Isaac Walker was born on November 1823 or perhaps in
1822, almost exactly at the same time as his first cousin
Isaac,
leading to some complications in sorting through Claiborne
County records. He was born in Little
Sycamore Valley in Claiborne County to Joseph
and Mary (Tussey) Walker.
On 9 March 1848 in Claiborne County, he married Alzira
Rice. Alzira was the daughter of Temperance Rice before
Temperance's later marriage to Jacob Campbell. Eldridge
Campbell, who married Isaac's sister Sarah,
was Alzira's half brother. Alzira was born in March
1824 or perhaps 1823 in Claiborne County. The Rice and
Walker families apparently had known each other since
Edward B. Walker
was in Sullivan County.
Isaac served in the Civil War on the Confederate side,
specifically as a private in Company L of the 1st (Carter's)
Tennessee Cavalry. Alzira's full brother (or at least
another child of Temperance before her marriage) was
Clinton Younger Rice, who was a Second Lieutenant in
the same company; he was also a clerk under the Confederate
goverment in Claiborne County.
Originally formed for a six-month stint, the unit was
eventually required to serve for the duration of the
war. According to Nancy Cassada Nelson, Isaac's service
summary indicates that, in October 1864, Isaac had been
absent without leave since 1 July 1864, with a second
card indicating that he had been a prisoner of war paroled
at Cumberland Gap by Colonel William T. Dillard of the
34th Kentucky Infantry Volunteers. Another notation
indicates that he was paroled 28 April 1865 at Claiborne
County, Tennessee.
After the war, like many ex-Confederates in East Tennessee,
Isaac left for Texas apparently with his brother Samuel,
Clinton Rice, Jacob and Temperance (Rice) Campbell,
and possibly Andrew Callahan from Isaac's company and
maybe others. Based on the births of children in some
of those families, the group, or at least part of the
group, seems to have gone first to Virginia in about
1867, to West Virginia in 1869, and then to Texas in
late 1869.
Deeds in Claiborne County indicate that, in 1865 before
leaving, Isaac sold his land to Henry Croxdale, which
included land that had belong to his father Joseph,
which Isaac apparently procurred after his brother Jacob
died. According to family stories on his brother Jonathan's
side, Isaac forged the signature of Sterling Walker,
Jonathan's son, on one of the deeds. Per Nancy Cassada
Nelson, in the 1880s, this same land, or at least part
of it, was purchased by Sterling and his sister in a
sheriff's sale, lending credence to the story.
Isaac finally settled in Collin County, Texas, where
he appears in the Census until his death in 1912. Alzira
died 4 years later. The couple had 6 known children,
all presumably born in the Little Sycamore Valley and
all reaching marriage age in Texas. Minerva Jane, born
in November 1850, was the oldest. She was still unmarried
by 1880. There are several possible marriages for her
in Collin County after that, and she probably is the
Minerva J. Fore buried next to Alzira, but records have
not yet been found to prove that connection.
Joseph Clinton Walker, the next child, was born in
February 1853 and died in 1930 probably in Stuart, Hughes
County, Oklahoma. He is buried in Pryor Cemetery in
Pittsburg County, Oklahoma, with his wife, Frances Jemima
Burns. Frances was born 8 May 1866 in Alabama and died
2 August 1953 in Los Angeles County, California. The
couple probably married about 1883, but no marriage
record has been found yet. They raised 9 known children,
most of whom were born in Bulcher, Cooke County, Texas.
Theodore Samuel Dubose L. Walker was the next child,
born 1 March 1854. He married first a woman named Laura
Emma, last name unknown, in 1881-1883. She was born
24 January 1858 and died 10 Apr 1883; she is buried
in the same cemetery as Isaac and Alzira. If there were
children from this marriage, they are unknown. On 30
November 1884, he was married in Collin County to Bettie
S. Apollos; she was born about 1863 in Kentucky and
died after 1930. They raised 6 children. Theodore, died
in Los Angeles County, California, on 2 December 1949
at the age of 95. He would have been one of the rare
few people who was old enough to remember the Civil
War and every war through World War 2.
Mary Katherine Walker, the next child, was born in
February 1856 and married William David Rolls. They
apparently married 15 November 1880, presumably in Texas,
and raised two children, girls named Willie B. and Alma
P. Willie apparently never married, and Alma married
E.A. Cox although she is buried with Willie. Whether
this line continued is unknown. William died in August
1933 and Mary Katherine on 10 December 1910. They and
both children are buried in Baker Cemetery in Texas
County, Oklahoma.
Milton Green Walker, one of several Milton Green Walkers
in this extended Walker family, was born 15 January
1860. On 16 March 1884 in Collin County, Texas, he married
Malinda Luticia Campbell, daughter of Henry Campbell
and Phebe Branham. Malinda was born 8 Oct 1863 probably
in Claiborne County. The couple moved a bit, including
to the now ghost town in Fleetwood, Oklahoma, before
settling finally in Conway, Carson County, Texas. Milton
died there on 26 December 1943 and Malinda on 7 January
1959. They are buried in Claude Cemetery in Armstrong
County, Texas. They raised seven known children, and
have a number of descendants still in the area.
The youngest child, William S. Walker, was born 1 April
1862. He never married but died 1 April 1883, on his
21st birthday, of congestion of the brain in Colorado
City, Texas; his body was brought back to Collin County
and buried in Cottage Hill Cemetery where his parents
would later be buried.
