Thomas McCormick Walker and Agnes Caughey

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Husband Thomas McCormick Walker ^{1 2 3}

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           Born: 4 Feb 1834 - Butler Co, PA 1 3 4
     Christened: 
           Died: Aft 1909
         Buried: 

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         Father: Hon. John Hoge Walker (1800-1875) 2 5 6 7 8
         Mother: Catherine D. Kelley (      -1860) 1 4 8

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       Marriage: 15 Mar 1866 3

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Wife Agnes Caughey ^{1 3 9}

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           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

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         Father: William M. Caughey, Esq. (1817-Aft 1884) 1 9 10 11
         Mother: Sophia Clemmens (      -      ) 9

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Children

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General Notes: Husband - Thomas McCormick Walker

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After graduation at Princeton, he spent some years in the construction of railroads in Missouri and Illinois. Having returned to Erie, he was active in raising the 111th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, which served until the close of the war. No one was more identified with his regiment than General Walker. He entered as Major and rose to be its Colonel, and was, for his gallant conduct, brevetted Brigadier General. While Major, in the absence of the Colonel and Lieutenant-Colonel, he commanded the Regiment at the battles of Cedar Mountain and Antietam, and for his gallantry was presented with a splendid sword by the ladies of Erie. It was fitly said, by the Erie Dispatch, in speaking of the Regiment: "It has seen more hard fighting, done more active duty, and obtained a wider reputation, in proportion to its service, than almost any other in the country." His regiment was the first to enter Atlanta and the last to leave that city, while forming part of General Sherman's Army in his "March to the Sea." The visit of the 111th Regiment to Erie, in the winter of 1864, was the occasion of a public reception, and a great manifestation of affection and esteem for Col. Walker and his men. His military record was a glorious one. He returned, at the close of the war, and entered business in Erie. In 1870 he was elected Sheriff of Erie County. He was Chairman of the Republican County Committee, in 1868-69. He was appointed Postmaster of Erie, by President Grant, in 1876, and served until 1879. He was later farming in North Dakota.

He was a native of Butler County, Pennsylvania, born at a time when his mother was on her way to join her husband at Harrisburg, where he was attending certain public duties. Although a student at Princeton (New Jersey) College, his tastes were more active than scholarly, and in 1854 he left school and spent several years thereafter engaged in railroad construction in Missouri and Illinois. His next venture was in the Canadian oil fields, but the outbreak of the Civil war brought him home to Erie County, Pennsylvania, to assist in the raising of the One Hundred and Eleventh Pennsylvania Infantry. Of this he was elected major, during the progress of the war receiving successive promotions as lieutenant colonel, colonel and brevet brigadier general, and remaining with the regiment named throughout, until his honorable muster-out at Washington, District of Columbia. At Lookout Mountain, with his color bearer, he went up the ladder in the hottest fire of that terrific conflict, and for the gallantry of his regiment the state of Pennsylvania has since placed a memorial tablet in their honor on the historic spot. On Sherman's march to the sea the One Hundred and Eleventh was the first regiment to enter both Atlanta and Savannah and General Walker led the command on both historic occasions. After the battle of Cedar Mountain he was reported dead for over a week, but he was really busily engaged in Washington in substituting for the old Belgian rifles with which his regiment was armed, the more modern Springfield. While thus employed his father was beseeching Secretary Stanton to permit him to go through the lines and make a careful search for his son's body; and father and son accidentally ran into each other's arms in the old Kirkwood (now Raleigh) Hotel, at the national capital. It was a joyful meeting on both sides, and doubly so on the part of the former, who had hoped only for the sad comfort of finding his son's body on the battle field. For general gallantry in action General Walker was presented with a handsome sword by the ladies of Erie, and soon after the war the government breveted him brigadier general.
For a time after his return to Erie General Walker was engaged in the wholesale grocery business. In 1870 he was elected sheriff and in 1876 appointed postmaster, serving in the latter position until his resignation in 1879. In the following year he went to North Dakota to engage in farming. Until 1906 he cultivated on an average of five thousand acres, but after that year decreased the area of his operations to about eleven hundred. He had the general supervision of his large ranch and farm, usually spending the season from spring to the Christmas holidays in North Dakota, and returning to Erie for the winter months. General Walker was an Mason, in 1855 joining Missouri Lodge, No. 1, St. Louis, Missouri. He was also identified with the societies of the Army of the Potomac, Army of the Tennessee and the Army of the Cumberland, and, naturally with the Grand Army of the Republic and the Pennsylvania Commandery of the Loyal Legion.

1 —, Nelson's Biographical Dictionary and Historical Reference Book of Erie County, Pennsylvania (Erie, PA: S. B. Nelson, Publisher, 1896), Pg 623.

2 John Miller, 20th Century History of Erie County, Pennsylvania, Vol. II (Chicago, IL: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1909), Pg 471.

3 Leander James McCormick, McCormick Family Record and Biography (Chicago, IL: Publisher Unknown, 1896), Pg 147.

4 John Miller, 20th Century History of Erie County, Pennsylvania, Vol. II (Chicago, IL: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1909), Pg 472.

5 —, History of Butler County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Waterman, Watkins & Co., 1883), Pg 248x.

6 —, History of Erie County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Warner, Beers & Co., 1884), Pg 969.

7 —, Nelson's Biographical Dictionary and Historical Reference Book of Erie County, Pennsylvania (Erie, PA: S. B. Nelson, Publisher, 1896), Pg 622.

8 Leander James McCormick, McCormick Family Record and Biography (Chicago, IL: Publisher Unknown, 1896), Pg 135.

9 John Miller, 20th Century History of Erie County, Pennsylvania, Vol. II (Chicago, IL: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1909), Pg 473.

10 —, History of Erie County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Warner, Beers & Co., 1884), Pg 969, Bios 38.

11 Leander James McCormick, McCormick Family Record and Biography (Chicago, IL: Publisher Unknown, 1896), Pg 150.