Jacob Shuff Walker was born on December 3 1 st, 1826, during the presidency of John Quincy Adams. He was the third son of Edward "Neddie" Walker, Jr., and Mahala "Haley" (Tussey) Walker, a farming couple living near Mulberry Gap in Claiborne County, Tennessee. When Hancock County was formed in 1846 from Claiborne and Hawkins Counties, this farm fell into Hancock County. His paternal grandparents were Edward B. Walker, Sr., and Jane (Home) Walker, and Jacob was named after his maternal grandparents, Jacob and Jane (Shuff) Tussey.
Some sources place Jacob's birthdate as the next day,
January lst, including, reportedly, the family Bible, which has not yet been
found. However, Elizabeth (Walker) Click, Jacob's oldest child, states that
Jacob related to her "that it was a mistake; his mother always said he was
born the last day of the last week, the last day of the month, and the last
week of the year. December 31 st was indeed a Saturday.
Jacob, known as "Jake", grew up in a large family
of moderate means. His father was a veteran of the War of 1812 and had received
160 acres of bounty land and also owned other land totaling about 360 acres.
His father had a variety of farm animals and grew several different crops. When Jake was small, his parents would take
the children into the fields and put them on a pallet while Neddie and Haley
worked.
According to a story that Jake told to his daughter
Elizabeth "Lizzie" (Walker) Click, Jane (Shuff) Tussey lived with
Jacob and his parents when Jake was little. "She had a growth over her
eyes, and she would have him go to the creek and get muscle shells and bum them
and powder them fine and blow them into her eyes to cut the film off, then she
could see some for several weeks. 112
Martha "Patsey" Davis was born on November 7th,
1825, near Mulberry Gap. She was the daughter of Eli Davis, Sr., a traveling
schoolteacher and farmer, and Martha "Patsey" (Baker) Davis, an herb
doctor. According to tradition, Eli taught his own family from 6 to 9 P.M. each
night by candlelight.3
The elder Martha apparently was in great demand for miles
around, as people would bring an extra horse for her to ride to accompany them
back to the sick. Supposedly, she once broke her hip and was bedridden for a
year or more, but she recovered and completely resumed her doctoring.
Jake also appears to have been educated, as he could read
and write. Schools were more common in the area when he and Patsey were growing
up, and Jake may have been taught himself by Eli; this conclusion is based
entirely upon supposition as Jake and Patsey's signatures are similar. No real
evidence exists or is likely to be found. The Walkers and the Davises did live
near each other, so Jake and Patsey may well have known each other their entire
lives. They were married on Patsey's twenty-first birthday, November 7th, 1846.
The marriage license, was, in fact, dated November 9th; however, the only
notation in the registry book as to dispensation was "license
returned". In other words, the marriage was performed, but no information
was given to the County Clerk as to the details of the ceremony. A cursory
examination of other entries show that licenses were often issued after the marriage,
and the November 7th date was given by Lizzie Click4.
1. Annie Walker Burns, The Descendants of Edward Walker....
page 11; letter from Lizzie Click to Annie Walker Burns, August 7th, 1929
2Ibid., page 12; letter from Lizzie Click
to Annie Walker Bums dated July 26th, 1929. 3Frieda Sims Nelson, The
Descendants of Andrew Baker, page 202.
4Ibid., page 11
For a while after their marriage, Jake and Patsey appear to
have lived near his father tending to their own small farm. Curiously, they do not appear in the 1850
Census at all, but Jake is listed in the Farm Schedule for that Census two
lines from his father, so it is currently presumed that the family was missed
during the regular Census [He may well have gone to some other state for a
while; investigate further.]. In 1850, Jake reported that his farm consisted of
25 improved and 35 unimproved acres, and was worth $200. He owned $10 worth of implements and
machinery, two horses, one cow for milking, two other cattle, twelve sheep, and
twenty swine; in total, he owned $200 worth of livestock and had slaughtered
$20 worth of livestock that year.
His farm produced a variety of items that year: 300 bushels
of corn, 150 bushels of oats, 23 pounds of wool, 22 bushels of sweet potatoes,
$5 in orchard products, 25 pounds of butter, 20 pounds of flax, 40 pounds of
beeswax and honey, and $25 in homemade manufactures.
Sometime before June of 1860, however, Jacob and Martha
moved next door to her parents. Her father was 80 years old in 1860 and had
grown feeble; her mother was 68. Martha's oldest brother John, a school teacher skilled in woodcraft, also
lived with her parents. Jacob and
Martha did not own land there at first apparently, as the 1860 Census shows no
value whatsoever for real estate while Eli's real estate was worth $2000. Jacob
and Martha did have about $500 in personal property, and her father had $1000.
[need to look up other years]
Eli Davis died January 23rd, 1861, and Jacob and Martha
inherited part of the estate. By this point, Mulberry Gap had long been in
Hancock County, and unfortunately, the Hancock County Court House burned in
1873, so most records before that time have been lost. However, an original
deed filed with the Registrar's Office on December 4th, 1866, has been found.
With that deed of conveyance, Jacob and Martha sold their interest in Eli's
estate for $100.00 to her brother-in-law, Adam Yeary Hatfield.
The Civil War intervened, starting in 1861 and ending in
1865. Jake appears to have been too old to fight, and his sympathies in the war
are unknown. The war certainly touched the area in which he lived as troops
from both sides passed through the area often. Jake's father was a minor slave
owner, and a younger brother was a soldier for the Confederacy. However,
evidence suggests that Jake's oldest brother was a Union supporter. Relations
between family members after the war are not well known.
Soon afterwards, they moved into what is still Claiborne
County onto their own farm about a mile from where Jake's brother Isaac had a
farm. They lived in a house on the bank of Straight Creek near the present
location of the Straight Creek Missionary Baptist Church. They were members of
that church until their deaths. No trace can be found of the house or the
blacksmith shop in which Jake worked, though the location is known.6
The farm on Straight Creek was worth $600 in 1870, at which
time Jacob had $200 in personal property also. [I need to look up the farm
schedule.]
To date,
we have found no pictures of the couple, though we have obtained pictures of
the majority of the children. The only
object that belonged to the couple known to be extant are an unfinished quilt
and a piece of linen7, both made by Pat Daughter Alice knew which dress
belonged to which daughter, but that information has now been lost.
Jake died
on October 4, 1887, aged nearly 61. Patsey went to live with the family of her
oldest daughter, Elizabeth "Lizzie" Click, in a house that is still
standing further down the road near Walker's Ford.8 Patsey died in that house
in June of 1900; the exact date is still unknown.
Jake and
Patsey are buried on a hill directly behind the Straight Creek Baptist Church, with field stones as
markers.
Their graves are surrounded by a small grove of trees.
Jacob and Martha had ten children, one of whom died in infancy; most, possibly with the exception of Alice, were born in Hancock County, Tennessee.
Elizabeth
("Lizzie") Walker was born on November 1, 1847, and was a
schoolteacher. She married Andrew J. Click (2/5/1861-12/31/1914) on July 28,
1881. Andrew was the son of James and Polly Ann (Martin) Click. Andy and Lizzie
raised a family, which is documented separately. They lived for a while near
Straight Creek and later moved to Andersonville. Lizzie died on November 7,
1940, at age 93. The couple is buried
in the Andersonville CemetEry in Andersonville, Tennessee.
Mahala
"Haley" Walker was born about 1848 in Hancock County. She married
Samuel Janeway, a minister, about 1878.
Samuel was the son of the Rev. William Janeway. The couple lived near
Straight Creek for a time in a valley down the road from Jake and Patsey;
Samuel was the minister at Straight Creek Missionary Baptist Church 1902-1903
and 1910-191 1; at some point, the couple moved to Kentucky where Mahala died
after raising a large family. This family is documented separately.
Martha E.
Walker was born about 1851 in Hancock County.
She married Wilbome "Wib" Jesse, son of John Tase and Mary
(Burke) Jessee on June 21, 1874, in Claiborne County. They lived on top of the
mountain near Bear Creek. She apparently contracted tuberculosis and died
during childbirth on January 27th, 1876. Wib Jessee later remarried, but his
marriage with Martha produced no survivors. Martha is buried at the old
home-site on top of the mountain.
Henry
Walker was born about 1854 and died when he was about 20. At present, nothing
is known of him. His sister, Elizabeth, referred to him as a "mere
boy" when he died.
John
Davis Walker was born on 4 Sept. 1855 in Claiborne Co. and married Margaret Ann
Houston on October 16, 1873, in Claiborne County. Margaret was the daughter of
William Jasper Houston of Smyth Co.Virginia and Martha Ann Fox. Martha Ann Fox
was the daughter of Abraham and Elizabeth Goodman Fox of Smyth Co. and later of
Claiborne Co. William Jasper was born on 28 May 1838 in or near Smyth Co. VA
and was killed 23 Nov. 1863 in a skirmish near Chattanooga during the Battle of
Missionary Ridge. He was a member of Co. C., 29th Tennessee Confederate
Infantry. He and Martha Ann Fox were married 16 Sept 1857 in Claiborne Co.
Martha Ann Fox Houston died ca 1859. William Jasper is the son of James R. and
Martha Ann Buchanan Houston of Smyth Co. VA. James R. Houston was born on 18
Feb. 1811 and Martha Ann Buchanan was born on 1 Feb. 1814. Both were probably
born near Smyth Co. VA. They were married on 18 Oct. 1832 in Smyth Co. VA. They
had a daughter by the name of Nancy J. Houston who was born on 12 March 1834.
Rev. John
Davis Walker was a circuit riding Baptist minister for 45 years and pastored 22
churches, the last being Cedar Hill Baptist Church in Campbell County,
Tennessee. He and his family moved from Claiborne Co. to the little community
of Big Springs in Union Co. There he preached at the Big Springs Church that
was on his property. Family stories indicate that John performed the marriages
of most of his siblings. He died at 8:30 P.M. on August 28, 1941, at the home
of his daughter in Knoxville. Margaret Ann Houston Walker was born on 13 June
1858 in Claiborne Co. and died in Knoxville on 12 June 1944. They both are
buried at Glenwood Baptist Cemetery.
(Have
separate notes and stories regarding Rev. Walker,etc)
Andrew
Calvin Walker was born July 24, 1857. A college-educated medical doctor, he
married Catherine Corilda "Corilda" Owen, daughter of William Allen
and Elizabeth (O'Dell) Owen in 1876. Corilda was born and raised in Pulaski
County, Virginia. They lived a number of places and had a number of children;
this family is documented separately. Andrew died on May 15, 1926, in
Caryville, Tennessee (Campbell County) of valvular heart disease with chronic
interstitual nephritis (kidney disease) as the contributing cause.
Sterling A. was born during the first of 1860. He married Tempe More and then Margaret ("Lizzie") Hamlet. He had several children, including one named Tipton, and he died probably in the 1890s. Nothing further is known at this time.
Mary Anne Walker was probably
born about 1862 and apparently died within six months.
Silas Anderson Walker was born on
August 5, 1864, and died at 2:00 A.M. on May 21, 1944. He is buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in LaFollette,
Campbell County, Tennessee. Silas was both a doctor and a teacher and was
principal at schools in Powell Station, Andersonville, Wells Springs, and Maynardville.
He married first Mary Louise Albright (12/2/1867-10/5/1902) and had several
children. After Mary died, he married Virginia Anne St. John
(4/26/1881-5/27/1945) on the advice of his children and raised more children,
one of whom is still living in Memphis, Tennessee. This family is documented separately.
Alice Elma Walker, the youngest
child, was bom on July 4, 1867, and died January 18, 1957. She married Dr.
James Carter Carr (9/30/1862-5/28/1917), son of David Carr, on April 26, 1888,
in Claiborne County. They raised a large family; two children are still living
in New Tazewell. This family is documented separately.
Record
of the Descendants of Edward Walker..., Annie Walker Burns, 1929, published privately. This book provides a good deal of
information about several lines of the family. It is mostly a collection of
letters between family members and occasional government agencies that discuss
family history. A number of
inaccuracies occur, but much of the information is irreplaceable. It was
privately published and sold to relatives; the copy used for this research was
obtained from Laura Roby (Click) Stooksbury, of Andersonville, Tennessee.
Her
grandmother, Elizabeth ("Lizzie") (Walker) Click, wrote some of the
letters in the book and bought it from Mrs. Burns. A copy of this book can be
found at the Daughters of the American Revolution Library in Washington, D. C.
Walker
Family Records, Cumberland Gap Tennessee, by Annie Walker Burns, 1957, published privately:
contains nearly the same information as the first book plus a great deal of
extraneous information on Walkers not related to this family. It can be found
at the Daughters of the American Revolution Library.
Andrew
Baker and His Descendants, by Frieda Sims Nelson, Pueblo, CO, 1975, published privately: a record
of the descendants of Martha (Davis) Walker's maternal grandfather. It includes a transcription of Eli Davis'
family Bible records in an appendix. This copy was obtained from Dolores
(Ramsey) Ham and copied with the permission of the author. If this book is available in any libraries,
they are unknown.
Old
Time Tazewell was
written by Mary Hansard apparently mostly in the 1890s. Mary Hansard was Annie
Walker Burns'grandmother. The book contains sketches of various families from
that era in the Tazewell area including one about Jacob and his brother Isaac.
It was published by her daughter, Lorena (Hansard) Wilson of Sweetwater,
Tennessee, in 1979. It can be obtained in many Tennessee libraries and the
Library of Congress; this copy was purchased at a bookstore.
A
People's History of Claiborne County was published in 1989[check] by the Claiborne County
Historical Society. It contains information submitted on various families in
Claiborne County. All of the information on the Davis family came from the
article on Eli Davis written by Dolores (Ramsey) Ham and submitted by her
sister, Mary (Ramsey) Genova. The book is available from the Society from which
this copy was purchased.
The
marriage register listing for Jacob Walker and Martha Davis was obtained from
the County Clerk's Office of Claiborne County, Tennessee.
Church
records from the Straight Creek Baptist Church indicate Sam Janeway's pastoring,
and the month and year of Jake and Patsey's deaths and the exact date of
Martha's death.
Jacob's
father, Edward, applied for bounty land for his service in the War of 1812, and
his stepmother applied for a
pension
based on that service. The application
is WC267949 found at the National Archives. Additional information on this
service is documented with Edward.
Lizzie
(Walker) Click's granddaughter, Laura Roby (Sneed) Stooksbury, still lives in
Clinton, Tennessee.
Alice Elma
(Walker) Carr's youngest daughter still lives near the house in which Alice and
her husband lived in Sandlick near New Tazewell, Tennessee.
Sources
for information on the children can be found with the children's articles.
Census
Information
1830: Claiborne County, page 119: Documented (unnamed) with his father,
Edward Walker, Jr.
1840: Claiborne County, page 237: Documented (unnamed) with his father.
1850: Hancock County: missing in regular Census, page 467 of the Farm
Schedule.
1860: Hancock County, page 142
1870: Claiborne County, page 316
1880: Claiborne County, page 17
1900: Claiborne County, page 144 (Martha Walker living with Andrew J.
Click)
Information
on Rev. John Davis Walker line provided by William Joseph Mode of Fountain City,
Knoxville, TN.
Return to Joe
Mode’s Family Album