FAMILY HISTORIES

FAMILY HISTORIES

Grant County, Arkansas Genealogy Trails

ISAAC B. EASTERLY

Contributed by Brian Walker

Source: THE QUEST TO PUSH WEST, an article by Brian Walker, who was the 6th grandson from Capt. George Walker. The article tells about a group of people that left the Sequatchie Valley in Tennessee in 1849-50 and came to what was then Jefferson County, Arkansas, particularly the township of Darysaw and the town of Sheridan. Grant County was formed from Jefferson in 1869 and Sheridan is the county seat of Grant County.

Isaac B. Easterly was born in 1826 in TN, his wife, Sarah (Maiden name unknown) was born in 1827 TN, his children listed on the 1850 Jefferson County, Arkansas census are: George, b. 1846 TN, Martha, b. 1826 TN, and Moses, b. 1848 TN. Isaac had no real ties that I found to the other families that moved to Jefferson County in 1849-50. His father was Moses E. Easterly, b. 1788 in Virginia and his mother's name was Charlotte, b. 1792 in South Carolina. This information was found in the 1850 census in Marion County, Tennessee.
Moses Easterly was a Baptist clergyman and a farmer. At the time of his death in mid 1860s he had a sizeable estate. This information can be found in the Sequatchie County Court Minutes, page 291. His children found listed in 1850 living with him were: his son, George W. Easterly, b. 1829 Marion County, TN and daughter, Elizabeth Easterly, b. 1834 in Marion County, TN. On the same page of the 1850 census is another presumed son, Joseph Easterly, b. 1825 TN, his wife, Elizabeth, b. 1823 TN, and two daughters, Isabel, b. 1846 TN and Charlotte, b. 1848 TN.
By the 1860 census Charlotte Easterly is gone and presumed to be dead. Moses Easterly now states his place of birth to be TN. I believe that the 1850 census has the correct place of birth due to the fact that in 1788 TN had not even gained statehood and was considered to be a part of NC.
Isaac B. Easterly purchased 160 acres on June 1, 1859, deed #9079 listed as the SE quarter, of the SE quarter of section Thirty-one and the East half of the SW quarter and the SW quarter of section thirty-two in township five, South of range twelve, West in the district of lands subject to the sale at Little Rock, Arkansas, near the town of Junet. He later purchased another tract of land that was 160 acres, July 2, 1860, deed #11912, listed as the North half of the SE quarter and the South half on the NE quarter of section thrity-one in township five South of range twelve West in the district of lands subject to sale at Little Rock, Arkansas, near the town of Junet.
Isaac B. Easterly was now living his dream as he now has 320 acres of farm land and by 1860 he has added to his brood two more children: Mary E. Easterly, b. 1853 in Jefferson County, AR and Absolum S. Easterly, b. 1857 Jefferson County, AR. By now sons, George S. is age 15 and son Moses E. is 12 and for the times these boys are more than able to help their father keep up with the crops and chores. Isaac's real estate is listed in 1860 to be worth $1,000.00 and his estate is valued at $500.00. Not bad for a man who started with little or nothing just ten years earlier. He has also enlisted the help of a hired man by the name of Harvey Hamilton, b. 1839 TN. Isaac at this time is still a young man of only 34 years of age.
By the 1870 census Isaac Easterly is dead. We know this because the Sequatchie County Court minutes for the estate of Isaac's father, Moses Easterly, lists Isaac as dead. His children are living with a Sarah Castleberry, b. 1826 TN. I presume that this is Sarah Easterly, who has remarried after Isaac's death and has once again become a widow as no husband, Castleberry, is in the hosehold. Children listed living with Sarah Castleberry in 1870 in Grant County, Arkansas are: Moses E, age 25, Mary E, who is 14, Absolom, who is 12, and Margaret C., age 7.
Note: Isaac B. Easterly's son, Moses Easterly, officiated at the marriage of John Walker in 1899 to Susan Brown, his fourth wife.

ISAAC JOHNSON

Contributed by Brian Walker

Our next subjects on our quest west to Arkansas is the Johnson family. Isaac Johnson, born in 1821 in Roane County, Tennessee, his wife, Bashaba Walker, born in 1825 in TN, and their three small daughters, Anna, b. 1845 TN, Rebecca, b. 1848 TN, and Charlotta Sally, b. 1849 AR. Bashaba was a sister to John Walker.
Also in the group was Daniel Johnson, b. May 9, 1824 in Roane County, TN, his wife, Elizabeth Hixson, b. 07 Oct. 1827, their daughter, Nancy Jane, b. 1847 TN, and their two sons, James and William D., both born about 1850 in AR, his brother, William Johnson, b. 1816 in either TN or NC is found living with Daniel in 1850 and is single.
Daniel Johnson's father was Isaac Johnson, b. 01 Feb 1783 in NC and mother, Nancy Hunter, b. 13 Dec 1784 in VA. Isaac Johnson, Sr. died in 1844 in Marion County, TN. Isaac and Nancy Hunter Johnson from their union had six boys and three girls. Daniel's mother, Nancy, is recorded as being dead by 1849. I find this to be untrue as she is very much alive and well in the 1850 census records for Marion County, TN and living with her son, Hiram Hunter Johnson, who was born 07 May 1803 in TN.
Daniel Johnson is reported to have made a trek to California in 1853 from Arkansas that took him some six months to complete. There he stayed for three years before returning to Jefferson County in 1856. He then turned his sights on farming.
Daniel purchased 80 acres, deed #9202 in Jefferson County (later to become Grant County) listed as the East half of the Northeast quarter, of section thirty-six, in township five South of range thirteen, West in the district of lands subject to sale at Little Rock, Arkansas, and dated June 1, 1859. This was near the town of Junet. Daniel farmed here up until the time that his first wife, Elizabeth Hixson died in 1876. She was the daughter of Timothy and Nancy Hixson of the Sequatchie Valley area. Daniel later moved to the town of Sheridan, where he became the County Treasurer. He held this position for many years, being elected and well-beloved in the area. He later turned his attention to the prospects of business and opened a store of general merchandise, as well as opening a hotel that he ran for some six years.
Daniel later remarried in 1878 to Rachel Glover (nee: Walker), who was from East TN.
Isaac Johnson, brother to Daniel and William Johnson, married John Walker's sister, Bashaba. She died sometime in the early 1850s after her daughter, Charlotta Sally, was born in AR as listed in the 1850 census. Isaac Johnson later returned to the Sequatchie Valley in TN with George Walker, Jr. and brother, William Johnson, and James Hick/Hix and possibly William Jones. Isaac Johnson can be found recorded in the records of the Sequatchie County Court minutes as well as the census records of TN after he left the state of AR. He later married a Nancy (maiden name Unknown), who was born in 1816 in TN. He then had three more children with his new wife as found in the 1860 census, District 4, Sequatchie, TN.

JAMES JONES

Contributed by Brian Walker

The Jones family making the trip from Tennessee to Arkansas included James Jones, b. 1816 in Bledsoe County, TN, his wife, Nancy Johnson Jones, sister of Daniel and Isaac Johnson, b. 09 Feb. 1814 in Roane County, TN, their children, Caroline, b. 1838 TN, William, b. 1839 TN, Isaac, b. 1843 TN, Daniel, b. 1845 TN, Emma b. 1848 TN, and John b. 1849 TN.

William Jones, b. 1826 Bledsoe, TN, in the 1850 census of AR is living with George Walker, Jr., b. 24 Oct 1828 Bledsoe, TN. He is the younger brother of my ggg grandfather, John Walker, who is also profiled in this section. It is this George Walker, Jr. who is listed in the Sequatchie County Court minutes as the executor of his father's estate and divides the land into eight lots and names his siblings.

James Jones married Nancy Johnson. They moved to Saline County, AR shortly after they arrived in Jefferson County, AR. James died in Saline County in Sept. 1860. Nancy Jones moved back to the Darysaw township area in the newly formed Grant County to be near family. She is found living in that area in the 1870 census, and by 1880 she is presumed dead. They had eight children. William Jones, brother to James, no research has been done on him past the 1850 census of Jefferson County, AR.

JOHN WALKER

Contributed by Brian Walker

The Walker family included John Walker, b. May 1820 in Marion County, Tennessee, his wife, Margaret Hicks/Hix, b. 1820 TN, their daughter, Elizabeth (Betsey) Ann Walker, b. 1841 TN, George W. Walker, b. 1842 TN, Andrew J. Walker, b. 1844 TN, James B. B. P. Walker, b. 1845 TN, Richard Archibald Van Buren Walker, b. 1846 TN, Isaac Jefferson Walker, b. March 1847 TN, and Philip Archibald Walker, b. 1849 TN, who is the author's gg grandfather.
John Walker, whose father was George Walker, b. 1800 in Knox County, TN, his mother, Anna Ruth Butler, b. 1798 in Georgia, purchased 280 acres of land in 1857 near the town of Junet, and here he raised his family and farmed in what later became the County of Grant in Arkansas. He died in 1910. He was married four times. His father, George Walker was a Justice of the Peace and is said to have been a Baptist minister. His mother, Anna, was a mid-wife. George died in 1868 and Anna in 1869. They both are buried in the Thans Chapel Cemetery, formally known as Kell Cemetery, Dunlap, Sequatchie County, TN. They are mentioned in the County Court minutes of the settlement of George's estate. The only child not mentioned in that list is their son, Philip A. Walker, who died 27 Feb 1858 in Sequatchie County from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was 21 years old.
My Walker family roots date back to the early formation of TN when Capt. George Walker came to Knox County in 1796 after the Revolutionary War from Burke County, NC. He was born in VA in 1745 and died in Bledsoe County in 1833. Capt. George Walker is well-documented in TN history and from his own words on his pension records from 1832. He states that he moved to Bledsoe County in 1807 from Knox County. I am related to Capt. George through his son, Jesse Walker, b. 1770 in Rowan County, NC, and his wife, Delila West, b. 1774 in NC, their son, George Walker b. 1800 is my direct line.
John Walker's wife, Margaret Hicks/Hix died about Aug. 1868 while giving birth to their daughter, Laura M. Walker. (Note: Margaret's last name is not proven due to lack of marriage records in TN. The name is taken from James Hicks who is found living with John and Margaret in the 1850 census for Jefferson County, Darysaw Township, AR, who is believed to be her brother.) James Hicks later returned to Sequatchie Valley in TN with George Walker, who was John's brother and Isaac Johnson, who married John Walker's sister, Bashaba Walker. This is thought to be in the mid 1850s.
John's second wife was a widow twice before John married her. Her maiden name is unknown. She was Mrs. Ajesta Norris, b. 1822 in MS when she married James Wardlaw in 1849 in Lauderdale County, TN. They later moved to Jefferson County, AR about 1856 where her husband, James Wardlaw died. John Walker married her before the 1870 census in Grant County, AR. Ajesta was also known as Agusten Norris Wardlaw Walker. She died before the 1880 census in Grant County.
John Walker's third wife was Mary Harrison McClung, wife of David L. McClung, who died about 1864 in the Civil War. She was born in 1825 in AL and married John Walker about 1878 in Grant County. Her daughter, Martha A. McClung, from her previous marriage to David L. McClung, later married my gg grandfather Philip Archibald Walker in 1879. Mary Harrison McClung died sometime before 1899 in Grant County, AR in the town of Junet.
John Walker's fourth wife was Mrs. Susannah Susan Davis Anderson Brown, b. July 1847 in AL. She had been widowed twice before she married John Walker. Her first husband was Doc Andrew G. Anderson, b. 1848 in GA. They were married in May 1869 in DeKalb County, AL. Her second husband was William R. Brown, b. 1847 in GA or AL. They were married March 1873 in Jackson County, AL. He died in Grant County between 1873 and 1898. John married Susan Brown in Grant County, AR April 16, 1899. He died 11 years later.