THOMAS WALKER (DECEASED),
the founder of a very large and respectable family, now residing in Union County, was not long a citizen of this county himself. His father, Henry Walker, was a solder of the Revolution, a pioneer of Nelson County, and a native of Maryland, where he married a Miss Mattingley.

Our subject was born at Polar Neck, Nelson County, August 9, 1792. His education was limited, because he never liked to go to school. He was married in that part of Nelson County, which is now Spencer, in 1818. This wife died and he was married the second time in Simpson County on June 5, 1828, to Henrietta O'Brien, the daughter of Francis and Pricia (Carrico) O'Brien. Mrs. Walker's father was born in Charles County, Maryland, about 1779; her mother in 1780; they married in Maryland, came to Lousiville; her father dying there about 1862, and her mother in 1867 or '68. Her grandfather, Josiah O'Brien, married a Miss Gates, and her grandfather, James Carrico, married Elizabeth Clements. All her grandparents were Marylanders, but all her great grandparents were from Ireland. Mrs. Walker was born in Charles County, Md., January 17, 1806.

Our subject's children are as follows: Ann Rebecca, the oldest, married Robert Hancock, a farmer of Hitesville Precinct, and has fourteen children, only nine of whom are now alive. Mr. Hancock died on August 28, 1880, and his family now live at the old Walker homestead, a beautiful place on rolling ground, amidst flowers and shrubs of beauty. Here, also, the aged widow of our subject lives, a happy and serene old lady. The second child is Ignatious Guy, a farmer of Morganfield Precinct, who married Sallie Mills and has five children. The third child, Thomas, died at the age of nine years. John Carroll, a farmer of Hitesville Precinct, married Laura Buckman, who died, after which he married Laura Hamilton, and has four children. Joseph Francis, farmer, of Waverly Precinct, married Elizabeth O'Nan, who died, after which he married Helen Elder, and has three children by both marriages. James Kendirck, a physician, of Loogootee, Ind., married Delia Scheoffer and has nine children. Irene married James E. Walker, and died in 1874, leaving three children. The eighth child, William Henry, is also dead.

Our subject moved direct from Spencer County to Union in 1853, having bought three hundred and eighty acres of Col. George Simpson. A log house had been erected upon the place and two hundred acres had been cleared. Mr. Walker did not live long to enjoy it, as he died that year of a congestive chill. He had never been much of a traveler, but went one trip to New Orleans on a flat boat. He was born into the Catholic Church, and nearly all his children and grandchildren have empbraced his faith. They are an intelligent, happy, prosperous and contented race of people.