Reminiscences of A.B. Walker

A.B. Walker was born in Poultney, VT on October 15, 1800. His parents were Dr. Ezra Walker and Abigail Manning. He had five brothers and three sisters. All but two brothers survived childhood. He spent the first ten years of his life in Poultney, attending school off and on starting in 1805. His father both practiced medicine and manufactured pot ash. Due to the embargo in place at that time, Dr. Walker's pot as business began to fail. After traveling to Athens alone, he decided to bring his family there in September 1810. In Athens, Walker worked on the family farm growing crops such as corn, potatoes, pumpkin, and squash. His father also worked as a town doctor, almost dying in the cold plague of 1814. On the farm Walker worked with men such as Thomas Ewing. He took some classes at Ohio University, but ultimately decided to take over the family farm while his two brothers went to college. On October 2, 1825 he married Lucy Willis Ames, daughter of Judge Ames. At the Judge's death, Walker took over the Ames estate. Unfortunately, due to business troubles, he gave up the land and became the Clerk of Courts of Athens County. Walker also worked with his brother-in-law Mr. Fuller in a number of business enterprises. Together they herded cattle through Kentucky, shipped pork and flour to Mississippi, and manufactured salt in the Hockhocking and Muskingum Valleys. Salt manufacturing wasn't very profitable, though, and when railroads were built through Athens in the 1850s coal mining quickly became a major business. Walker doesn't mention his own involvement in the coal mining business. From 1862 to 1873 Walker served as Assistant Assessor for Athens County.