Benjamin Walker (New York)

Benjamin Walker
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 9th district
In office March 4, 1801 – March 3, 1803
Preceded by	Jonas Platt
Succeeded by	Killian Van Rensselaer
Personal details
Born	1753 London, England
Died	January 13, 1818 Utica, New York
Political party	Federalist Party
Residence	Utica, New York
Occupation	Soldier

Captain Benjamin Walker (1753 – January 13, 1818) was a soldier in the American Revolutionary War and later served as a U.S. Representative from New York.

He was born in London, England, where he attended the Blue-Coat School. After immigrating to the United States, he settled in New York City. During the American Revolutionary War, he was an aide-de-camp to General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben (during this appointment he was reputed to have been the male companion of the Baron)^[1] and subsequently as a member of the staff of General George Washington.

Together with a fellow aide-de-camp, William North, he was formally adopted by Steuben, and made his heir.^[2] Some historians believe that these 'extraordinary intense emotional relationships'^[3] were romantic,^[4] and given Steuben's reported earlier behaviour, it has been suggested it would have been out-of-character for him if they were not.^[5] It has also been posited that while Walker held the Baron in high esteem, and had no scruples about exploiting his attraction for him, he had no intention of reciprocating.^[6] However, without more substantive evidence turning up, the exact nature of the relationships is impossible to define conclusively.^[7]

From March 21, 1791 until February 20, 1798, Walker served as a captain and as naval officer of customs at the port of New York. He was moved to Fort Schuyler, now Utica, in New York State, in 1797. He also worked as an agent of the great landed estate of the Earl of Bath.

Walker was elected as a Federalist to the Seventh Congress (March 4, 1801 - March 3, 1803). After his tenure, he declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1802.

Walker died in Utica, New York, on January 13, 1818. He was first interred in the Old Village Burying Ground on Water Street but was exhumed and reinterred in Forest Hill Cemetery, Utica on June 17, 1875.

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress website http://bioguide.congress.gov.

• United States Congress. "Benjamin Walker (id: W000046)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved on 2009-03-04

1. William Benemann, Male-Male Intimacy in Early America: Beyond Romantic Friendships, Haworth Press 2006 ISBN 1-56023-345-1
2. Kapp, Friedrich The Life of Frederick William Von Steuben, Major General in the United States Army, Mason Brothers, New York 1859,p707
3. American National Biography - Volume 16 - Page 513. n.b. Contrary to many online articles, this phrase does not appear in Steuben's final Will: http://loyolanotredamelib.org/php/report05/articles/pdfs/Report35Pritchett19-26.pdf
4. Benemann, William Male-Male Intimacy in Early America: Beyond Romantic Friendships Haworth Press, 2006, ISBN 1-56023-345-1
5. Quinn, Michael D. Same-Sex Dynamics among Nineteenth-Century Americans, University of Illinois Press, 2001, pp179-180
6. Benemman, pp. 102-03
7. Benemann, p. 102

External links

• Benjamin Walker entry at The Political Graveyard
• Benjamin Walker at Find a Grave