William "Rich Billy" Walker

 William "Rich Billy" Walker

(1765 - 1831)

  William "Rich Billy" Walker, son of George Walker (1737-1779) and Mary Duhart was born in Burke County, GA. He married Mary Vivion on November 20, 1791.  The couple eventually moved to Putnam County where he was noted as a large landowner. In the 1820 Census, he is living in Putnam County, and the tally of family members by age indicates that all of his children, except for the eldest (Virgil) are living with him.  By the mid-1820s, he had migrated to an area near Mulberry Creek in Harris County, GA, and is noted as one of the original pioneers of the county. He had large plantation holdings in Harris, Putnam, Troup, Jasper, and Meriwether counties, as many as 20,000 acres according to some reports. In a notice in the April 14, 1814 Georgia Journal newspaper, he is selling "a valuable plantation in Washington County on Williamson's swamp" that includes a two-story house, a cotton gin, apple and peach orchards. He was still living in Putnam County at this time. William Walker began buying large amounts of property in Harris County around 1828. Many sales were from land lottery winners in 1827. (See post about the Georgia Land Lotteries) Most of the land purchased by Rich Billy was along Mulberry Creek between Hamilton and Columbus, GA. The area later became known as Mulberry Grove. (My Ely/Eley ancestors lived near the Walkers.  While they were well off, their wealth couldn’t compare to the Walker Family.) David Walker, a direct descendant of “Rich Billy” Walker has an interesting image on his website showing the holdings of the Walker family.

“Rich Billy” built a large home for his family in the vicinity of  Hoody Hudson and Lower Blue Springs Roads in Harris County, GA. It stood until the 1990’s when it burned down. There is an interesting story in the book Pine Log and Greek Revival  about the Walker homes in Mulberry Grove. There is also a family cemetery on the Walker grounds, but it has been vandalized and overgrown through the years. Historians and genealogists owe a great debt to Louise Calhoun Barfield. Her book, The History of Harris County, contains many accounts of cemeteries that have been lost to time. Recently, a small cemetery related to the Walker family was found again.  I had the privilege to go and walk around the perimeter. It, too, had been vandalized. But, that’s another story.

The Walker estate included a cotton gin, grist mill, distillery, tannery, honey bee hives, and a brick kiln. He also built homes on the property for several of his eight children. “Rich Billy “died in 1831. His estate inventory of property in Harris County stated it was worth $95,148.87. In 2020 that translates into almost 3 million dollars! There is also a deed in the Harris County Superior Court that states that Mary Vivion Walker deeded six acres of land  south of the Walker home (located in the vicinity of Mountain Hill Road) to Mt. Olive Baptist Church as long as it was used as a Baptist Church. The church burned down in the 1940’s though the cemetery still exists.

William and Mary Vivion Walker’s children:

1)Virgil Homer Walker (1792-1848) m. Ann Champion Bell

2) Mary V. Polly Walker (1795-1850) m. Elijah Cook

3) William George Walker (1803-1849) m. 1) Francis G. _____ 

    2) Missouri Candler

4) Lucina Sara Walker (1804-1826) m. Iverson L. Brooks

5) Thacker Vivion Walker (1806-1873) John and Thacker were twins

6) John Thacker Walker (1806-1866) m. Melvina Tilly

7) David Enoch Walker (1810-1838)

8) Austin M. Walker (1812-1878) m. 1) Ellen Emeline Mitchell                                  2) Martha Angeline Marshall 3) Mary Fears Fannin

 

 I want to thank David Walker for allowing me to use his research on the Walker family for this post and future posts.

 

References

 

Putnam County Georgia Records, Frances Wynd, Albany, GA 1999

1820 U S Census; Census Place: Capt John H Butts District, Putnam, Georgia; Ancestry.com. 

1830 U S Census: Census Place: Harris, Georgia, Ancestry.com.

 History of Harris County Georgia, 1827 -1961,  Louise  Calhoun Barfield, Columbus, GA, 1961, p.558

http://www.neonclock.org/Pages/Walker-Geneology/LL_Walker_Ancestry.html

https://www.measuringworth.com/dollarvaluetoday/index.php#

Pine Log and Greek Revival, Houses and People of Three Counties in Georgia and Alabama, William H. Davidson, Chattahoochee Valley Historical Society, 1965, pp 192-199.