My Genealogy Hound

Hamden O. Walton, one of the oldest living settlers of Franklin County, Mo., is the son of William and Susan (Wash) Walton, both of whom were natives of Virginia, where they were reared within a mile of each other. After marriage they settled upon a farm in their native State, and here passed the remainder of their days. The mother died when our subject was but six years of age, and the father afterward married Elizabeth Christmas. To the first marriage were born three children, all sons, and to the second marriage four children, one son and three daughters. The father was a man of great physical strength, which he retained until his death, at the age of seventy-five. Grandfather Walton was a Revolutionary soldier. Hamden O. was the eldest child by the first marriage, and was born in the year1813, forty-five miles west of Richmond, Va. He grew to manhood on the farm, but received a very limited education. At the age of sixteen he was placed in charge of a four-horse team, to haul produce to Richmond, at which business he continued for four years. For three years he was overseer of a plantation. In 1834 he married Mary S., daughter of Rev. T. T. Swift. She was born in the same neighborhood as our subject, in the year 1815. In 1836 they came to Franklin County, and the following year they settled on the farm where they now reside. To them were born six children: Susan A., William T., Charles S., Alva C, Andrew B. and Martha E. All the family are members of the Missionary Baptist Church. Mr. Walton is a Democrat in politics, and has always been a strictly temperate man. He is now nearly seventy-five years old, has been a hard worker all his life, and is as vigorous as most men at fifty. Starting life a poor boy, he arose to the ownership of about 1,300 acres of land, of which he still retains over 700 acres. In June, 1887, he lost his faithful companion, she having been afflicted for over twenty years. For nearly forty years Mr. Walton has been a delegate to the Union United Baptist Association of Missouri, having been clerk of the same for ten years.