He is a farmer. His real estate is valued at $1800. And he is head of a household comprised of: ^[14]

George B, 58

Margaret, 46

William, 23

Wesley, 13

Mary M, 8.

There is also a free black female servant, Clarissa Diggs, 18.

Their neighbors on the census route were:

• Household 105, Jefferson Day
• 106 George B. Walker
• 107 John L. Purdum
• 108 Thomas Baker of L.

1860 Census

Another 10 years later in 1860 George B. Walker is still in the Clarksburg District and still a farmer, though his death would come later that year. He was born in Maryland. The Post Office serving him is Damascus. His real estate value has doubled to #3600 and his personal estate $2000. Now he is head of a household comprised of: ^[15]

George B, 68

Margaret, 55

Mary, 16

There is also a free black male farm laborer, Abraham Mason, 16.

George Walker's farm adjoined that of John Lewis Purdum, who was born near Browningsville Dec 28, 1798 and died Jul 25, 1870. On Feb 26 1829 ^[16] he married Jemima D. King, b. King's Valley Apr 11 1805, d. Feb 7, 1892 ^[17] Many of his descendants married Walker descendants:

Eastward across Bennett's Creek lived James Day. When James Day wrote his will in 1837 , ^[18] George B. Walker, Joshua Purdum (John Lewis Purdum's father), and William T. Glaze, all neighboring farmers, witnessed it. In the 1850 census, both are on page 434 in the second district.

1857 Will and Death

At age 65, George Bryan Walker wrote his will. ^[19]

• To his wife Margaret, executor, would go all land while his son George Washington Wesley and daughter Mary Margaret Jones were minors; then it would go to them.
• His older children, Nathan, Sarah, and William were mentioned; Nathan and William were to be guardians of the minor children, and executors in case of Margaret's death.
• Witnesses were James G. Hening, Ephraim Warfield, and J. H. Crawford.

He died August 18, 1860, aged 68, on the Walker Farm near Browningsville, ^[2] and she on March 17, 1872 aged 67. ^[20]"James Crawford, a local Methodist preacher, conducted her funeral service in the Bethesda M. E. Church, Browningsville. ^[21] They "were buried under a large chestnut tree on their farm. Later their tombstones were moved to the Bethesda Church graveyard in Browningsville." Grandson George Muller Walker, father of Ruth Zeller, "used to argue with some of his fundamentalist friends about the literal belief in the resurrection of the body. Dad said there was no way all of the original cells that had made up the body of George Bryan Walker could be gathered together again in one place when you considered how many people had eaten the chestnuts off that tree." ^[12]

Children

George and Peggy had five children, all presumably born on the Walker Farm in the log cabin built by Peter Boyer:

1. Sarah Ann Walker, born Dec 27, 1822.
2. Nathan James Walker, born on Oct 28, 1824
3. William Reynolds Walker was born Jun 22, 1828.
4. George Washington Wesley Walker was born after an interval of nine years, on October 10, 1837 when George was 45 and Peggy 32.
5. Mary Margaret Jones Walker, 12 June, 1844.

Of the three sons of George Bryan Walker, ^[22]

• Nathan James was a Southern Methodist and a Democrat;
• William Reynolds was a Methodist Protestant and a Republican;
• George Washington was a Methodist Episcopal and a Prohibitionist.

Descendant To Add

1. Nathan James Walker, bon 28 October 1824, married Eveline King
2. James King Walker, born 24 November, 1852, married Emma Waters
3. James Forrest Walker, born 28 April 1884, married Mary Louise McCabe
4. Barbara Walker, born 2 September 1924, married Milton Kettler. Two large farms created Montgomery Village in Montgomery County Maryland ^[23]

Sources

1. ↑ George B. Walker Family Bible, also records of George Muller Walker, in possession of Ruth Zeller. Window, Bethesda Church, Browningsville has 1782.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Ancestor of Stewart E. Walker. DNA Participant 247593, Group-66
3. ↑ Subsequently the Bible passed to George B. Walker's daughter Mary Margaret Miles, and contains a record of the Miles children as well.
4. ↑ Record of Golden Wedding Anniversary of G. W. W. Walker, June 16, 1908. Note also MCLR Y:431, Aug 24, 1826 George Bryan Walker and wife conveyed one tenth interest in the estate of Peter Boyer, deceased, to John Boyer, including parts of Henry and Elizabeth Enlarged and Resurvey on Solomon's Roguery. (Hurley, Walker, 27) March 3, 1830, MCLR BS2:524 George and Martha acquired from Peter Boyer Jr, 142a, 3 roods, 29 square perches of Henry and Elizabeth Enlarged, Flag Patch, and Solomon's Roguery. (Hurley, Walker, 27).
5. ↑ MD State Archives, Land Records, Liber BC & GS #20, folios 706-709.
6. ↑ Frederick County Courthouse, Land Records, Liber T, folios 41-44.
7. ↑ Montgomery County Courthouse, Land Records, Liber F2, folios 22-24.
8. ↑ Research of Gene Walker.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} George Muller Walker, quoted by his daughter Ruth Walker Zeller, July 24. 1991
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} Parepa W. Day, Mt. Airy Community Reporter (Mount Airy, Maryland), June 22, 1934
11. ↑ Fidelia Seward Walker Snyder, Handwritten memoirs, 1953, copied by daughter in 1985.
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1} Information compiled by Ruth Walker Zeller from several sources, 1985
13. ↑ 1840 Census (George B. Walker). Residence, Montgomery County, MD. Head of 6-person household with 1 male (under 5), 1 male (10-15), 1 male (15-20), 1 male (40-50), 1 female (15-20), and 1 female (30-40). (Accessed 03 Dec 2013.)
14. ↑ U.S. 1850 Census (George B. Walker). Residence, Second Clarksburg Election District, Montgomery County, MD. Age 58, born MD. Occupation, Farmer. Value of real estate, $1800. Head of household with Margaret (46), William (23), Wesley (13), and Mary M. Walker (8), and a female servant (18). (Accessed 03 Dec 2013.)
15. ↑ U.S. 1860 Census (Geo. B. Walker). Residence, Clarksburg District, Montgomery County, MD, Post Office Damascus. Age 68, born MD. Occupation, Farmer. Value of real estate, $3600. Value of personal estate, $2000. Head of household with Margaret (55) and Mary Walker (16), and a male farm laborer (16). (Accessed 03 Dec 2013.)
16. ↑ Feb 14, 1824, Montgomery County Marriage License
17. ↑ Everett Jones; birthdates from Mariamne Purdum Family Bible.
18. ↑ Montgomery County Wills X:391 14 Mar 1837 - 4:251 1 Mar 1842.
19. ↑ Montgomery County Wills JWS-1:63 16 May 1857 - 11 Sep 1860.
20. ↑ Window, Bethesda United Methodist Church, Browningsville.
21. ↑ Roby F. Day, "Genealogy of the Walker family of Montgomery County, Maryland, gathered from various sources," unpublished paper, Allenwood, NJ, February 17, 1950.
22. ↑ Records of Roby F. Day
23. ↑ Sheila Best, Correspondence with [[Day-1904|Jack Day, April 9, 2016

See also:

• "Bell Dietz Graham Jackson" (Data base bdgi, Michael Dietz). Profile for Walker, George, spouse Boyer (ID I1540), change date 31 Aug 2013. (Accessed 03 Dec 2013.)

• "Barber Family Tree" (Data base :811135, William Barber). Profile for Walker, George, spouse Boyer (ID I098), updated 25 Aug 2001. (Accessed 03 Dec 2013.)