My Genealogy Hound

Thomas Walkington is numbered among the old settlers of Union county, having resided within its borders since March, 1871. He is now pleasantly and conveniently located upon a valuable and well improved farm of one hundred and twenty acres on section 15, Douglas township, two and a half miles from the city of Creston. He was born on the Isle of Man, May 28, 1840, and was reared to manhood there. In early life he worked at the blacksmith’s trade and also in a butcher shop for a short time. The favorable reports which reached him concerning the business opportunities of the new world led him to seek a home in America in 1861. He took passage on a vessel at Liverpool which bore him safely to New York harbor and immediately thereafter he continued his journey by land to Illinois, settling first in Warren county, where for a few years he was employed at farm labor. He afterward went to Peoria county, where he lived upon a farm and since that time his energies and interests have been concentrated upon general agricultural pursuits.

As a companion and helpmate for life’s journey Mr. Walkington chose Miss Catherine N. Stalker, a sister of H. R. Stalker, who is mentioned elsewhere in this volume. They were married in Knox county in March, 1871, subsequent to which time they removed to Iowa, Mr. Walkington investing in forty acres of raw prairie land that constituted the nucleus of his present farm on section 15, Douglas township. Upon this place he has since resided and has converted the wild lands into productive fields. He had broken and improved one hundred and sixty acres of land in Illinois before he came to Iowa, so that practical experience gave him a knowledge of the best plans to pursue in carrying on his work. After living for some time in this county he bought eighty acres adjoining the original tract, a part of which he has improved, while the remainder is in pasture. Upon his farm he has erected a good residence and substantial barns and has planted shade and fruit trees, developing altogether a neat place, improved with modern equipments and lacking none of the accessories and conveniences of a model farm of the twentieth century. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Walkington have been born seven children but two of the number are now deceased. Nora Jane, the eldest, is the wife of Charles Gilman, of Douglas township; Anna is the wife of Joseph Kurzhals, of Douglas township; J. E. is a postal clerk; Daisy is the wife of George W. Robinson, of Benton county, Iowa; and John B. is telegraph operator and station agent at Cromwell. Of the two children who have passed away Effie reached adult age and died in early womanhood, while Harvey E. died at the age of fourteen years, meeting an accidental death.

In politics Mr. Walkington is independent, supporting the men whom he thinks best qualified for office regardless of party affiliations. His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and both are widely and favorably known in this locality, where they have lived for thirty-six years, witnessing much of the growth and progress of the county as its wild lands have been reclaimed for the purposes of civilization and its broad prairies have been converted into fine farms. In a business sense he is entirely a self-made man, owing his prosperity to his own efforts, for he started out in life empty-handed and gained his present success by his unfaltering diligence.