Jonathan T. Walker was born 15 March 1818 in the Little
Sycamore Valley in Claiborne County, Tennessee,
on Andrew Jackson's 51st birthday. His parents, Joseph
and Mary (Tussey) Walker, had recently settled the
area, and, as far as is known, he spent his entire life
there.
Jonathan and Amanda's son Sterling and his family;
courtesy Fay (Walker) Barnard through Lehman Callahan.
Back row from left: Jonathan Leslie, Henry Lewis,
Joseph Hillary, Milton Green. Front row: Sterling
holding Martha Jane, Ellen holding Charles Spurgeon,
unknown woman thought to have worked as household
help. Click for larger version.
Amanda Jane Tussey was his first cousin, the daughter
of his mother's brother, Jonathan, and his wife Mary
Buckner. Amanda was born in June 1819 probably in the
same area, perhaps on the Powell River near Fugate's
Ford. Her parents eventually moved to Kentucky.
Jonathan and Amanda's daughter Mary Jane and her
family; courtesy Fay (Walker) Barnard through Lehman
Callahan. Back row from left: Joseph Nelson, Sterling
Alexander, William Henry. Front: James Albert, John
Netherland Lewis, Mary Jane. Click for larger version.
The couple was married in Claiborne County on Christmas
Day in 1843. In short order, they had two children,
Sterling, born 13 October 1845, and Mary Jane, born
1 December 1847.
A typhoid epidemic arose the very next summer after
Mary Jane was born, with both Jonathan and Amanda contracting
it. A majority of people who contracted typhoid in the
area did surive, but the death rate was still high.
Jonathan and Amanda died a day apart, Jonathan on 11
August 1848 and Amanda the next day. They were buried
on his father's farm and may have been the first buried
there.
The children were raised by Joseph and Mary (Tussey)
Walker, though, with Joseph's accidental death in 1851,
Mary was left to raise them alone. Sterling, called
"Sod", married Ellen Pearson and lived his
life at Little Sycamore. The couple had six children
and are buried near his parents.
Sterling's sister, Mary Jane, married John Netherland
Lewis and raised a family of four boys in the Lone
Mountain area. Both are buried in Lewis Cemetery
at Lone Mountain.