Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/361

Rh (Nashua, 1871); &ldquo;Forests of New Hampshire&rdquo; (Concord, 1872); &ldquo;Ezekiel Webster Dimond&rdquo; (1877); &ldquo;History of Town Meeting-House&rdquo; (1881); &ldquo;Prospective Agriculture in New Hampshire&rdquo; (1883); &ldquo;Rogers, the Ranger&rdquo; (1885); &ldquo;Oats&rdquo; (Manchester, 1887); and other monographs.

WALKER, Timothy, jurist, b. in Wilmington, Mass., 1 Dec., 1806; d. in Cincinnati, Ohio, 15 Jan., 1856. He was graduated at Harvard in 1826, taught mathematics at the Round Hill school, Northampton, Mass., in 1826-'9, studied at Harvard law-school in the latter year and in 1830, and removed to Cincinnati in 1831, where he was admitted to the bar and settled in practice. With Judge he established the Cincinnati law-school in 1833, and when in 1835 it was united with Cincinnati college he assumed entire charge of that department, and was professor of law there till 1844. He was president-judge of Hamilton county court of common pleas in 1842-'3, founded the “Western Law Journal” in 1843, and was its editor for several years, at the same time practising his profession. Harvard gave him the degree of LL.D. in 1854. He translated Fischer's “Elements of Natural Philosophy” (Boston, 1827); was the author of “Elements of Geometry” (1828) and “An Introduction to American Law,” for students (Philadelphia, Pa., 1837 : revised ed., by J. Bryant Walker, 1869); and delivered several discourses, including “The Dignity of Law as a Profession” (Cincinnati, Ohio, 1837); “On the History and General Character of the State of Ohio” (1838); “John Quincy Adams” (1848); “The Reform Spirit of the Day,” delivered before the Phi Beta Kappa society of Harvard (Boston, 1850); and “Daniel Webster,” a memorial (1852). -His brother, Sears Cook, mathematician, b. in Wilmington, Mass., 28 March, 1805; d. in Cincinnati, Ohio, 30 Jan., 1853, was graduated at Harvard in 1825, and taught near Boston, and subsequently in Philadelphia, whither he removed in 1827. He built an observatory for the Philadelphia high-school in 1837, which was the first of importance in this country except that at Hudson, Ohio, and introduced a superior class of instruments. From its equipment in 1840 until 1852 he published in the “Proceedings” of the Philosophical society and in the “American Journal of Science” the astronomical observations and investigations that he made there. He was employed in the Washington observatory in 1845-'7, where, on 2 Feb., 1847, four months after the discovery of the planet Neptune, he identified it with a star that had been observed by Lalande in May, 1795. From 1847 until his death Mr. Walker had charge of the longitude computations of the U.S. coast survey. With Prof. Alexander D. Bache he developed the method of determining differences of longitude by telegraph, which was put in successful operation in 1849, and introduced the chronographic method of recording observations. His parrallactic tables, first prepared in 1834, greatly reduced the time in computing the phases of an occulation. He published various astronomical and mathematical papers of value, including “A Memoir on the Periodical Meteors of August and November” (Philadelphia, 1841); “Researches relative to the Planet Neptune” (1850); and “Ephemeris of the Planet Neptune for 1848-'52” (1852). See an “Address in Commemoration of Sears Cook Walker, delivered before the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 19 April, 1854,” by Benjamin A. Gould, Jr. (Cambridge, Mass., 1854).

WALKER, William, Canadian merchant, b. in Scotland in 1793 ; d. in Quebec, Canada, 18 May, 1863. He went to Canada in 1815, engaged in business, and was a partner in the firms of Forsyth, Richardson and Co., Montreal, and of Forsyth, Walker and Co., Quebec. He was part owner and one of the building committee of the ocean steamer "Royal William," which was constructed at Quebec and was the first steam vessel that crossed the Atlantic from British America. In 1848 he retired from business. In 1839 Mr. Walker was appointed a member of the special council of Canada, and in 1842 he became a life member of the legislative council by royal mandamus. He raised and commanded the Quebec volunteer rifle corps, was the first president of the Quebec and Riviere du Loup railway company, president of the Quebec board of trade, and deputy master of Trinity house. He was the first chancellor of the University of Bishop's college, Lennoxville, Canada East, which conferred on him the honorary degree of D. C. L.

WALKER, William, adventurer, b. in Nashville, Tenn., 8 May, 1824; d. in Trujillo, Honduras, 12 Sept., 1860. He studied law in Nashville and medicine in Heidelberg, Germany, was a journalist in New Orleans and San Francisco, and finally settled in the practice of law in Marysville, Cal. In July, 1853, he organized an expedition for the conquest of the state of Sonora, Mexico, and, eluding the vigilance of the authorities of the port of San Francisco, early in November landed at La Paz, Lower California, with 170 men and three field-guns. He then issued a manifesto to the people, proclaimed himself president of the Pacific republic, and, having received re-enforcements, set out in January, 1854, for Sonora. He was pursued by a strong force of Mexicans, and, as he was near the frontier, he surrendered to the U. S. commander at San Diego, Cal. In May, 1854, he was tried at San Francisco for violating the neutrality laws, and was acquitted. He continued to plan expeditions against Sonora, but was compelled to abandon them, and in 1855 he was induced by American speculators in Nicaragua to interfere in the intestine troubles in that country, ostensibly in aid of the Democratic party there. He landed at Realejo on 11 June, with sixty-two followers, was joined by a small native force, and endeavored to take possession of the southern transit route. He was defeated at Rivas, but, being re-enforced with 170 native soldiers, routed the Nicaraguan army of 540 men at La Virgen on 1 Sept., took possession of the city of Grenada on 15 Oct., and by a treaty with Gen. Ponciano Corral, the opposing leader, was made secretary of war and commander-in-chief. Recruits rapidly arrived from the United States, and on 1 March, 1856, Walker had 1,200 men. In the mean time he charged Corral with conspiracy, presided over a court-martial for his trial, and sentenced him to be shot on 8 Nov., 1855. War began with Costa Rica, and Walker was defeated at Guanacaste on 20 March, 1856, but routed the enemy at Rivas on 11 April, and hostilities ceased. He was then in undisputed control of Nicaragua, but