Walker, Pinckney H.

Born: 1815-06-18 Adair County, Kentucky

Died: 1885-02-07 Rushville, Illinois

Flourished: Rushville, Illinois

Pinckney H. Walker was a lawyer, circuit court judge, and justice of the Illinois Supreme Court. Walker emigrated to Illinois in 1834, settling in Rushville. In 1838, Walker moved to Macomb, Illinois, where he read the law with his uncle Cyrus Walker. Walker earned admittance to the bar in 1839 and began practicing law in McDonough and other surrounding counties. On June 2, 1840, Walker married Susan Crosley. Walker lived and practiced law in McDonough County until 1848, when he returned to Rushville. In 1850, he was living and practicing law in Rushville and owned real property valued at $5,000. In 1853, voters elected Walker to fill a vacancy as judge of the Fifth Judicial Circuit of Illinois. He won reelection in 1855. Governor William H. Bissell appointed Walker to the Illinois Supreme Court in April 1858 to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of Onias C. Skinner. In 1860, he was living in Rushville and owned real property valued at $13,600 and had a personal estate of $1,000. Walker served on the Supreme Court until his death.

Combined History of Schuyler and Brown Counties, Illinois (Philadelphia: W. R. Brink, 1882) 147-48; Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 9 February 1885, 5:4; Macomb Journal (IL), 12 February 1885, 8:1; Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Schuyler County, 2 June 1840, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Rushville, Schuyler County, IL, 311; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Rushville, Schuyler County, IL, 337; Louis L. Emmerson, ed., Blue Book of the State of Illinois, 1923-1924 (Springfield: Illinois State Journal, 1923), 613, 617; John Dean Caton, Early Bench and Bar of Illinois (Chicago: The Chicago Legal News, 1893), 191-97; Gravestone, Rushville City Cemetery, Rushville, IL. Illustration courtesy of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, Springfield, IL.