Jourdon Walker (abt. 1817 - 1882)

Born about 1817 in Georgetown, Scott, Kentucky, United States

Husband of Miletta Emerretta (Lewis) Walker — married 8 Nov 1864 in Essex, Middlesex, Connecticut, United States

Descendants

Died 2 Nov 1882 at about age 65 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: David Kathan [send private message]

Biography

Jourdon or Jordan Walker was a carpenter, joiner, and mechanic whose life journey took him from Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Iowa, and finally to Connecticut. Once his life story and his reasons for moving East when everyone was moving West in the 1840s and 1850s is known it will make a good story.

Jourdon was born 1817 in Kentucky to unknown parentage. He married first, Mary Ann Corbitt sometime between leaving the Army in 1844 and 1854. After Mary's death in 1860, he married Miletta Lewis on November 8, 1864 in Essex, Connecticut. He moved around in Connecticut, and lived in Essex, Old Saybrook, Killingworth, and Middletown. He passed away on November 5, 1882 in Middletown, CT.

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Timeline

• 1817 - Jourdon was born in 1817 in Kentucky. His parents are unknown -- the only clue available is that they were born in Kentucky. Multiple sources confirm his birth state, but the actual birthplace and birth date are more difficult to establish. While his veteran gravestone shows a 1814 birth, the gravestone should not be considered a reliable source (see below). Most of his official documents, including his enlistment in the U.S. Army in 1839 that lists his age as 22, support 1817 as his birth year.^[1] Georgetown, KY is selected as his birth place because of the same enlistment papers -- while the enlistment papers are secondary, the source of the information was Jourdon.

• 1839 - Jourdon enlists on February 22, 1839 at Baton Rouge, LA in Company F of the U.S. Regular Army.^[1]

• 1844 - Jourdon is discharged at Jefferson Barracks in Lemay, Missouri near St. Louis from the U.S. Army at the end of his five-year enlistment.^[2]

• 1850 - After the U.S. Congress passed the Bounty Land Warrant Act of 1850, Jourdon applied for bounty land. His application was submitted from McGreggor's Landing in Clayton County, Iowa in November 1950. This indicates that he resided in Iowa in late 1850.^[3]

• 1851 - Jourdon submits his application again, with supporting information on his military service (the lack of his discharge papers was the basis for rejection the first time). Supporting affidavits from officials from Allamakee County, Iowa were included in this application.^[3]

• 1852 - Jourdon receives a 160 acre bounty land warrant in Clayton County, Iowa. He promptly sells the warrant.^[4]

• 1854 - The Iowa State Census lists a Jordan Walker in Franklin Township, Allamakee County, Iowa. A female is also listed in the record.^[5] Given the 1851 application for Jordan from this county, this is most likely the right Jordan Walker. Note that Jourdon seemed to be known in both counties, but the shifting counties of record is perplexing. It is unclear whether he resided in both places, or lived in Allamakee and did business in McGreggor's Landing.

• 1860 - Jourdon's first wife, Mary Corbitt, died on March 1, 1860 in Essex, CT.^[6] He listed as living with his in-laws, Charles and Mary Corbitt in Essex, CT in the 1860 U.S. Federal Census.^[7]

• 1864 - Jourdon married Milletta Lewis on November 8, 1864 in Essex, CT.^[8]

• 1870 - Jourdon is listed as living in Old Saybrook, CT in 1870 with his wife and three daughters.^[9]

• 1874 - J. Walker was identified as living in Killingworth on a Kiillingworth, CT map.^[10]

• 1880 - Jourdon is listed as living in Killingworth, CT in 1880 with his wife, three daughters, and son.^[11]

• 1882 - Jourdon passes away on November 2, 1982 in Middletown, CT. ^[12] He is buried in the Higganum Cemetery in Haddam, CT.^[13] His gravestone is not correct. It lists him as being in Co. F of the 5th Regiment of the U.S. Colored Calvary. There was another African-American Jordan Walker who did fight in the Colored Calvary and the Veterans Administration sent the incorrect stone. First, Jourdon served in the U.S. Army 20 years earlier than the Civil War. Second, he is listed as living in CT in 1860 and 1864, with no family record of him serving in the Civil War.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Ancestry.com, U.S. Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914 (Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.Original data - Register of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M233, 81 rolls); Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1780’s-1917, Rec;).
2. ↑ Ancestry.com, U.S. Returns from Regular Army Infantry Regiments, 1821-1916 (Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.Original data - Returns from Regular Army Infantry Regiments, June 1821–December 1916. NARA microfilm publication M665, rolls 1–244, 297–300 of 300 . Records of the Adjutant General's;). February 1844, p. 181.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Jordan Walker, Act of 1850, Case 21802; Case Files of Bounty-Land Warrant Applications Based on Service Between 1812 and 1855 and Disapproved Applications Based on Revolutionary War Service, Record Group 15, Entry 26; National Archives Building, Washington, DC
4. ↑ Jordan Walker, Act of 1850, 160 acres, Case 21802; Military Bounty Land Warrants, Records of the Bureau of Land Management, Record Group 49; National Archives Building, Washington, DC
5. ↑ Jordon Walker, Franklin Township, Allamakee County, Iowa, Iowa State Census Collection, 1836-1925, Ancestry.com
6. ↑ Mary Walker entry, Essex Deaths, 1860, Town Clerk, Essex, Middlesex, Connecticut.
7. ↑ 1860 U.S. Federal Census, Essex, Middlesex, Connecticut, United States, population schedule, , Dwelling 1253, Family 1343, Jourdon Walker; digital images, familysearch.org (: accessed 20 January 2022).
8. ↑ Essex, Connecticut, : 133, Jordan Walker and Miletta Lewis, 1864; Essex Town Hall, Essex, Connecticut.
9. ↑ 1870 U.S. Federal Census, Old Saybroo, Middlesex, Connecticut, United States, population schedule, , pg. 26, Dwelling 200, Family 206, Jordan Walker; digital images, familysearch.org (: accessed 21 January 2022).
10. ↑ U.S., Indexed County Land Ownership Maps, 1860-1918 (Name: Ancestry.com. U.S., Indexed County Land Ownership Maps, 1860-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.;), Collection Number: G&_6; Roll Number: 6.
11. ↑ 1880 U.S. Federal Census, Killingwoth, Middlesex, Connecticut, United States, population schedule, , enumeration district (ED) ED 81, pg. 16D, Dwelling 165, Family 175, Jordan Walker; digital images, familysearch.org (: accessed 19 January 2022); NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm.
12. ↑ Jordon Walker, death certificate No. 228 (2 November 1882), Department of Public Health, Registrar of Vital Statistics.
13. ↑ Find A Grave, "Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current," database, Find A Grave (http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi : accessed 21 January 2022), Jordam Walker Memorial #86546339.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to David Kathan for starting this profile.

Click the Changes tab for the details of contributions by David and others.