WHO WAS MOSES WALKER AND WHERE DID HE COME FROM?

(MISCELLANEOUS SPECULATIONS)

New Information has been revealed by recent DNA tests.  Moses Walker has been shown to be closely related to Buckley Walker of Bedford/Campbell County, VA (a 24 out of 25 marker comparison which makes it 50% probable that the sample donors have a MRCA with 7 generations and 80% probable within 12 generations).   The donors themselves were 7 generations removed, so we don't have enough information to suggest that Moses and Buckley were brothers, but we now know FOR SURE that they descended from the same ancestry.  It does however appear more likely that they were not brothers.  Another sample (16244) from the Buckley Walker family of west Tennessee is even further removed, while still unquestionably closely related to the Moses Walker clan.  The results suggest so far that the name Buckley Walker may go back much further than expected, perhaps more than 12 generations, putting the origins of the name in the seventeenth century.

Even more interesting is the James Walker of Buckingham County, VA line which has shown a 37 out of 37 marker comparison with the Moses Walker line indicating a 90% chance of having a MRCA within 8 generations.  That makes the James Walker line more probable of being more closely related to Moses Walker than Buckley Walker.  More information on the James Walker line will follow soon.

Facts about Moses Walker

• We know that he died in 1806
• He had an underage child in 1806 name Leatha³
• His wifes name in 1806 was Ann²
• Ann died in June 1849 in Amelia County, Virginia
• Moses’ other children were born in the 1760-70s
• His children’s names were Jemima³, Buckley³, Jesse³, Elizabeth³, Martha³, and Leatha³

A common name diagram of children and grandchildren (common names have common colors):

• Buckley 2 named for their uncle
• Moses 4 named for their grandfather
• Martha 2 named for their Aunt
• Elizabeth 2 named for their Aunt
• Barnett Donaldson? Martha married a Donaldson
• Burgess Harralson? Did Jesse marry a Harralson or did Moses?

Was Moses’s first wife named Nancy (Agnes)? A Moses Walker is listed with wife Agnes in Augusta County, VA in 1756.  A Nancy Walker purchased items at the estate settlement of Jesse Walker on Sept. 24, 1795.  This appears to be Jesse Walker's mother.  She must have died soon after and Moses remarried Ann _________.

Here are several Walker/Buckley marriages that could be the forbearers of Buckley Walker -

Robert Walker married Margaret Birkley on June 3, 1740 in Newburn, Northumberland, England. 

William WALKER married Jane BUCKLEY on Feb. 9,  1729 in Ellesmere, Shropshire, England.

William WALKER married Joane BUCKLY on Feb. 25, 1668 in Saint Thomas, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England.

George Walker married Isabella Barclay in 1668 in Tyrone, Ireland.  This line shows up as Walker DNA Group 1 through the John Walker/Elizabeth Watson connection.   Since the paper trail proof is sketchy back to George and Isabella, no firm conclusions can be reached.

Barclay Walker married Marrione DICKSONE on June 4, 1646 in Melrose, Roxburgh, Scotland.

Moses Walker was issued a land entry by the Earl of Granville on Jan. 28, 1762 for 700 acres on Mayo Creek.  The entry includes the passage, "including the improvement that Burk lived on".  The name Burk could be Buck(ley).  The source is secondary and I haven't yet seen the actual entry, but it probably is Buckley.  I haven't seen any other references to a Burk family in this area.  Buckley Walker was in Albemarle, VA in 1759 and 1760 and then reappears in Bedford, Va in 1763.  Could he have settled on Mayo in 1761 and then moved back to Virginia?

There is alot of circumstantial evidence to tie Moses Walker to Hanover and Albemarle Counties in VA.  His neighbors the Chambers and Harralsons came from Hanover through Albemarle.  Moses Walker's estate inventory listed in the Person County Estate Records indicates a bond from Moses Walker to Abner and Benjamin Chambers as follows: "one note on Benjamin & Abner Chambers for One Hundred dollars to be due two years after the death of their Mother with interest from 12th November, 1805".  This suggests that Moses Walker had some relationship with Elizabeth Chambers, wife of William Chambers.   Also, Buckley Kimbrough, who settled in Edgecombe, NC and is the only other person I have found with the first name Buckley, came from Hanover.  Dr. Thomas Walker was the father of the most prominent Walker family in Albemarle County had a granddaughter named Maria Barclay Walker.

Moses Walker (NC) is involved as a witness in two land transaction in 1787 and 1788 where William Walker is also a witness.  A William Walker also purchased land on branches of Buffalo Creek in Lunenberg County from John Phelps on June 25, 1750.  Buckley Walker's (VA) first land purchase was on this same Buffalo Creek.  Could William Walker be their father?  or could he be the William Walker that married Betty Baber in Albemarle, VA and possibly the brother of both Moses and Buckley?  Buckley named one of his sons William.

Moses’s very probable brother was Buckley² of Bedford County, VA. DNA results have now confirmed that Moses Walker and Buckley Walker descended from the same ancestor (See http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~fabercove/test_results.htm and Group 7 chart) He had six children and probably seven or eight (Moses Walker³ and Robert Walker were born in Bedford/Campbell at the right time)

Buckley² c1740-1812 married Anne _____ (Anne's maiden name was likely Baber)

Children

1. Nancy³ (known from marriage record and confirmed in Buckley's estate settlement)
2. Jemima³ (known from marriage record and confirmed in Buckley's estate settlement)
3. Salley³(known from marriage record and confirmed in Buckley's estate settlement)
4. Elizabeth³(known from marriage record and confirmed in Buckley's estate settlement)
5. Emmanuel³(known from land records and confirmed in Buckley's estate settlement) Emanuel Walker is an unusual name. See this link for further investigations of early Emanuel Walker's.
6. Benjamin³(known from land records and confirmed in Buckley's estate settlement), also there seems to be another connection to Person County through Benjamin.  The land records indicate that Benjamin's wife was named Nicey or Eunice.  Nicey is the nickname for Eunice.  A Benjamin Walker married Eunice Harrilson on September 6, 1798 in Person, North Carolina.  Moses Walker was the Harrilson's next door neighbor.   It's a good bet that our Campbell, VA Benjamin married a Person, NC Harrilson.  It has now been confirmed that Benjamin and Eunice moved to Tennessee.  Church records indicate that Paul Lee Harrolson, son of Benjamin and Eunice was born in Bedford County, Virginia on 01 Feb 1813, lived in Smith County, TN where he met his wife Amy Green James and died in Crittendon County, Kentucky on November 15, 1886.
7. Moses³ (Confirmed in Buckley's estate settlement)  We do know that he was born in Bedford County, Virginia on November 15, 1762(3). He served in the Revolution by making canteens (so did Buckley!). John Murcheson mentions that he served in the Revolution as a substitute for Moses Walker in Bedford County. Moses moved to Surry County, North Carolina in 1786(7) and lived there for 6 months, then moved to Caswell County, NC and lived there one year (must be visiting his relatives?). He moved to Halifax County, VA and married Isabell Irvine on 12/28/1789 and lived there until 1801 when they moved to Jessamine County, KY. He died on 3/27/1848 and is buried beside his wife Isabell.   The most compelling evidence is that he named one of his children James Buckley Walker.)
8. Robert Walker³(Confirmed in Buckley's estate settlement)  Robert lived next door to Buckley in the 1784 tax rolls and he purchased land and moved to Person County, North Carolina (very near Moses Walker²). He lived there from 1792 to 1802 and then disappeared)
9. Judith Walker³ (Confirmed in Buckley's estate settlement)  Judith Walker married Thomas Overstreet in Bedford and ultimately settled in Jessamine County and then Mercer County, KY around 1794.  They had 10 childen, 2 who were named Moses and Buckley.)   This did suggest William Walker as the father of Moses, Buckley, and Judith Walker.  Judith Walker (b.1740 in Cumberland County, VA - actually Cumberland County didn't exist in 1740, but it does suggest the general geographical area) married William Penick and a William Penick was a witness to Moses Walker's will.   Recent DNA evidence has placed the William Walker line firmly in group-2 and ruled this out as a possibility. At least we can now find the Walkers that are not in the William Walker line as possible connections and rule out the William Walker line.
10. William Walker (Confirmed in Buckley's estate settlement)
11. Jenah Walker (Confirmed in Buckley's estate settlement) married Elijah Lynch

So what happened to the sons: Emmanuel, Benjamin, Moses, and Robert.  We know that Moses went to Jessamine County, KY.  It appears that Benjamin and Robert migrated somewhere about the same time (1802).  Emmanuel stays in the Campbell County, Virginia area at least until 1820 (where he appears in the census living alone).

What is interesting are the other Walkers in the 1820 Campbell County, VA census: Bucly (spelling on this suspect) (100100-01010), Edmond W. Walker (210001-11000), Thomas O. Walker (could this be Thomas "Overstreet" Walker (300010-10010), and Jesse Walker (living close to Manuel Walker) (100010-10010)

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