Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 5.djvu/206

694 to any person who would buy. The government refusing to purchase, the historic mansion and six acres of ground later passed to the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union, a body of patriotic women incorporated in 1856. The association as far as possible restored the estate to its former condition after obtaining possession, and today it is America's "Holy ground."

The mansion was the home of John Augustine Washington, and there his children were born, the first in 1844, the last on July 22, 1858. This last child, perhaps the last Washington born there, was singularly enough named George Washington and was born three years before the death of the father, John Augustine Washington.

John Augustine Washington married, at Exeter, Loudoun county, Virginia, in February, 1842, Eleanor Love, daughter of Wilson Gary Selden. Children, all born at Mount Vernon; Louisa Fontaine, Jane Charlotte, Eliza Selden, Anne Maria, Lawrence, of whom further, Eleanor Love, and George, born July 22, 1858, moved to Fauquier county in i860, and later to Jefferson county. West Virginia.

Lawrence Washington, fifth child of John Augustine (3) and Eleanor Love (Selden) Washington, was born at historic Mount Vernon, Virginia, January 14, 1854. He is the present custodian of the house of representatives reading room, in the Congressional Library in Washington, having held the office for many years. His home after his marriage was "Waverland," near Salem, now Marshall, Fauquier county, Virginia. He married, at Charlestown, West Virginia, June 14, 1876, Fanny, daughter of Thomas Lackland, of Charlestown; children: John Augustine, Lawrence, Patty Willis, Anne Madison. Louisa Fontaine, Richard Blackburn, Willis Lackland, Fanny J., Wilson Selden, Preston Chew, Julian Howard and Francis Ryland.

Charles Henry Walker. Walker is a very old family name, one of the oldest. Genealogists disagree as to the derivation, some holding the opinion that it was derived from the Norse "Valka," which means "a foreigner." In Dutch appears the form "Walkart" and "Walker." In the Anglo-Saxon appear the forms "Walcher" and "Wealhere," meaning "a stranger soldier," practically the same meaning as the Norse "Valka." Other genealogists hold to the belief that the name was derived from an occupation. Before the introduction of rollers, when cloth was made, it had to be trodden under foot. The Anglo-Saxon word for this was "Walcere," which the English translate "a fuller," and in time "fuller" and "walker" became synoymous terms, and "the walker" became a regular occupation. It is likely that both claims are correct, and that some of the Walker names come from one source and some from the other. The name was a very popular one in England, and the number of Walker families grew apace. In the nine hundred years or so which have elapsed since family names were first adopted there have been granted to the Walker families in England over fifty coats-of-arms. They have held innumerable positions of influence and importance with a number of titles, there having been at times as many as half dozen baronets that had titles, in different branches of the family.

Between 1625 and 1655, something like fifty different Walkers came over from England to Virginia. A majority of these came over from the southern counties of England, though one or two of them are known to have come from Yorkshire. In the revolutionary war. the Virginia Walkers were represented by more than seventy soldiers, ranging in rank from private to colonel. In "The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography" over sixty Walkers have been given place. They cover every possible pursuit in life. Amasa Walker was a political economist, several of the name have been governors of states, congressmen, senators, soldiers, naval officers, one an astronomer of note, another a great singer, another a philanthropist; there was also William Walker, the Prince of Filibusters, known as the "Gray-eyed Man of Destiny"; and Francis A. Valker, the greatest statistician that America has ever known. In the absence of complete records and the official registration of births and deaths, it is very difficult to establish definitely the line of descent of a member of a family so numerous, and with which the pages of Virginia history fairly bristle with mention, but always in disconnected paragraphs. There are reasonable grounds for believing that the family to which Mr. Walker belongs was founded in Virginia by John and