Luke Walker (b. 1786 - d. ?)
MSA SC 5496-51520
Maryland State Colonization Society Emigrant to Liberia from Caroline
County, 1835
Biography:
Luke Walker was born on February 17, 1786 in Queen Anne's County and raised in Caroline County.1 In 1822, at the age of thirty-seven, he was manumitted by Frederick Prunell. According to the certificate of freedom, Luke's left forefinger had been cut off at the second joint.2 This injury may have resulted from his occupation as a sawyer cutting timber.3 Luke later purchased and manumitted his wife, Ann, and children, Laura Ann and Thomas. Luke and Ann had seven more children—George, Mahalah, William, Mary Adeline, Joseph, Elizabeth, and Allen—who were all born free. In 1832, the Walkers were enumerated on Caroline County's Free Negro Census. At that time, they did not express an interest in emigrating to Liberia. A twenty-five year old man named Lewis Smith, who was probably Luke and Ann's son-in-law, was also listed as a member of the Walker household.4
By 1835, the family's views on emigration had changed, and they departed for Liberia, where Luke hoped to set up a saw mill.5 On December 24, 1835, the family sailed from Baltimore on the brig Fortune, arriving at Cape Palmas, Liberia on February 4, 1836.6 For some reason, Lewis Smith did not accompany the Walkers. However, Luke's grandson, fourteen-month old John Smith, emigrated to Liberia with the other Walkers. It is unclear who John's mother was.7 By the time that the colony's first census was conducted in 1837, Luke was working as a carpenter, and all of the Walkers had survived acclimation to the new land.8 In March of that year, Luke was appointed Measurer of Lumber and Inspector of Shingles for the colony.9
Luke became disillusioned by the lack of opportunities available in Liberia. A man of some means in the United States, Luke was dissatisfied with the material shortages that were common in the colony where trade and manufacturing were small to non-existent. He also resented the colony's strict temperance policy. In June 1837, Luke and his family returned to the United States on the Niobe.10 Colonial officials welcomed his departure, believing that his attitude demoralized the colonists as well as dissuaded potential settlers from coming to Liberia.11 An article printed in the Maryland Colonization Journal called Luke a "traitor," who "left the colony because he could not indulge in drinking whiskey." The article went on to describe his new life in Fell's Point, Baltimore where he supposedly lived "in a miserably dirty cellar, dealing out to his vagabond customers, lies by wholesale against Africa, and WHISKEY to make them palatable. He keeps a grocery of the baser sort ... but the trade and trader are black enough in all conscience. Now we have done with Luke Walker."12
By 1850, many of the Walkers were living in New York City in the home of Lewis Walker, who was probably a relative. The household included Ann and Luke and Ann's children, Thomas, William, George, Elizabeth, Allen, and Mahala. Luke, however, was absent from the household and may have passed away.13
2. CAROLINE COUNTY COURT (Certificates of Freedom) MSA CM866-1, 1806-1827.
5. Hall, Richard L. On Afric’s Shore: A History of Maryland in Liberia, 1834-1857. (Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 2003), 156.
6. Ibid, 453.
7. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (Papers of the Maryland State Colonization Society), Manumission Lists, 1832-1839, MSA SC 5977, Film Number M 13248-1, Emigrants, Lines 279-285, 286-289.
9. Hall, 453
10. Hall, 453.
11. Hall, 156, 453.
12. "Luke Walker." Maryland Colonization Journal, December 1837, Vol. 1, No. 13, p. 54.
13. U.S. CENSUS BUREAU (Census Record, MD) for Ann Walker, 1850, New York County, 1st District, 8th Ward New York City, Page 235a, Lines 37-42. Page 235b, Line 1.
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