James D. Walker

James David Walker
United States Senator from Arkansas
In office March 4, 1879 – March 3, 1885
Preceded by	Stephen W. Dorsey
Succeeded by	James K. Jones
Personal details
Born	December 13, 1830 Russellville, Kentucky
Died	October 17, 1906 (aged 75) Fayetteville, Arkansas
Political party	Democratic

James David Walker (December 13, 1830 – October 17, 1906) was an attorney and Democratic Party politician from Arkansas who represented the state in the U.S. Senate from 1879 to 1885. His uncle Finis McLean served as United States Representative from Kentucky.

Early life and education

Walker was born near Russellville, Kentucky on December 13, 1830 to a planter family; he attended private schools in Kentucky. His parents sent him to the Ozark Institute and Arkansas College, both in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

His family moved permanently to Arkansas in 1847. That year at the age of 17, the young man began the study of law as a legal apprentice to an existing firm.

Career

On his admittance to the bar in 1850, Walker began practicing law in Fayetteville. He was elected as a circuit court judge in the fourth judicial district, where he served for a time.

Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, Walker was commissioned as a colonel of the 4th Regiment, Arkansas State Troops. Captured at Oak Hills, Missouri in 1861, he was held as a prisoner of war for two years.

In 1865 he resumed his practice in Fayetteville, and was appointed as Solicitor General of the state. He served as a Democratic elector for the 1876 election, after white Democrats had regained control of the state legislature following the Reconstruction era.

The legislature elected Walker to the US Senate in 1878. He defeated Robert Ward Johnson (1814-1879), a former Congressman and Senator who had been prominent in state politics before the Civil War. He was part of the political coalition known as "The Family," which had dominated Arkansas politics before the war.^[1]

Walker served from 1879 to 1885. His personal secretary was Elias Cornelius Boudinot, a Cherokee attorney and politician from Arkansas who had lobbied for railroad construction in the West. Walker supported his bid in 1885 for appointment as Commissioner of Indian Affairs, but another man was selected.^[2] Walker declined to run for reelection in 1884 and returned to Arkansas at the end of his term.

Later years

He resumed his law practice in Fayetteville. He died there on October 17, 1906, and is buried in the city.

References

1. James M. Woods, "Robert Ward Johnson", Encyclopedia of Arkansas Culture and History, 2010, accessed 7 August 2012
2. Thomas Burnell Colbert, "Elias Cornelius Boudinot", Encyclopedia of Arkansas, 2009, accessed 7 August 2012

Further reading

• United States Congress. "James D. Walker (id: W000057)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.