Family Stories

Walker Family of Garrard County

We visit Old Paint Lick Cemetery in Garrard County again today.  Our focus is on the Walker family, Edwin Hockaday Walker and wife Elizabeth Woods Walker.  Edwin was the son of John Williams Walker (1802-1885) and Jane Miller Kavanaugh (1809-1895), born January 21, 1843.  Elizabeth was the daughter of Rice Garland Woods (1813-1893) and Martha A. Givens (1822-1849), born September 21, 1844.

On August 4, 1862, Edwin Walker enlisted in Co. H, 7th Kentucky Cavalry, for the Union.  He was 19, and listed as 6’1/2”, fair complexion, grey eyes and dark hair.  He mustered in August 16, 1862, in Paris, Kentucky.  His stay in the army didn’t last long.  A letter from W. S. Sharp, Surgeon, of the 7th Regiment, gives the following information:

‘1st Lieutenant Edwin Walker of the Seventh Regiment of Kentucky Volunteer Cavalry, having applied for a certificate on which to ground an application for leave of absence, I do hereby certify that I have carefully examined this officer and find that in consequence of having received a shot from a pistol in the left wrist and the ball ranging forward and is lodged in his hand, and for the last two (2) months the said officer has been unfit to perform military duty.  I further declare my belief that he will not be able to resume his duties for thirty (30) days at least, dated at Scottsville, Kentucky, this 24th day of November 1862.’

This concurs with the notation of ‘crippled hand’ in the 1880 census.

After resigning his position with the army, Edwin married Elizabeth Woods October 22, 1863.  The couple had the following seven children:

  1. Mary Lusk Walker, January 22, 1866 – February 16, 1945.  Single.
  2. Margaret Walker, January 1868 – July 7, 1948.  Married S. Luther Gibbs June 12, 1895. 
  3. Rice Woods Walker, March 16, 1869 – February 9, 1956.  Married Sally May October 27, 1897.
  4. Jane Miller Walker, August 1, 1870 – January 20, 1958.  Single.
  5. Martha Ogilvie Walker, June 30, 1874 – June 29, 1957.  Single.
  6. Edwin Hockaday Walker, October 27, 1877 – November 6, 1899.  Single.
  7. John M. Walker, December 2, 1878 – December 25, 1878.  Single.

Gravestone photos and obituaries.

John M., son of H. & E. Walker, born December 2, 1878, died December 25, 1878. Old Paint Lick Cemetery, Garrard County, Kentucky.

Poor babe lived less than a month.

Edwin Hockaday Walker, born October 27, 1877, died November 6, 1899.

The Central Record, Lancaster, Garrard County, Kentucky

Thursday, November 9, 1899

Edwin H. Walker, January 21, 1843 – April 1, 1910. Elizabeth Woods, his wife, September 21, 1844 – March 20, 1916.

The Central Record, Lancaster, Garrard County, Kentucky

Friday, April 8, 1910

Thursday, March 23, 1916

Mary L. Walker, January 22, 1866 – February 16, 1945.

The Lexington Herald, Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Sunday, February 18, 1945

The Lexington Herald, Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Wednesday, July 7, 1948

Margaret Walker Gibbs was buried in Lancaster Cemetery.

Woods Walker, 1869-1956. Sally May Walker, 1874-1954.

In a 1981 article of The Chase, a hunting magazine, the following was written by John Wake Walker about Woods Walker:

‘Woods Walker, perhaps the most widely known of all the Walker hunters, was born March 16, 1869, to Edwin Hockaday Walker and Elizabeth Woods Walker. He lived all his life on the land of his grandfather, Garland woods, and his father E. H. Walker. He was married to Miss Sally May of Mt. Carmel, Illinois, and they had four children, Edwin H. Walker III born August 16, 1898, Mary May Walker born January 25, 1900, Elizabeth Walker born April 25, 1904 and Robert Walker born July 16, 1920.

‘Woods Walker started hunting at an early age with his father and his three uncles, Arch, Wade and Steve Walker. He had Arthur Ball as his huntsman and he started his Walker Kennels. He bred, over the years, some of the greatest foxhounds in America. I lived with the late Woods and Sally Walker the last ten years of their lives and they were truly the salt of the earth and I loved them dearly.’

The Advocate Messenger, Danville, Boyle County, Kentucky

Friday, February 10, 1956

Mattie O. Walker, June 30, 1874 – June 29, 1959.

The Lexington Herald, Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Sunday, June 30, 1957

Jane M. Walker, August 1, 1870 – January 20, 1958

The Lexington Leader, Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Tuesday, January 21, 1958

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