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1785 - 1867 (81 years)
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Name |
John WALKER |
Born |
15 Aug 1785 |
Locust Grove, King and Queen Co. VA |
Gender |
Male |
_UID |
2DF7A5333E6644268E5B1294B8EAB8E5D85E |
Died |
27 Feb 1867 |
Chatham Hill, King and Queen Co. VA |
Notes |
- Walker Family Bible
John Walker born August 15th 1785
In old Virginia: slavery, farming, and society in the journal of John Walker By Claudia L. Bushman, John Walker
John was a solitary, serious, careful man who married when he was 44 years old, and was devoted to the Methodist church. His journal reflects the change from the planter society to a farmer society. Unlike his father, John accepted modest civil assignments.
He abandoned gentility and the social life of fox hunting and balls. He was an industrious farmer who saw tobacco being replaced by a wide variety of marketable crops. John grew wheat and corn and worked steadily to improve farming methods.
His diary covered 43 years and covers the changes that were happening as the last generation before the Civil War. His life was different from that of his father and grandfather. John planted wheat, not tobacco; he didn't belong to the Anglican (Church of England) but in 1818 joined a small Methodist congregation at Shepherd's Chapel;and he was a hard-working farmer, not a gentleman. He was often at odds with his family and old friends.
He spurned politics and civic involvement, accepting only positions as overseer of the poor and overseer of the roads. The latter he resigned in disgust at having to deal with rich neighbors who unduly influenced the courts. He never joined the county militia.
His education was lackluster for his spelling, grammar, and punctuation were utilitarian. He mentions attending only the school operated by Richard Hill, most likely at nearby Hillsborough. These were temporary schools, always in a flux from having several different schoolmasters, with several of the planters funding the schools fr their children. His father had the money for college, but John, nor any other of his brothers, were prepared to further education. Other King and Queen families, such as the Fauntleroys and Henleys, sent their sons to William and Mary.
John attended music and dancing parties in Aylett when he has a teenager, he didn't like the "wanton interaction" between genders and would "stop his ears to prevent hearing the musick" So with John becoming a strict Methodist, such gentry pastimes of dancing were considered even more unsuitable. He wrote "A dancing party in the Sight of God was no better than a Whoring party" and dancers were "entirely under the direction of the devil." While Frances Hill, his grandmother, danced to the harpsichord, did reels to a fiddle, and sang songs, John would consider her actions a sin.
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Person ID |
I6199 |
Master File |
Last Modified |
29 Aug 2011 |
Father |
Maj. Humphrey WALKER, b. 13 Jan 1762, Rye Field (Locust Grove) King and Queen Co. VA , d. 28 Dec 1829, Richmond, VA (Age 67 years) |
Mother |
Frances (Fannie) TEMPLE, b. 13 Jan 1765, Chatham Hill, King and Queen Co. VA , d. 09 Feb 1824, Rye Field (Locust Grove) King and Queen Co. VA (Age 59 years) |
Family ID |
F4483 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
Family |
Margaret Watkins SHEPHERD, b. 16 Oct 1804, d. 03 Mar 1886, Locust Grove, King and Queen Co. VA (Age 81 years) |
Children |
+ | 1. Watson WALKER, b. 10 Sep 1834, Chatham Hill, King & Queen Co. VA , d. 06 Oct 1900, Chatham Hill, King & Queen Co. VA (Age 66 years) |
| 2. Mary Alice WALKER |
| 3. Melville WALKER, b. 15 Apr 1846, Chatham Hill, King & Queen Co. VA , d. 06 Dec 1904, Locust Grove, King & Queen Co. VA (Age 58 years) |
| 4. Sarah WALKER |
| 5. Elizabeth Temple WALKER |
| 6. Susannah WALKER |
| 7. Coke WALKER |
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Last Modified |
4 Sep 2014 |
Family ID |
F4582 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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