Lambert: Is Walkers' Grove Named for James or Jesse? We'll Never Know

The Inquiry

Depending on which account you read, the founding of Walkers’ Grove is credited to either the Rev. Jesse Walker or to James Walker. Is one of these men more responsible for the settlement than the other?

The Facts

Since the early 20th century, Walkers’ Grove has traditionally been identified as the site of the James Walker Sawmill, near what is now the intersection of River and Renwick roads. However, the pioneer settlement had no clearly defined boundaries and stretched outward from the mill site, along the east side of the DuPage River.

The Walkers’ Grove settlement has been attributed, alternately, to Jesse Walker and to his nephew and son-in-law James Walker. Unfortunately, all of the Walker family records that described their first years along the DuPage River were destroyed in two separate fires more than a century ago. 

Twentieth century accounts suggest, persistently in some cases, that the original settlement at Walkers’ Grove was attributable, solely, to the efforts of James Walker, who remained here until his death. 

Those modern hypotheses are not completely accurate.

All for One, One For All

The extended Walker family had worked cooperatively for many years, extolling their religious beliefs. After 1823, they moved northward from St. Clair County, following the pioneer migration: first to Peoria, then to Ottawa. 

Between 1824 and 1826, they operated the Salem Mission, an Indian school approximately 30 miles west of present-day Plainfield. The younger men provided manual labor, Rev. Walker preached, and the women cared for the children and household and also taught school.

Despite their united effort, the mission school failed and the Walker family headed to Ottawa, where other family members lived. Dr. David Walker and his family were counted among that city’s prominent pioneer residents. Dr. Walker’s daughter, Huldah, was married in 1828 to Vetel Vermette by Rev. Walker.

Likely, Vermette guided members of the extended Walker clan to the banks of the DuPage River, where Vermette had earlier kept an Indian trading post as an agent for the American Fur Co. 

No doubt exists that the Walker family continued to rely on one another as they planned to move further northward. According to an 1876 historical account (the earliest published history of this area), the 1828 land claim in the expansive wooded grove along the DuPage River was made, jointly, by Jesse, James and Joseph Walker. 

Who Was Joseph Walker?

Until recently, Joseph Walker had been forgotten. Joseph, a blacksmith, did not stake an individual claim but provided essential talents in the fledgling community. He and his family left Illinois in 1830 and settled in Madison County, Ind., where he lived the remainder of his life.

James Barr Walker

Before the Salem Mission effort, James Walker had married Jane Walker, the daughter of the Rev. Jesse Walker and also a cousin. In 1826, James Walker and his family settled on the north side of the Illinois River near the mouth of the Fox River. 

Two years later, James claimed nearly 200 acres of land surrounding the site that would become his sawmill, erected between 1830 and 1831. His own log cabin stood nearly one and a half miles north of the sawmill. James Walker would later become an important legislator. He died in 1851. 

The Rev. Jesse Walker

As a missionary minister, Jesse Walker traveled a regular route, known as a “circuit,” preaching to Indians and pioneers scattered throughout the Illinois frontier.

However, he also laid claim to a tract of land within one and a half miles of the sawmill site. According to historical land records, Walker acquired land throughout Illinois, including numerous parcels in present-day Will, Kendall and Cook counties.

In 1832, his wife, Susannah, died. Simultaneously, he was appointed to the Chicago station of the Methodist conference. Upon his appointment, he moved to Chicago and remarried. He died in Chicago in 1835. During his second marriage, Jesse Walker became estranged from his daughter and son-in-law in Plainfield.

Land, Taxes and Voting Records

The argument that Jesse Walker never owned land here is simply not true.  Both Jesse Walker and his son-in-law James owned substantial tracts of land in the vicinity of the mill site. 

Tax and voting records of the period do not support 20th century claims that James Walker is the only logical member of the Walker family for whom the settlement was named. 

In the early 19th century, real property was not taxed as it has been since the early 20th century. At the time of settlement, annual tax assessments were placed on the combined value of personal and real property. All pioneers — including each of the Walkers — paid taxes on their assets. However, no pioneer specifically paid “property taxes.”

Because of the small numbers of residents living north of the Illinois River in the late 1820s and early 1830s, voting precincts covered large areas. Initially, residents of northeastern Illinois were included in the Peoria Precinct for electoral voting. 

By 1831, all residents northeast of the DuPage River voted within the newly established Chicago Precinct. The Plainfield Precinct was established after Rev. Walker moved to Chicago. 

Not all pioneer men voted in elections. Some physically could not — or chose not — to travel to the established polling places, often a half day’s journey or more from home. Others did not vote based on religious convictions. Still other free spirits were not interested in any interaction with government.

Benefits of Longevity

Certainly, the pioneer settlement’s name identified the wooded grove where numerous members of the Walker clan settled between 1828 and 1834.

While we may never learn the full account of the naming of Walkers’ Grove, historical documents disprove the opinions that the pioneer settlement can be identified only with one man … albeit a well-regarded man who simply outlived the others.

This is the first part of a two-part series on the first families of Walkers’ Grove.