JAMES WALKER
James Walker, a prominent farmer in Washington township, was born in Cheshire, England, April 20, 1830. His father, also James Walker, was a farmer by occupation. He died in England in 1843. In 1845 James Walker came to the United States, accompanied by his brothers, George, Elisha and Charles, and two sisters, Mary and Elizabeth. They located in Des Moines county, Iowa, where Mary, the elder of the sisters, was married to William Arrowsmith, who is now deceased. She is still a resident of Des Moines. Elizabeth died soon after coming to this State; George is now living in southern Kansas; Elisah died in Des Moines county, where Charles now resides. Their mother joined them in that county, in the fall of the same year in which they arrived, 1845, and died there a few years later. James Walker was married in Lee county, Iowa, October 20, 1858, to Ann Okell, a native of England. They began married life in Des Moines county, where they resided until 1878. He owned a Washington township, of that county, a fine farm of three hundred and twenty acres, with good buildings and improvements. In the spring of 1875 he purchased a farm containing four hundred acres in sections 35 and 36, Washington township, Cass county. To this he removed in the spring of 1876, since which he has been a resident of this county. His farm is under a high state of cultivation, and his improvements are among the best in the township. He makes a business of buying and feeding cattle and hogs for market. Mr. and Mrs. Walker have seven children...Nettie, Ralph K., Mollie, Bertha, Nellie, Willie and Harry. Mr. Walker is at present serving as school treasurer and director in his district, and is one of the most highly esteemed citizens of the township.
Transcribed by Gloria Goltiani from "History of Cass County, Iowa. Together With Sketches of its Towns, Villages and Townships, Educational, Civil, Military and Political History: Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Old Settlers and Representative Citizens." Springfield, Ill.: Continental Historical Company, 1884, pp. 632.
