My Genealogy Hound

WILLIAM CALDCLOUGH WALKER, one of the best known citizens of Ambler, is a native of Horsham township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. He is the son of George and Gulielma M. (Brunner) Walker, and was born at Horsham, January 13, 1844. He attended the public schools, and later a private school.

George J. Walker, father, was the son of ____and Elizabeth Walker. The original Walker was of Welsh descent. Comparatively little is known of the family history. The children of the grandparents were: Hugh, George, Griffith; Jackson who resides in Philadelphia, being about eighty years of age. George early in life was a freighter with a team between Bridge Point and Philadelphia, and later, after he was married, settled in Horsham, and had charge of the toll gate for a time. Later he established an exchange stable for the stage line, which he kept for a number of years. Still later in life he farmed in Horsham township. He continued on the farm for twenty-eight years, and then removed to Penllyn, and ultimately to Ambler, where he died, January 21, 1886, aged seventy-three years. In politics he was a Whig, and, after the formation of the Republican party, an active member of that organization, although he never sought or held office. He was a very conscientious man and good citizen. In religious faith he was a Presbyterian. His wife, who was about ten years his junior, survived him some years. She was the daughter of Gaul and Elizabeth Lovett Brunner. Paul Brunner was a miller by trade, which occupation he followed in his younger days. The Brunners are an old Montgomery county family of German descent. He spent his later years with his daughter, Mrs. George Walker, and died at Penllyn. His children: Catharine (Mrs. J. Black); Gulielma (mother); John, an inventor, being a wagon and carriage builder; James, a veterinary surgeon; Anna, (Mrs. Samuel McDaniel, wife of a clergyman of the Christian church); Thomas, a carpenter who traveled much; Ellen (Mrs. L. Hall), whose husband was a wood carver, and one other.

The children of George and Gulielma Walker: Mary C., who was twice married, her first husband being Asher Collom, a teacher, and her second husband William Frankinfield, both husbands being now deceased; William C., subject of this sketch; Paul B., a railroad engineer, who is deceased, leaving a son and daughter; Thomas, a car inspector on the Philadelphia and Reading Railway; Anna M., Mrs. Charles Dewees, her husband being the blacksmith at Blue Bell; Jenks B., who died at the age of twenty-one years.

William C. Walker was reared on a farm, attending school and working at agricultural pursuits until he attained his majority. He commenced teaching as an occupation when he was twenty-two years of age, and was engaged in that for three years. He then secured a position in a general store in Centre county, Pennsylvania, and was thus engaged for two years. He then became manager of a store in Germantown, continuing in that employment two years. He then connected himself with the Philadelphia Coal Company and was thus employed for five years. The business of his employer having been absorbed by the Lehigh Valley Coal Company, he engaged with that corporation, and has ever since continued in that position. He started as a bookkeeper, and has filled various positions for it as occasion required, including those of salesman and collector. He has held responsible positions and maintained confidential relations with the company. He was at one time secretary at one of the company’s mines, but the breaker burned and the mine was sold. Mr. Walker has assisted in organizing two or three railroads in New Jersey. He was a director in the board, but when the organization changed he withdrew from the management. Mr. Walker was influential in organizing the Ambler Building and Loan Association in 1874, and has ever since been its secretary. He was for some time a school director in the borough of Ambler, and was the first president of the school board. He was a member of the first town council of Ambler, and its clerk for several years. He also served three terms as president of town council. Mr. Walker is a member of the Baptist church of Ambler, and was superintendent of its Sunday school for thirty years, being also in charge of the Bible classes, clerk of the church, president of the board of trustees, and a member of the board of deacons. Mr. Walker assisted in organizing the National Bank of Ambler, was secretary of the original organization, and is yet a stockholder in the institution. He is secretary of the board of trustees of the North Philadelphia Association of Baptist churches, and secretary of the Sabbath School Association of Ambler and vicinity. In 1890 he purchased the original Ambler homestead with sixteen acres of land. When he located in Ambler in 1873, he had purchased a house in which all his children were born, and in which his wife died in 1891. After her death he removed to his more recent purchase. He has plotted a portion of the land, and sold all but eight acres in building lots. There are ample grounds surrounding his residence, which is one of the most substantial and pleasantly located in Ambler, known as “The Brookside.” He owns several properties which he rents, and has other important real estate interests in Ambler. Fraternally Mr. Walker is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of the Knights of Malta, and of the Sons of Sparta. He has had many trusts placed in his hands, all of which he has faithfully performed. He is a willing worker in the church and Sunday school, and is also interested in every movement that is likely to promote the welfare of the community in which he lives.

Mr. Walker married Miss Emma A. Yocum, daughter of Charles and Louisa (Rickard) Yocum, prominent farmers of Gwynedd township. Mrs. Yocum was the daughter of Colonel Rickard, a prominent farmer of Berks county, Pennsylvania, of German descent. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Yocum: Kate, Mrs. C. C. Murray; James, a farmer; Emma, wife of Mr. Walker; Rebecca, Mrs. Samuel Streeper, whose husband died February 23, 1902, at Ambler, leaving four children, Charles, Clarence, Elsie and Milton. Mrs. Charles Yocum died March 30, 1878, and Mr. Yocum survives and resides with his daughter, Mrs. Streeper. He was born in 1819. He is a Baptist as was also his wife. Mr. Yocum was born in Upper Merion township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, being a son of Reuben and Ann (DeHaven) Yocum. Reuben Yocum was a grandson of Peter Yocum, who came to America from Sweden and located west of the Schuylkill. He was a property owner in the township in 1732. Reuben Yocum was a miller by occupation. He remained in Montgomery county until all his children were born, and in 1849 removed to the state of Illinois, where he became a prominent farmer, and lived to the age of ninety-seven years. His wife, Ann DeHaven, was a descendant of one of the oldest families of Montgomery county. She was the daughter of Isaac DeHaven, who was a son of Samuel DeHaven, who served in the Revolutionary war. He was one of four brothers who emigrated to the United States about the year 1750, and became possessed of considerable wealth. They were Jacob, Samuel, Edward and Peter. They accumulated their money in the vineyard and wine making business, having settled with the Swedish colony west of the Schuylkill river. They located on a tract of land obtained from the successors of William Penn. It was seven to nine miles in length, and was held by Jacob for the others, he being the oldest of the four, and a bachelor. During the stay of the American army at Valley Forge the DeHavens furnished supplies and money to the American cause. They also donated the land for Old Swedes’ church, Upper Merion, where all the older members of the family were buried. Jacob DeHaven is said to have advanced large sums of money to General Washington at the time of the Valley Forge encampment, although the records are singularly silent on the subject, and his heirs have made many attempts to collect it from the United States government but so far without success. There is a tradition that Jacob DeHaven was offered continental money for his claim, but declined to accept it. He died comparatively poor in 1812. Samuel removed to the state of Kentucky, and Peter, the younger brother, resided in Philadelphia. He had charge of the guns and ammunition for the patriot army. The brothers and sisters of Ann DeHaven, mother of Charles Yocum: Isaac, John, George, Samuel, Betsey (Mrs. J. Mattson); Mary J. (Mrs. Derrickson); Jane (Mrs. David Zell). The children of Reuben and Ann Yocum were William, Isaac, Charles (father of Mrs. Walker); Nelson, Samuel, George and Reuben.

The children of Mr. and Mrs. William C. Walker; Gulielma L., unmarried; Emma Gertrude, wife of Joseph J. Johnson, foreman at the Ambler Gazette office; Bertha Y., unmarried; William C., Jr., born in October, 1884, died in 1895.