My Genealogy Hound

A. P. WALKER, one of the well-known farmers of Jackson County, resides on section 31, Elkville Township. He claims Michigan as the state of his nativity, his birth having occurred in Grass Lake, in 1838. He traces his ancestry back to 1620, and the family numbers among its members some of the most noted people of Ohio and Illinois. In his native state he grew to manhood, and there received a liberal education, which was completed by a course of study in the Kalamazoo Baptist College. For five years he taught school, and proved an able instructor. With the capital which he had thereby acquired he then embarked in the drug business at Grass Lake, where for eight years he enjoyed a good trade and the prosperity it brought to him.

In 1862, in his native town, Mr. Walker was joined in wedlock with Miss Malissa Babbitt, a daughter of Levi Babbitt, but the lady died of consumption shortly after her marriage. In 1866, he married Miss Katie Smith, of Schoolcraft, Mich. She was a most estimable lady and possessed superior talent in vocal music. Her death, which occurred in 1872, was widely and deeply mourned. On the 3d of June, 1879, Mr. Walker was united in marriage with Mrs. L. E. Kugler, a relative of J. H. Kugler, who is widely known as a steamboat pilot. Her father, Mahlon Van Pelt, was a noted stock-raiser of Highland, Ohio, and married Elizabeth Arthur, a relative of the late President Arthur. Mrs. Walker is possessed of unusual force of character and intelligence, and as a newspaper correspondent has won an enviable reputation by her sharp, clear sarcasm and her humor. The children of Mrs. Walker by her former marriage are two in number, Fannie, who married Robert Rutherford, an artist residing in Council Bluffs, Iowa; and Dudley, who resides on the old homestead.

About 1878, Mr. Walker removed from his old home in Grass Lake, Mich., and came to Jackson County, Ill. He settled on section 31, Elkville Township, where he purchased one hundred and sixty-five acres of valuable land, which constitutes one of the finest farms in the community. It is neat and thrifty in appearance, and the many improvements upon the place stand as monuments to his thrift and enterprise. The greater part of his time and attention are now devoted to its further cultivation. Mr. and Mrs. Walker are people of intelligence and worth, and are well informed on the questions of the day. They take a deep interest in old-time mementos and relics, and as the years have passed, have collected a number of very interesting and valuable souvenirs. They have in their possession a copy of the Boston Gazette which was published in 1770, and a Vicksburg paper which was published during the war and printed on wall paper.