Tyler’s father, Gideon, is recorded in Military Burials of Croydon, New Hampshire, as a private in a Massachusetts unit during the Revolutionary War. His ancestral descent was thrice documented and approved in Sons of the American Revolution membership submissions. Born in Sutton, Massachusetts, in 1756 to Asa Walker and Abigail Hayden, Gideon married Mary Carriel (Carroll). Tyler Walker was the eldest son of Gideon and Mary’s six children. Tyler was born 12 May 1794 in Croydon, Cheshire County, now known as Sullivan County. He served as a private in Captain Joseph Kimball’s Company of Colonel Fisk’s New Hampshire Militia. He enlisted at Croydon 16 Sep 1814 and was discharged at Portsmouth 3 Dec 1814. His name is found in the index of Croydon citizens known to be veterans of the War of 1812. Tyler married Polly Ann Rowe in 1817. Tyler and Polly were parents of four children: Julia Ann, John, Lovina, and Hiram. A blacksmith by occupation, Tyler migrated to Lake County Ohio in 1837. The family is enumerated on the 1840-1860 Federal censuses in Concord Township.
The earliest evidence of the Walker family in Fillmore County records shows a military warrant land patent for 120 acres in section 18 of Carrolton Township. Under the authority of the ScripWarrant Act of 1855, Tyler was granted 120 acres which he subsequently transferred to James Ryan on 1 Jun l859. As of the 1857 Minnesota Territorial Census, son Hiram settled his family in Rushford Township, and by 1869, another Walker had joined him. Hiram’s brother John Franklin arrived to take up residence in Holt Township, where together the two siblings built a stone mill near Whalan. Meanwhile, back in Ohio, the Walker parents suffered effects of ill health. On the 1870 census Tyler, age 76, is enumerated as “blind,” while Polly is enumerated as “insane” – likely the result of senility. The issue of caring for parents of advanced age was a common concern of folks migrating westward. Each family weighed the choice of leaving parents behind or encouraging their participation in an arduous journey to resettlement across the Mississippi. Climate and conditions on the frontier were advertised as healthy and conducive to wellness, which influenced many families to emigrate as multi-generational units. Hiram returned to Ohio in 1872 to bring his extended family to Fillmore County.
By the enumeration of the 1880 Federal Census, Tyler and Polly are residing in Holt Township with son John Franklin and family. On the census questionnaire for the elder Walkers, the enumerator noted “YES” in the column asking whether a person was blind, deaf, dumb, idiotic, insane, maimed, crippled, bedridden or permanently disabled. Polly died a few months after the census was taken. Along with comrades Jarvis Billings and Charles Williams, Tyler is recorded in the Pensioners in Minnesota, abstracted from the U.S. Pension Bureau’s List of Pensioners on the Roll, 1 Jan 1883. The Walker flour milling business suffered a series of floods, which persuaded John Franklin to move farther west to Dakota Territory in 1883. His wife and children remained in Holt Township for three years, during which time his father died 7 Nov 1884. His obituary in the 27 Nov 1884 issue of the Rushford Star memorializes the old veteran:
“Mr. Tyler Walker, aged 91 years, father of Hiram Walker, formerly of this city, died a few days since. His remains were interred in the cemetery in Highland. He was highly respected by all who knew him.”
A granite family monument was set for Tyler and wife Polly at the North Highland Cemetery (AKA Highland Friends Cemetery). Close inspection reveals the base of an original marble marker on the south side of the burial lot reads: WALKER.
Leave a Reply