Z 2065.000 Walker (Robert James) Letter

Z 2065.000
WALKER (ROBERT JAMES) LETTER

Robert James (or John) Walker, the son of Revolutionary War veteran Judge Jonathan Hoge Walker, was born in Northumberland, Pennsylvania, in July of 1801. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia in 1819, was admitted to the bar in 1821, and began practicing law in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the following year. Walker was chairman of the Pennsylvania Democratic Committee in 1823. He married Mary Blechenden Bache, great-granddaughter of Benjamin Franklin, in 1825. The next year, the couple moved to Natchez, Mississippi, where Walker continued practicing law. He was elected to the United States Senate as a Democrat, defeating George Poindexter of Mississippi. Walker served in the senate from March 4, 1835, until his resignation on March 5, 1845. He served as secretary of the treasury under President James K. Polk from March 6, 1845, until his resignation on March 6, 1849. He was appointed as governor of Kansas on April 10, 1857, but he resigned in December of that year because of unresolved slavery issues. Walker edited the Continental Monthly in New York City during the Civil War, and he served as United States financial agent in Europe in 1863 and 1864. He practiced law in Washington, D.C., after the war. A territorial expansionist, Walker was associated with the acquisition of California, New Mexico, Oregon, and Texas by the United States government. Walker died in Washington, D.C., on November 11, 1869.

William H. Worthington was born in Kentucky in 1832. He was the son of Isaac Worthington (1792-1855) and Ann Taylor Worthington (d. 1882), who later lived in Leota Landing, Washington County, Mississippi. Worthington was farming with his father, who owned thirty-six thousand dollars of real estate in Washington County, in 1850. He later moved to Lowndes County, Mississippi, where he married a Miss Baldwin. Worthington was editor of the Columbus Democrat from 1852 to 1876. The Columbus Democrat was first published in 1834, and it was later acquired by the Southern Standard in 1873. Worthington died in Washington County on February 28, 1890.

Robert J. Walker wrote to William H. Worthington, Columbus, Lowndes County, Mississippi, from an unnamed steamboat on November 22, 1843. He stated that he was traveling to Washington, D.C., and he would send Worthington copies of documents and speeches from the upcoming congressional session. Walker also requested that Worthington send him the names of subscribers to the Columbus Democrat, marking those known to be Democrats or Whigs.

1. Letter. 1843. 1 item.