Notebook:The Wigton Walker Problem

The Wigton Walkers trace their descent from John Walker I and Jane McKnight of Wigton, Scotland. See Index for other Wigton Walkers, and Quick Wigton Walker Index for males in the first few generations. The primary source for this family, especially its history prior to about 1740, is Descendants of John Walker of Wigton Scotland, by Emma Siggins White, 1902

See Old Chester Notebooks

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I believe that the Wigton Walkers, as laid out by White 1902 consist of two separate lineages. One lineage Settled on Walkers Creek, and the Other near Natural Bridge. While descendants of both groups claim descent from John Walker I of Wigton, their YDNA shows that they are in fact unrelated, except through marriage.

I believe that it is most likely that the Walkers Creek line is the one that traces back to Wigton Scotland. The main reason for that is because John Walker III was in this line, and his wife, Ann Houston, can be shown as having been raised in/near the Nottingham Lots. White tells us that John III's father John II and wife Katherine, settled in this area, and were buried in the Nottingham Presbyterian Church that was located in what is now Rising Sun. Since John III's wife Ann came from this area, it seems likely that John III came from this area as well, and that seems to confirm White 1902. That suggests that John III (hence the Walkers Creek line) is in fact the "true" Wigton Walkers.

Available data for The Natural Bridge line, seems to point to their origins as coming from Goochland County. The founder of this line was Samuel Walker=Jane Pattreson. One of their sons, Joseph, married a Susan Willis whose family lived in Goochland county. There were a significant number of Walkers in that area, and it seems likely that Samuel and son Joseph were related to those Walkers of Goochland. That connection has not been explored very much, so at this point its just my working hypothesis. Since I'm not of that line, I'm not likely to invest the time in pursueing it in detail, but its something I'd like to know the answer to.

That said, there are three points to emphasize.

A. Apart from the Ann Houston data, we have little to confirm the presence of the Wigton Walkers on the Nottingham lots c 1726-1738. B. I think that it is most likely the Walkers Creek line that settled on the Nottingham Lots C. While I think the Natural Bridge Line came from Goochland, I don't really know that, and its conceivable that they were the ones that settled on the Nottingham Lots---I just have no proof of that one way or the other.