Tag Archives: Civil War

Abram Walker

April 9, 2009

Because Ianthus Walker doesn’t mention anything about his parents or siblings in all of his Civil War Pension Papers, I was intrigued when an Abram Walker gave a deposition on Ianthus’s behalf in an affidavit dated 1891. In the Commemorative Biographical Record by J. H. Beers, an extensive account of Abram Walker and his life is given – that he had lived in Brandt before his enlistments in the Civil War and then in Lanesboro after the war had ended. So, I didn’t know if it was mere coincidence that he and Ianthus shared the same last name or if they were indeed brothers or cousins. It has been something that I have been trying to find out now for the last few years….

Abram Walker was born in Sanford, NY in July of 1833, to William and Debbie (Monroe) Walker. CBR goes on to state that Abram was one of a family of thirteen children, (five of whom died in infancy) and it does list the remaining seven brothers and sisters but– Ianthus is not one of them. Because Abram’s father died when he was just a small boy, he was placed with a family in Deposit, NY (Delaware County). It was there that he learned to be a mason, and later, in 1856, he married Susan Finch. After the marriage, they settled in Brandt until 1861 when the Civil War broke out. Like Ianthus, Abram mustered into the army but served a longer term with two different companies.

In Abram Walker’s Civil War Pension Papers, there isn’t any reference to relatives at all. No children are mentioned in the papers – just one brief account by his wife on a Widow’s Pension Application that states “there aren’t any children under the age of 16 living in the household”. But in Beers’ Commemorative Record, it states that Abram and Susan had five children; three daughters and two sons but both sons drowned.

It seems probable that Abram and Ianthus Walker were related- they were both born in Sanford, NY just a few years apart. Ianthus lived in a household with a Thomas and Debbie Henderson. Both were married in January of 1856 – by the same minister. Familiar signatures appear on affidavits for Abram, giving the same testimonies as for Ianthus. Being that Brandt and Lanesboro were such little towns with only a few miles apart, it seems likely that they certainly knew each other and were possibly well acquainted.

Four years of soldiering took its toll on Abram Walker and his family – after his return from the Civil War, he was plagued with ill health and unable to keep steady work. Through his pension papers that I have posted in the gallery, you can read and appreciate this life story of another small family from Harmony Township…

Abram Walker gravestone in Lanesboro Cemetery

Abram Walker gravestone in Lanesboro Cemetery

Abram Walker Tombstone

Abram Walker Tombstone

I have posted numerous pages of Abram’s pension papers in the Abram Walker gallery.

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Ianthus and Hannah Storer Walker

March 29, 2009

Researching family history is a bit like unraveling a big ball of tangled yarn….if you have patience and perseverance, you might end up with enough yarn to make a nice sweater but if you give up too easily and cut away half the knots, you might only have enough for a pair of small mittens. The same goes with searching out family members from the past, sometimes it just take time, patience and perseverance. And with the right mixture of all three, you might be able to sort out some of your relatives! That was the way it seemed when a few years ago, I began to be interested in Ianthus and Hannah Walker, my great, great grandparents. I had seen beautiful portraits of both and I realized that I didn’t know too much about them-where they were born, where they had lived and what other children they might have had. I only knew that they were my grandfather’s– Ray Milton Rockwell– grandparents. Ray Rockwell’s mother, Mary (Walker) Rockwell was their daughter and Mary (Walker) Rockwell had a twin sister, Sarah (Walker) Carnegie.

Ianthus Walker

Ianthus Walker

Hannah Storer Walker

Hannah Storer Walker

It was only by chance that I happened upon Ianthus’s civil war card at a Veterans Administration and my interest was peaked when I learned that he was buried alongside his first wife, Hannah (Storer) Walker in the Brandt Cemetery in Brandt, PA. I was thrilled to see that the names and dates were still pretty legible. The quest was on!

Ianthus Walker Tombstone

Ianthus Walker Tombstone

Hannah Storer Tombstone

Hannah Storer Tombstone

Ianthus W. Walker was born on July 13, 1836 in the little town of Sanford, NY to unknown parents. He gives no information about parents or siblings in his Civil War Pension Papers, just his birthdate and where he was born. His name first shows up on an 1850 census as a 14 year old boy living with a Thomas and Debbie Henderson, in 1860 he is married to Hannah Storer and they have a small daughter, Harriet. He is elusive in the 1870 census – his name can not be found. In 1880, Ianthus is living in Tioga County, NY and is married to Abigail (Carnegie) with several children, I have found out later through Ianthus’s Civil War Pension Papers that some of the children are Hannah’s and some are Abigail’s.

Ianthus Walker once farmed a large piece of land in Stevens Point but sometime after his return from Civil War, he moved to Brandt and was employed by neighbors to do farming and light carpenter work, at one time he worked at the Brandt Chair Factory. He came home a wounded man, was only able to work some of the time and as he got older and was steadily worsened by his wounds; he was barely able to keep employment at all. It has only been through Ianthus’s Civil War Pension Papers that I have been able to piece together this life story…I have posted numerous pages from his pension papers along with his and Hannah’s portraits, their gravestones, so you, too, can see how the Civil War had affected this small family from Harmony Township.

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