Walker, George (IL State Representative)

Born: 1804-02-29 Maryland

Died: 1879-10-09 Hancock County, Illinois

Flourished: Hancock County, Illinois

George Walker was a farmer, landowner, livestock raiser, Baptist minister, township official, and state legislator. Walker resided in his native Maryland until he was either four or five years of age, when his parents moved to Campbell County, Kentucky. He received a basic education at local subscription schools, attending school three months of the year, the rest of his time devoted to work on the family farm. In February 1826, Walker married Rachel (Rachael) Clark, with whom he had nine children. Walker remained in Campbell County until 1833, when he moved his family to Hancock County, Illinois, settling in what would become Walker Township, becoming the third family to reside in the area. In 1835 and 1836, Walker purchased approximately 292 acres of public land in Walker and what would become Wythe Township. Walker would continue to accumulate land, owning at times as much as 2,000 acres during his life. In addition to farming, Walker took an active interest in politics and civic affairs, serving for many years of a justice of the peace, commissioner, and supervisor for Walker Township. In 1848, he won election, as a Democrat, to the Illinois House of Representatives, representing Hancock County in that body from January to November 1849. In 1850, Walker was farming and owned real property valued at $6,000. From January to February 1855, he served another term in the Illinois House. By 1860, Walker owned real property valued at $28,920 and had a personal estate of $10,000. He became a Baptist at an early age, and at the age of thirty-five, he became an ordained minister, serving his community in that capacity for thirty years.

Th. Gregg, History of Hancock County, Illinois (Chicago: Chas. C. Chapman, 1880), 971-72; Biographical Review of Hancock County, Illinois (Chicago: Hobart, 1907), 258-60; Northern Kentucky Marriages, 1795-1850, 26 February 1826, Campbell County (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, 1998); Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales, Hancock County, 699:103, 106, 135, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac, 1673-1968 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 217, 220; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Hancock County, IL, 295; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Hancock County, IL, 573; Gravestone, Walker Cemetery, Sutter, IL.