Tennessee to the Indiana Territory – who is Ephraim Walker (1766 – 1852)
Tracing our past from our migration patterns.
<i>Research essay by Brian Walker</i>
Time line to the past, it is with great pleasure that I have this opportunity to write this time line in order to assist my family in tracing there roots from the Sequatchie valley in Tennessee to what later would become the 19th state of the union, the state of Indiana.
Ephraim Walker who was born in North Carolina in ca. 1766 was the son of George Walker b.1745 in Virginia and died in 1833 in Bledsoe County, Tennessee. Capt. George Walker is well documented in Tennessee as a revolutionary soldier. His children on the other hand are not. Much debate has gone on as to who is Ephraim Walker the son of Capt. George Walker.
This time line will lay to rest this debate with all available documents, proof of family, Indiana history, census records, proximity, tax, records ect. If I use any conjecture it will be stated as such, and my references to the information will be cited.
I know from my own experience how hard it is to prove your heritage and claim your family name when everything seems to lead to a brick wall that seems to get worse as you learn that the records for the state or county that they lived in has been ravaged by fire, war or natural disaster.
I write this in hopes of helping others who have all but given up on finding their roots, due to the loss of records.
Ephraim Walker, much like his father George who moved from North Carolina to Knox County Tennessee in 1796 after the revolution and then to Bledsoe, was an adventurer looking to expand to the new frontier, he stayed in Tennessee for a time and later upon hearing of the new lands opening up in the Indiana territory he set out with family members to stake his claim in Indiana.
Ephraim Walker, who was a big part of the early settlement of the Sequatchie Valley, must have been very close to his brother inlaw [sic] William Matloch [sic] and family, as he is found on several documents as a witness to some land deals. William Matlock Jr. born 1782 most likely North Carolina, married Ephraim Walker’s sister Sarah who was born 18 Jan 1784 in Burke County, North Carolina, their marriage took place in Roane County, Tennessee 04 Jan 1803 (I have this record) William Matlock’s father was William born ca. 1755 and died in 1829 in Morgan County, Indiana.
When we don’t have complete census records for Tennessee until about 1830 we must rely on other means to establish where our family was with proximity to other members. We know, and it is proven that Capt. George Walker had a son named Ephraim. On this all researchers agree. This timeline should prove that this Ephraim Walker is the true son of George Walker.
Now here are the facts as we know them. Ephraim Walker is first found in Tennessee on a 1799 petition to form Roane County, from a part of Knox County, This will establish his whereabouts with proximity to his family and father George Walker. This information is available at the usgenwb county sites.
Next we have a land deed that shows the close relation that Ephraim had with
William Matlock as seen below, this too will establish where Ephraim Walker
was for these two years
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Roane Co. TN Deed Book A. Abstracts
25 Oct 1800, Oliver Wallace, Knox. Co. to WILLIAM MATLOCK, Knox. Co, for $150. 150 A. in Knox Co. on Cave Creek. Wit. George Preston, Ephraim Walker
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The next information that we have is on an 1801 petition for the creation of Roane County, this too can be researched online as stated. We also get a look at William Matlock Sr. and his sons who play a large part in tracking this family migration pattern. William Jr. and brothers, John born 14 Jul 1779, James born about 1775, David, and Thomas Matlock, also on this list is a William Kitchen who will come into play later.
As we build our time line I should state here that Ephraim Walker’s brother, Buckner Walker b. 21 Jun 1782 Burke County, North Carolina, also lived in, and died in Roane County. This again puts him in proximity to his family. Most of the early settlers traveled with other family members or close friends in bands of at least 40 persons, so when doing your research you should look at all names found on the census records near where your family lived.
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Book Title: The History of Roane County Tennessee 1801-1870
Capt. Richard Oliver’s, Company. 1802 Tax list
Ephraim WALKER
What we know so far is that Ephraim Walker had ties to the Matlock family, we have established several years of his living near family in Roane County. We know that his sister Sarah married William Matlock Jr. and they lived in close proximity to each other as their property lines joined at some point. I will establish this in the next part of this text. We will establish that Ephraim was active in some of the County affairs, such as road building and other activity but we are not done yet! We need to cover at what point that Ephraim left Tennessee to go to Indiana and with whom did he go?
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Roane County Road Orders (Dec. 1801-Dec 1805)
June Sessions 1804.
Ordered that Ephrim WALKER be over Seer of the Public Road from KENADYS Cabbins to the top of the ridge West of the Widow OLIVERS and that George PRESTON Esquire appoint the Hands to work thereon.
1805
Ordered that Ephrim WALKER be appointed over Seer of the Public Road from CANNADYS Cabbin to the top of the Ridge West of the Widow OLIVERS and that the Hands in the Bounds of to wit, is to work thereon that is to Say all the Hands from David BAILEYS to Samuel EBLINS thence up said Road to the top of said Ridge So as to include all the Hands on both Sides of Said road from the top of said Ridge to John FREEMANS, thence down Tennessee River, to the said BAILEYS.
We have established that Ephraim Walker was very involved in what was happening in the early development of Roane County. What we lack in census records is made up with the bulk of information contained in these other documents showing his timeline and activity with family members. In a court of law and dealing with a crime you gather as much information as you can about the subject, even when everyone says there is no evidence or proof to put the purp at the scene of the crime. In this case we have the time line and the evidence that would stand up in any court of law.
We now have a strong foundation to stand on and from here we build the final half of the case.
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Roane County Tax List – 1805
341. Ephrem WALKER
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DEEDS
Roane Deed Book B-1 p 214
25 Feb 1805, William Brinkley to THOMAS LITTLETON for $300. One hundred acres, “Ephraim Walker’s line…..WILLIAM MATLOCK’S line” Wit. William Matlock, Ephraim Walker.
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The above Thomas Littleton married the senior William Matlock’s daughter Mary Matlock in Washington County, Tennessee 1794 (then apart of North Carolina) More information and proof of this will follow towards the end of this writing as I tie all of this information together.
All this exert [sic], information can be found on the web site of their prospective county, and needs no further explanation.
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Knox County, Tennessee
Ephraim Walker
Knox County
No Township listed
1806
Petitioners list
TN early Census Records
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We have now covered the years of the 1800 to about 1806 and the activity of Ephraim Walker and his family, We have established that these documents are all related to the same man as stated so now what about the next four years ?
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Smith County: Register of Deeds: Vol.: D: 1811-1814
Reference: Roll#112: Register of Deeds: Deeds Vol.: B-E Apr 1801-1817: Tennessee State Library and Archives
229
Wihkler- Walker
Ephraim
indenture
This Item is Posted on the strictly by name web site
About the year 1812-1813 William Matlock Sr. and his family left to explore and settle in the territory of Indiana, with this party went many of their friends and family I will not cover all of them here, as this timeline deals with our subject Ephraim Walker.
Ephraim being his father’s son left Tennessee to adventure north to this new and vast land with his brother inlaw sister, and the family of William Matlock, understand that the state had not yet been established and this is pure frontier land that belonged to the Indians native to this part of the country. The state of Indiana was established in 1816 becoming the 19th state of the union.
Some will tell you that we have no census for Indiana in 1820 but this is just not so! We do have early census records for the counties that were established by 1820, and as luck would have it we have the subjects of our time line in the 1820 census living in the county of Monroe in Indiana.
Before I go on to the 1820 census let me establish where I determined in what year William Matlock left Indiana and why Monroe county is the focus of our attention, see the item below.
In “Roots of Roane County, TN” , Snyder E. Roberts writes (concerning the
MATLOCK family): “Many of the early settlers south of Clinch River in eastern Roane County made
sizeable contributions to Roane history. In many cases, descendants soon
spread throughout Roane, and their names have been perpetuated to this day…
WILLIAM MATLOCK who bought land on the Tennessee River before 1800, and had a grist mill on Cave Creek in 1801, was probably a brother to Jason Matlock. William left Roane about 1812-3 for Monroe County, Indiana.”
Now we have established the timeline as to when these adventurers left Tennessee. Next we switch to the 1820 Census of Monroe County Indiana. Using Ancestry.com and their search engine will not pull up all the Matlock family I had to do a page by page search, and found the families I was looking for. On page # 18 of 21 you will find John Matlock son of William Sr. listed as family # 18 he is listed as follows 4 1 2 2 1 0 1 1 0 1 above this and listed as family # 13 is James Matlock his family consists of 2 1 0 2 1 0 2 2 0 1 below them listed as family # 16 is David Matlock with the following listed in his household, 2 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 2, on the same page listed at the bottom is a John Kitchen he is listed as family # 42 and I believe that he is related to the William that I spoke of earlier. (This is conjecture and still under research.)
On the next page of the census records page # 19 of 21 you find William Matlock Jr. listed as family # 37 he is listed with the following family 1 1 1 1 1 0 2 0 0 1. I am sure that William Matlock senior is in these census records as well, but some of the names are so faded that you can’t make them out due to some tape that was placed over the last names. Ephraim Walker will not pull up at all, using his last name, if you want to find him use his first name only. And yes he is there listed on page # 7 of 21. His last name is faded but shows enough that you can make it out. He is listed as family # 22 he has the following in his house. 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 2 3 0 1, I believe that lots of research needs to be done on who his sons are as to me the only ones that can be known for sure are Sanders b.1803 and William b.1805 as they are the only males who fit the age group for Ephraim’s children per the 1820 census.
Now some of you who like to poke around and might set out to prove me wrong, and may look at the census record for Ephraim Walker and say that the census is to faded to prove that this is him, don’t think for one moment that I don’t
have more proof. Believe me I know how to build a case! In order to understand the movement of the family you need to study the early formation of Indiana and its counties, for this I will refer you to the website that is listed here
[outdated link].
Now if you need the proof for Ephraim Walker and his early settlement in the Monroe and later Clay County Indiana area here is a small exert of what Clay County has to say of him.
HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY
EARLY SETTLEMENTS AND PIONEER NOTES.
In 1822, William Christie settled on what is known as the Gilbert place, just south of the Lower Bloomington road, the first settlement made within the present limits of Perry township. His son, James B. Christie, born here in 1824, was the first white child born within that part of the territory of the county lying west of Birch creek,, between the Upper Bloomington road and the Old Hill. At the time of his birth, his mother was the only white woman within a circuit of several miles, one or more squaws officiating as midwives. Before the close of the year 1824, Mr. Christie was joined by his brother, David Christie, and a little later on, by Ebenezer Gilbert and others. Settlements were made at as early a date as the organization of the county, on the river between Bellaire and Anguilla, and at points two or three miles south. In 1824, or earlier, Daniel Harris and his son Thomas, who then lived near Spencer, on coming up Eel river to the Rhodes Bluff, found Michael Luther on the present Hudson place. About this time, William Luther settled on the Wilkinson place and Joseph Luther on the Isaac Stwalley place. Peter Luther and son, William Luther, came in 1827 or 1828, driving hogs with them all the way from Crawford county, on the Ohio river. Ephraim Walker and William Cole were among the earliest settlers in this part of the county.
To read the full article on Ephraim Walker please go the link on the Clay county web site
HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY
INDIAN OCCUPATION, RELICS, ETC.
Prominent among the earliest settlements were those made on the hills east of the river, near the present town of Poland. Among those located in this section from 1820 tip to 1823, were Oliver Cromwell, Nicholas G. Cromwell, Jared Peyton, Purnell Chance and sons, Daniel and Tilghman, the Andersons, Walkers, Dyars and Lathams. At the time of the organization of the county, 1825, this neighborhood ranked as the most populous one within the territory. At that date, there were not known to lie any white settlers within the present bounds of Posey, Dick Johnson, Brazil, Van Buren, Jackson and Sugar Ridge townships
Clay County Indiana
EDUCATIONAL.
When, where and by whom the first school was taught in Clay county can not be answered with any assurance of accuracy. The educa- tional history of the county for the first twenty-five or thirty years is, but traditional. The first schools were taught in primitive log cabins which had been vacated as dwellings. The pioneer schoolhouse was built of round poles, chinked and daubed, with one pole cut out on either side and the space closed by the use of greased paper, to admit the light. In one end was the, door, swung on rude wood en hinges, and in the other end a spacious fireplace. The floor was of puncheons, and the seats long benches of split saplings or slabs, the bark side turned down and the split or splintered side exposed for seating accommodations. These houses were, built, generally, by voluntary contributions of material and labor on the part of those interested in the respective communities, and without any expenditure of money for trimmings and furnishings. Oliver Crom- well related to the writer at different times that be assisted in building a schoolhouse of this description on the site of the town of Poland, when a very young man, in 1825, the year that the county was organized, which may have been the first one. It is known, too, that among the first, if not the original, a cabin, distinctly for school purposes, was put up on Eel river, a couple of miles north of Bowling Green, in the Walker neighbor- hood. It is probably safe to assume that the first schoolhouse was built within the territory of Washington township, and that either Samuel Rizley or Jared Peyton was the first teacher.
I will not go on about the Matlock family from this point on, as I would end up writing a novel and boring the readers to death with facts and figures, so from this point I will shorten this up some as I have established the time line that I needed to prove that the Ephraim Walker that came out of the Sequatchie Valley in Tennessee is the same one who moved to Stoddard County Missouri.
Now we have proven that Ephraim Walker was in Monroe County Indiana in 1820. From here he can be found in the 1830 census of Clay County, Indiana
1830 United States Federal Census Indiana Clay Not Stated
Ephraim Walker xx1xxxx1xxxxx1xx1xxx1
In 1835 he purchased the following land.
Clay, Indiana Land Deeds
Patentee: EPHRAIM WALKER
Survey
State: INDIANA
Acres: 40
Metes/Bounds: No
Title Transfer
Issue Date: 10/15/1835
Land Office: Vincennes
Cancelled: No
U.S. Reservations: No
Mineral Reservations: No
Authority: April 24, 1820: Sale-Cash Entry (3 Stat. 566)
Document Numbers
Document Nr.: 5232
Accession/Serial Nr.: IN0110__.190
BLM Serial Nr.: IN NO S/N
By 1837 things must have been going well for Ephraim as he has now purchased 40 more acres.
Land Grants For Clay, County Indiana
Patentee: EPHRAIM WALKER
Survey
State: INDIANA
Acres: 40
Metes/Bounds: No
Title Transfer
Issue Date: 11/7/1837
Land Office: Vincennes
Cancelled: No
U.S. Reservations: No
Mineral Reservations: No
Authority: April 24, 1820: Sale-Cash Entry (3 Stat. 566)
Document Numbers
Document Nr.: 12903
Accession/Serial Nr.: IN2080__.306
BLM Serial Nr.: IN NO S/N
By the 1840 census in Clay County Indiana Ephraim’s son Sanders is found living right next door to him
1840 United States Federal Census Indiana Clay Hanson Walkers listed on the same page
Sanders Walker 1x1xx1xxxxxxx1x1x1
Ephraim Walker xxx1xxxx1xxxxxxx1xxxx1
Now from here Ephraim Walker and son Sanders can be found in the 1850 Census for Stoddard County, Missouri, and the rest is family history!
Note that Rebecca Walker who is the daughter of Ephraim Walker Married a John Kitchen. This is the reason for my early mention of the Kitchen family. The Kitchen family is now a part of my on going research for the sake of my newly discovered cousin Jo.
Note I believe that the wife of Ephraim Walker is Mary Davis who died Oct 13 1842 in Clay County Indiana, she was born in ca.1766. (not proven yet!)
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Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Brian Walker
