Anna Walker, daughter of Joseph
and Mary (Tussey) Walker, was born on 23 September
1830 in the Little
Sycamore Valley in Claiborne County, Tennessee.
She married John Lewis in Claiborne County on 25 January
1853. John was son of William Lewis and Sarah Boyers
and brother of Louisa Lewis who married Anna Walker's
brother Isaac.
He was born 5 December 1827 in Claiborne County.
John and Anna (Walker) Lewis. Click each one for
larger version.
John and Anna raised nine known children, eight of
whom lived to adulthood. Most stayed in Claiborne County,
although at least two moved to Texas, settling near
Anna's brothers Isaac
and Samuel
some years after Isaac and Samuel themselves went to
Texas.
As far as is known, John and Anna lived on or near
land owned by her father most if not all of their married
life. They gave land to build New Salem Baptist Church,
a church that is still in existence. They are buried
with her parents in the family cemetery; she died 3
December 1896 and he died 6 May 1904.
Their children were all born in Little Sycamore Valley.
The first two children were twins born on 16 December
1853, presumably named for their grandparents, Joseph
and Mary Jane Lewis. Mary Jane married Edward
Franklin Walker, her second cousin, and the couple
had seven children; she is covered in the article with
Edd.
Joseph Lewis married Luanne Tennessee Pearson, daughter
of Pleasant Hillary Pearson and Martha Davis and sister
to Ellen who married Sterling Walker (son of Anna (Walker)
Lewis's brother Jonathan)
and Cornelia Frances, who would marry a son of Anna's
brother Elihu.
They had two children, one who died at birth, and Joseph
Walker's land descended through their son Robert
White Lewis. Joseph died 16 April 1930 and Luanne on
20 July 1928. Both are buried in the family cemetery
at Little Sycamore Creek.
The third child, Isaac Buchanan Lewis, was born 9 November
1856. He probably took his middle name from James Buchanan,
who had been elected president just 5 days earlier.
He grew up in Claiborne County but, by 1880, had moved
to Collin County, Texas, living with two sons of his
uncle Isaac
Walker.
On 13 January 1885, possibly in Denton County, Texas,
Isaac Buchanan Lewis married Almeda Hickman Rice. Born
25 January 1870 in Denton County, Almeda was a daughter
of Clinton Younger Rice and niece of Isaac Walker's
wife Alzira. After a few years around Sanger in Denton
County, they moved briefly to Indian Territory, now
Oklahoma, before settling at Bulcher in Cooke County,
Texas. Both died in Cooke County, Isaac on 2 August
1922 and Almeda on 30 August 1940. They are buried in
Fairview Cemetery in Gainsville, Cooke County, Texas.
They had 14 known children and likely have many descendants
still in the area.
The fourth child of John Lewis and Anna Walker was
Sarah Elizabeth, born 20 November 1858. On 6 January
1881, she married Joseph F. McVey and raised four known
children. He was born 15 March 1853 and died 7 September
1894. She died in Claiborne County on 24 May 1930. Both
are buried in McVay Cemetery (spelling varies) on Little
Sycamore Road not far from where she was born.
The fifth child was Sterling Lewis who was born on
8 July 1861 and died at the age of 3 on 22 December
1864; he is buried in the same cemetery as his parents.
Next was Martha Ann Lewis, born 30 July 1864. On 19
April 1888 in Claiborne County, she became the second
of the three wives of James H. Vannoy. James was born
4 February 1856 in Hancock County, Tennessee, and died
1 November 1948 in Claiborne County. Martha and James
had four children of their own before Martha died 9
May 1916. She is buried in Pleasant View Cemetery on
West Teller Road in the Little Sycamore area; James
is buried in Greer Cemetery in Harrogate, Claiborne
County. His first wife, Matilda Jane Venable, with whom
he had three children, is also buried in Pleasant View
Cemetery while his third wife, Minnie Magnolia Sanders,
is buried with him in Greer Cemetery. Minnie was the
daughter of Laura Ann (Walker) and William M. Sanders
and granddaughter of Edward
Franklin Walker.
Melvina Catherine Lewis, seventh child of John and
Anna (Walker) Lewis, was born 2 February 1867. On 25
February 1890 she married Thomas Jefferson Owens in
Claiborne County; he was born 20 June 1854 probably
in Russell County, Virginia. Based on what their two
oldest sons said on their World War 1 draft registrations,
the couple may have lived in Nashville for a few years
immediately after marriage, but the sons may have been
confused. By 1895, though, they were in Cooke County,
Texas, where the last five of their seven children were
born. Thomas Jefferson Owens died at his home in Marysville,
Cooke County, on 12 August 1932. Melvina died at her
home at 322 North Taylor Street in Gainesville, Cooke
County, Texas, on 30 January 1952.
Barbara Lewis, born 6 August 1869, became the second
of the three wives of Rev. David Dudley Dalton and mother
to eleven of his twenty children. They married 1 May
1890, probably in Grainger County, Tennessee. He was
born 11 September 1859 and died 5 January 1940, in both
cases probably in Grainger County. She died 4 January
1933, probably in Grainger County; both are buried in
Dalton Cemetery in Grainger County. David Dalton's other
wives, Martha Emaline Cloud and Lennie Bean, are not
known to be related to the Walkers.
The last child of John and Anna (Lewis) Walker was
Minerva, born 31 May 1873. She married Millard Filmore
Russell in Claiborne County on 31 May 1897, and they
had two known children, Paris Columbus Russell, and
Sarah C. Russell. They have not been found beyond 1900
and may have had more children. In 1920, though, Paris
Russell is living with Milton Green Walker, son of Sterling
Walker and grandson of Jonathan
T. Walker. Paris is listed as foster son, so presumably
Minerva and/or Millard Filmore Russell had died by then.
What became of Sarah is unknown.
