Military Monday -- Arnold A. Walker (1841 - 1863)

Arnold A. Walker

Arnold A. Walker is my 2nd great grand uncle.  He served in the Union Army during the Civil War and was a casualty of that war having died at the age of 21 years, 2 months and 28 days (according to his gravestone).  I was not aware of Arnold's relationship to me until less than four months ago, but it turns out he played a very influential part in the life of my paternal grandfather, my father, and, not insignificantly, in my very identity!  [See yesterday's post, Discovering Where My Father's Name Came From. ]

Arnold was one of the younger brothers of my 2X great grandmother, Susan (Walker) Tew.  As explained in yesterday's post, Arnold was only six years old when his mother, Polly (Wells) Walker, died in Coventry, Rhode Island at age 38.  At this point I know nothing about what Arnold's life was like in the immediate aftermath of his mother's death and the almost complete shattering of his nuclear family that resulted from that tragedy.  I know only that when Arnold Walker reached young adulthood, he was enlisted in the Union Army and fought in the Civil War.  He died on February 19, 1863 in Washington, DC according to his gravestone. 

Arnold A. Walker was born in Coventry, Rhode Island on November 24, 1841 . . . almost 81 years to the day before the birth of my father, Arnold G. Tew, Jr.   Because of the newly discovered role Arnold Walker plays in my genealogy, I plan to do more inquiry into his life this year and hope to make any results the subject of a future blog post.

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The photo of Arnold A. Walker is taken from the Oehler Tree at Ancestry.com, which is owned by Joshua Oehler of Phoenix, Arizona.  Thank you Joshua!

Photograph of Arnold A. Walker's gravestone in Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Town of Coventry, 14, by the author.

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Copyright 2013, John D. Tew

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