This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Walker Classification: Biography Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/wg.2ADE/1458 Message Board Post: Walker, Isaac Benson – The farms of Grundy County show evidences of careful cultivation and modern improvements and this accounts in part for the banner crops raised in this locality. One of the men who has been more than ordinarily successful along agricultural lines is Isaac Benson Walker, owner of 260 acres of fertile land in Good Farm Township, on which he carries on general farming and the raising of cattle and horses. He was born in Monroe County, Ohio, January 10, 1855, a son of Lazendy and Ann (Clithero) Walker, both natives of Monroe County, Ohio, where the father was a farmer until coming to Grundy County, Ill., in 1858. Here he bought eighty acres of land in Mazon Township, and cultivated it until his enlistment at Morris, Ill., for service during the Civil War. He died in service in 1863 and is buried at Brownsville, Tex., in the Soldiers' cemetery at that point. His widow died at Mazon, Ill., in 1904. These parents had six children: William D.; Janie, wh! o died in infancy; and Isaac, Thomas W., Edward W., and Oliver. Isaac Benson Walker was reared on the farm and received but little educational advantages. When he was fifteen years old his mother bought a team of horses and he began operating her eighty acres. When he was twenty-seven years old, having been assisting her all this while, he began working for himself, and in 1891 was able to buy his present farm. Since coming into possession of it he has tiled it, built a beautiful brick residence and other buildings, the estate now looking like a small village, and being one of the finest places in the county. On November 2, 1881, Mr. Walker married Hattie Williams, of Morris, Ill., and they have four children: Morris W., Anna Preston, Russell and Louise. Mr. Walker belongs to the Methodist Church. His fraternal connections are with the Modern Woodmen of America, while in politics he is a Republican, and served as school director for twenty years. He is one of the most advanced of the agriculturalists in his township and his success has been attained through intelligent work and wise investments. Source: History of Grundy County, Illinois, 1914, page 916