Walker, Isaac P.

Born: 1815-11-02 Virginia

Died: 1872-03-29 Wisconsin

Walker was a lawyer who was elected into the Illinois House of Representatives for one term, 1838 to 1840, representing Vermilion county, as a Democrat. After serving in the Illinois Legislature, Walker moved to Wisconsin Territory, in the early 184os. He settled in Milwaukee, with his wife Elizabeth, and continued to practice law. He was elected to serve in the House of Representatives in the Territorial Legislature for one term, 1847 to 1848. After Wisconsin was admitted to the Union in 1848, Walker was one of the first United States senators to represent Wisconsin in Congress. He served as a senator from 1848 to 1853. In 1849, Walker was asked by the Wisconsin Legislature to step down as senator because he voted, as a Democrat, to not prohibit slavery in California and New Mexico. He refused to resign. In 1860, he owned $7,000 in real estate and $1,500 in personal estate.

Gravestone, Forest Home Cemetery, Milwaukee County, WI; Vermilion County Pioneers (Danville, Illinois: Heritage House, 1969), 41; John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac, 1673-1968 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 208; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Waukesha County, WI, 20; Henry Edward, Leading Events of Wisconsin History (Wisconsin: Sentinel Co, 1898), 225, 280, 295; Proceedings of the State Bar Association of Wisconsin (Madison, WI: Taylor & Gleason, 1905), 238-41.