He married Elizabeth Sumpter, called Betsy, about 1856
probably in Hancock County. Her parents are not entirely
proven but appear to be Charles and Sally Sumpter who
lived next to Ned and Haley; Betsy was born 28 July
1836.
Johnathan is curious because he is one of the few Walkers
in this family to have fought for the Confederacy. In
fact, many of his first cousins and one nephew died
for the Union. His reasons for choosing that side are
unclear. When the war started, he lived very near what
is now known as Rebel Hollow, which was so named because
of the Confederate sympathies in the area. He went to
war when he had a small daughter at home and his wife
was pregnant; curiously, he volunteered the day before
a Confederate draft went into effect. He may have felt
compelled or was compelled to join, may have followed
the sympathies of his in-laws, or may have genuinely
believed in the cause.
Johnathan and his second
wife in 1918. From Our Union County Heritage,
vol. 2.
In any event, he served for about a year and a half,
even fighting barefoot at Missionary Ridge and Chickamauga.
After Chickamauga, he contracted typhoid and was taken
to an army hospital in Lagrange, Georgia, near Atlanta.
At the hospital, Johnathan decided he would be better
off at home and set off with rags wrapped around his
feet for his brother John
Gilmore Walker's house at Walker's
Ford.
Government records unearthed when Johnathan applied
for a pension showed him as a deserter, but there is
reason to doubt the record. Although Johnathan's reason
for leaving appears clear, the permission by which he
left is not.
In Chattanooga, Johnathan stated that he was physically
close to his captain, Abraham Fulkerson, and Fulkerson
was severely wounded in that battle just shortly before
Johnathan himself became sick. Disorganization within
his unit as well as possible records problems at the
hospital may have caused his discharge to get lost –
assuming he had one, of course.
He may simply have left, with East Tennessee about
to fall completely. But he likely at least assumed he
had the proper permission, since he stopped and talked
to members of his unit on his way home. More than one
testified that he gave a very sick Johnathan no chance
of making it home alive, although he did but was unable
to work for quite some time. He got home right about
the time the Union took East Tennessee and never returned
to service. His later request for a pension was rejected,
although he applied very shortly before his death and
did not have time to answer many questions.
Tombstone photos from
Yadon Cemetery in Union County taken 5/5/2003
by Tim Walker.
Johnathan and his wife eventually settled next to John
Gilmore Walker and stayed there the rest of their lives.
Although their youngest child appears to have died young,
they had at two children who reached adulthood. Betsy
died 21 May 1911 in Union County and was buried in Yadon
Cemetery there. Johnathan married a widow, Sarah Elizabeth
Ramsey, on 11 January 1915 in Union County; Sarah was
much younger, having been born 7 April 1868 in Hancock
County, the daughter of Alvis and Mary (Hopkins) Ramsey.
Johnathan died 17 August 1922 in Union County and was
buried the next day in Yadon Cemetery next to his first
wife; Sarah died 19 November 1941 and is buried in Nave
Hill Cemetery. Johnathan supposedly died of rheumatism
that he had had for 25 years and acute gastritis which
he had had for 25 days.
