Byron Bertram WALKER

The following bio was taken from page 423 of the book entitled “Rusk County History” compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Gloria Riley

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator

Byron “Burr” Walker was born February 28, 1830, in Marshall County, Alabama, to John and Nancy Owen Walker. He married Elizabeth Herrin, April 7, 1852. Their only child died at birth, but they were the guardians of two of his brother’s children. Montgomery Hamilton, John Bertram, and James Marshall were the children of David and Sarah Herrin Walker. Sarah died in 1859 leaving her three small sons with Burr and Bett Walker. The death of James Owen Walker brought Nancy, Martha, and James Bertram Walker to Burr and Bett’s household. Burr was a tall, stately man who liked to sing. When he came marching home from the Civil War, Bett said that she could hear him singing miles down the road. He joined from Rusk County and received a pension, the whole sum of three dollars, from the war. Each month when he got his check, he would walk to Kilgore and buy a box of candy, a case of sardines, and his chewing tobacco and have some change left. Burr was a farmer. A poor corn and cotton crop forced him to leave Alabama in search of better farming land. He settled in the northern part of Rusk County in the early part of 1854. In the last years of his life he enjoyed sitting, singing, and rocking on the front porch, and telling Civil War stories to James Marshall’s small children. He lived with James Marshall, his favorite nephew, until he died July 2, 1914. Bett, his wife, died October 30, 1904. They are buried in the Hickory Grove Cemetery, Kilgore, Texas. Written by John Morton Smith