David H. & Susanna "Annie" (Knight) Walton

David H. Walton, a sawmill worker as a youth, was a farmer in rolling hills of southern Missouri's Texas County. He and his wife, "Annie" (Knight), had eight children before the Civil War broke out, and he rode off as a Union cavalryman, leaving his pregnant wife and children, never to return.

David was born around 1819, second son of Joseph and Drusilla (Musick) Walton, then living in St. Louis County, where the boy's grandfather, William Walton, a reputed soldier of the American Revolution, settled in territorial days.

David had an older brother, Lewis H. Walton, and a handful of younger siblings, born as his family moved west during the '30s into Crawford and Pulaski Counties. The latter had a genealogy of its own, becoming parent to Wright County, in 1841, and Texas County, in 1843.

David Walton was married about 1841, presumably at Waynesville, seat of Pulaski County, to Susanna Knight, the eldest daughter of Jonathan and Anna Knight. The bride, born February 2, 1826, in Kentucky, was usually called "Annie". Her father, 36 year old Jonathan Knight, also was a native of Kentucky.

By mid-century, David and his 26 year old wife, Annie, had four children, Martha, born in 1842; Joseph (1843); Caroline (1846), and John D. Walton, who was born in 1848.

David's parents, Joseph and Drusilla Walton, and his wife's widowed father, Jonathan Knight, resided in the vicinity of the late Wilson A. Bell's lumber mill, where many young members of the family were employed.

In the decade of the '50s, more offspring were added to the Walton household, then located at Licking, Missouri. They were Nancy (born 1852), Mary (1854), Louisa Roseltha, who was born April 24, 1857, and William Siegel Walton (1860).

During all of this time, David Walton apparently toiled at farming although, contrary to custom, he owned no land!

For most settlers a visit to the US Land District Office, six of them established in Missouri Territory in 1818, was top priority: That was where abundant land, all public domain having been taken up by the government, might be had at prices ranging from "two bits" (25 cents) to $1.25 per acre.

David's father and brother obtained their land by that method. However, David H. Walton's name does not appear on any such sale.

Furthermore, local records of deeds do not list him as a grantee or grantor on any private land transaction.

On November 15, 1861, David, then 40 years of age, and their eldest son, 18 year old Joseph T. Walton, enlisted together as private soldiers in the Union Army.

The Civil War had been underway in severely divided Missouri for more than six months when they volunteered for three year terms.

Hostilities broke out on May 10th when US Army Captain Nathaniel Lyon, commander of the US Arsenal at St. Louis, forced surrender Camp Jackson by State Militia General Daniel M. Frost. All was going smoothly until hoodlums in the crowd fired guns over the heads of Union Soldiers, setting off a riot in which many spectators were killed or wounded.

Union forces were engaged in driving Missouri's pro-Secession governor, Claiborne Jackson, and former militia general, Sterling Price, out of the state.

At Houston, the Waltons, father and son, were enrolled in Captain Hackney's Company "B" of Colonel Woods' battalion of "Union Rangers". Three weeks later, they rode horseback from their home in Texas County to Rolla where they were mustered in on December 8th. Rolls show father and son each furnished his own mount. Woods' battalion, along with those of Colonels Wright and Hawkins, were consolidated to form the Sixth Cavalry Regiment, Missouri Volunteers.

A "Descriptive Roll" described David as 5 feet, 7 inches tall, with black hair and black eyes, dark complexion, a farmer and married. Son Joseph was described as 5 feet, 4 inches high with black hair and black eyes, dark complexion, a farmer and single.

For some soldiers, service would be brief and tragic.

On December 23rd, two days before Christmas and even prior to the regiment's last bi-monthly muster roll of the year, Private David Walton succumbed to congestive chill... and died. While two officers and 34 enlisted men were killed and mortally wounded during the Sixth Cavalry's long wartime service, David's death was counted among six officers and 372 other enlisted men whose lives were claimed by disease.

Joseph T. Walton, however, met every muster roll for three years and three months as the Sixth Cavalry rode through campaigns in southern Missouri and Rebel states of Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana. Company B distinguished itself in action on August 23, 1862, at Hickory Grove, Missouri.

Joseph Walton, with his horse, was discharged under honorable conditions at New Orleans, January 3, 1865, with bounty due of $100 for arms and equipment.

Some descendants believe David's second son, John D. Walton, enlisted in the Army later in the war, having suffered for years while growing up at the hands of neighborhood bushwhackers.

No record has been found of Private David H. Walton's burial in any of Missouri's national cemeteries. In fact, an estate file was not stared in Texas County until 1872; then a full decade passed until final settlement was reached.

David Walton's widow, known familiarly and affectionately as "Annie Hawkins", outlived her patriotic husband by nearly half-a-century. She died March 12, 1910, at the home of her youngest son, Francis M. Walton, in Houston. Her remains were buried in Hope Cemetery.

Children of David H. Walton & Susanna "Annie" Knight

Martha Walton was born 1840.

Joseph T. Walton was born in 1841 at Waynesville, in Pulaski County, Missouri, according to his enlistment papers. After more then three years of active duty, including numerous engagements, he was honorably discharged January 3, 1865, at New Orleans.

The young veteran soldier returned home where he took up carpentry. Early in 1869, he married a 17 year old Missouri girl named Susan and before a year had passed, he and Susan became parents of a baby girl, Adelian, born the previous December.

Caroline Walton was born in 1846 at Licking, Texas County.

John D. Walton was born 1848 at Licking.

Nancy Walton was born in 1852 at Licking. She was married March 12, 1870, to Francis M. "Doity" Daugherty.

Mary Walton was born in 1854. She married a man named Brown.

Louisa Roseltha Walton was born April 24, 1857, at Licking. She was married December 2, 1875, to William Henderson Neal. For many years they lived at Turley, where they raised their family. Neal died there on October 1, 1915, at 38 years of age; his 92 year old widow died December 27, 1949, at Houston, Missouri.

William Siegel Walton was born about 1860 at Licking. He died at 50 years of age, in Oklahoma.

Francis Marion Walton was born February 8, 1869, at Turley, Missouri. His mother was going by the name "Annie Hawkins" when she appears with Francis in the 1870 census.

Francis M. Walton was married June 23, 1898, to Susan Ellen or Atterberry. They had five children, William Siegel, Sherman, Francis, Gladys and Carl "Pete" Walton. Walton's wife Susan died in 1944, and he passed away in 1953, at 81 years of age. They are buried in Ohio Cemetery at Burlington Junction, Missouri.

Contributed by Kerma (Neal) Breedlove
Information provided by: Mr. Robert Parkin

©2007-2008 Rhonda Darnell