Giving Clarity to Walker emigrants from 1607-1740

An ancestral blog by Tee Ledbetter the 11th g-grandson of Dr. Thomas Walker and the 11th g-grandson of Chief Eagle Plume Opechancanough

Revised April, 2026

During research of my own Walker ancestors, I found many errors in family trees, internet articles and ancestral sites. Generally, the different Walker lines are intermingled. For example, Rev. George Walker of Londonderry, Ireland is incorrectly used as the patriarch of the Scottish John Alexander Walker clan. In addition, many sites incorrectly used Rev. George Walker as the patriarch of the Pennsylvania Walkers.  The ancestry trees of hordes of people are incorrect. This blog attempts to clarify the different Walker trees.

Family Tree DNA Walker Surname Project show that the Walker Y‑DNA is a well‑resolved set of lineages spanning Scotland, Ulster, and colonial America. Multiple independent Walker patriarchs have been identified and arose separately in several regions rather than from a single ancient ancestor. Ulster‑Scots and English clusters dominate the project, with smaller branches elsewhere. STR and SNP testing places most Walker groups as follows:

Haplogroup
Group 33 (R‑M269 > R‑L21)	West Scotland → Ulster → Penn	Scotch‑Irish Walker line; includes Letterkenny Walkers and one Wigton Walker

Group 8 (R‑M269 > R‑U106)	Wigton region, Scotland	Distinct from 33; most Wigton Walkers fall here; Germanic‑influenced branch.
Group 5 (R‑M269 > R‑DF13)	English Midlands → Virginia	No link to Letterkenny or Wigton; colonial Virginia Walkers.
Group 1 (I1)	Northern England → Appalachia	Anglo‑Saxon Walker line; strong presence in early Tennessee and Kentucky.
Group E1b1	European and African descendants	Shared haplogroup but no common ancestor; surname adoption across populations.
Group R‑L21 Ulster Cluster	Ulster → Cumberland PA → VA	Includes several colonial Walker patriarchs; overlaps with Group 33.

There are no revelations on the Ruddington Walkers, but Y-DNA data has clarified the genealogy of the Walker settlers in early Pennsylvania.

 

The Walker lines to be discussed are as follows:

“Ruddington Walkers” who immigrated in two waves, 1607 to Virginia and 1720 to Delaware

“Wigtown Walkers” who immigrated to Pennsylvania (and Rockbridge County, Virginia) in 1726

Walkers who immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1720 and the Letterkenny Walkers who immigrated from Ireland to Pennsylvania and North Carolina in 1740 have been widely misrepresented. This is so messy that it has to be now and forever lumped into the “Early Walker families of Pennsylvania”. For many years, decades or longer, there has been severe mixing of these and other Walker families. Part of this was due to the William Henry Egle’s history of central Pennsylvania, which the We Relate “Early Walker Settlers” analysis has shown is deeply flawed.  Egle conflated at least five completely unrelated Walker families into a single tree. The “Ayrshire” tag may come from a single grandfather of James Morgan Walker, but it should no longer be used. Call them Letterkenny, Derry or Pennsylvania Walkers instead.

“Senator Walkers” who landed in Virginia on third base and were influential in the early growth of the commonwealth.

Walker Y-DNA Group 28-Thomas & Elizabeth Leache Walker of Manchester and early Virginia

The New England Walkers

The Barbados and West Indies Walkers will not be discussed as they were not connected to U.S. lines

Early Maryland Walkers (1650-1680) will not be covered as they have little cohesive lineage

Early Carolina Walkers (1690-1740) were poorly documented so I will not cover them

 

The origins of one Walker line began in Devon, England and prospered in Ruddington, England and Donoughmore, Ireland.  This tree line is called the Ruddington Walkers because the common father of the immigrants was Dr. Thomas Walker (1535-1592) of Ruddington. Part of this line did not immigrate and stayed in Devonl.

 

 Devon, England

THE RUDDINGTON WALKERS

The first Ruddington Walker in my tree, and countless others worldwide, was Robert Le Walker born about 1260 in England.

After the Normans conquered England in 1066, the French custom of using surnames began to be used throughout England.  In 1285, a son was born to Robert Le Walker in Medbury, Devon, England named Thomas Walker.  This was the first use of the Walker surname in our line.  Traditionally Walkers were found in middle to northern England but in this line the Walkers were from southeast England, a rare occurrence. Thomas was dubbed a knight for his deeds and took the name Sir Thomas Walker before his death.  England during this time was ruled by Edward I (Longshanks), the monarch featured in the film “Braveheart” as it related to the battles with Scotland and the capture and torturing of William Wallace. King Edward, I went on a Crusade to Acre in 1270 with about 1000 knights and the king found many battles with the Scots with William Wallace being captured in 1305.

A knight could be dubbed by another knight but usually was dubbed by a monarch.  Once a knight, he proudly wore a white belt and golden spurs. In the Middle Ages, a knight was synonymous with warrior or nobleman.  There were a strict set of rules for the knights.

   mercy-humility-honor-sacrifice-fear of God-faithfulness-courage-civility

Considering the events of the time, I imagine John Thomas Walker earned his knighthood fighting for his monarch against the Scots.

Devon, England (Membury is near the south coast)

During this time the Court of the King’s Bench began to hear petitions for justice instead of the King himself.  Also, Edward I Longshanks started using drawing and quartering for punishment of traitors.

This Walker line went as follows for two hundred fifty years: Sir Thomas Walker born 1285; William Walker 1305; Sir Simon Walker 1325; William Walker 1355; Sir William Walker 1400; Sir William Walker 1424; Sir William Walker 1454; Sir George Townshend Walker 1490; Ruddington Walker 1513 and Dr. Thomas Walker 1535.

Dr. Thomas Walker born in 1535 had several sons, two of which are in my family ancestral line.  One son, Gervase Walker, was born in 1556 in Ruddington, England, married Mary Olivia Ealiffe and gave birth to a son (Rev. George Walker) who became the patriarch of my mother’s Walker ancestors.  See my blog about Col. John Walker (1728-1796) concerning this family and the immigration to America in 1720. The blog about Col. John Walker outlines the story of the family line from the year 1690 until present day. Another son of Dr. Thomas Walker was Samuel Walker and was the patriarch of my father’s Walker line.

It must be stated now that the word Ruddington is actually a 19th century misreading of the actual word Ridlington. Despite this fact, I continue to use Ruddington.

Sons of Dr. Thomas Walker immigrated to Virginia in 1607, and many years later, the great-great grandsons of Dr. Thomas Walker immigrated to Delaware in year 1720. It should be noted that Dr. Thomas Walker and his wife Isabelle died in year 1592 from the plague.  Dr. Thomas and Isabelle contacted the disease from treating others who were ill with the plague.  Over 20,000 Englishmen died of the plague that year. Note that I have not injected John into Thomas Walker’s name despite many recordings this way because the use of multiple surnames is uncommon for this period and especially in this particular family.

Dr. Thomas Walker’s son, Samuel Walker, was born in 1570 and immigrated to Colonial Virginia.  It has been shown on Geni and Wiki trees that this Samuel Walker was killed by Indians at the infamous massacre at the James City Colony on March 22, 1622.  This was the Walker line to my father.

Oddly enough, the leader of the Powhattan Indian Confederacy attack on March 22,1622 was Chief Opechancanough (1554-1646) and he was the leader of the Pamunkey tribe and the Powhatan Confederation.  Chief Opechancanough was my 11th great-grandfather whose descendants married into the Colonial Cordell family which eventually married into my Reese tree.

The Chief was captured twenty-four years after the massacre (92 years old) and was killed by guards while in captivity.  The Pamunkey tribe was only about 1000 strong at that time and spoke Algonquin language.  His great-granddaughter, Mary Ann “Little Flower” Basket (1662-1737), married Thomas Caldwell II. Chief Opechancanough was the uncle of Pocohontas.

The Pamunkey Indian tribe is thought to have been in what is now Virginia for over 12,000 years.  They still maintain their home since a treaty with the Governor of Virginia in 1677.

Little is known of Dr. Thomas Walker’s son, Samuel Walker, other than he was a Presbyterian Minister at the Mongegy Chapel in Ruddington, England. He married Elizabeth Serrell in 1605.  A Roots web source stated that Samuel Walker was listed as an adventurer by the Virginia Company of London.  According to some trees and information, Samuel Walker was killed at Martin’s Hundred on that fateful day of March 22, 1622, along with the other 346 killed.

A son of Samuel Walker, Alexander Walker, has been often listed as a Captain; he married Elizabeth Warren who also had been born in England (1612).  In some trees and information, Alexander and Elizabeth had a daughter, Elizabeth Sarah (1657), who married Edward Johnson in 1677.  Elizabeth and Edward gave birth to a son in 1697 who would be called Lord William Johnson, a Burgess who married into the family of Burgess Larkin Chew.  This is the line to my father.  I don’t believe there should be a “Captain” associated with Alexander Walker.

This is the Ruddington Walker line:

William Walker (1454-1529) Bedfordshire, Eng. 

      John Walker (1510-1772) Aberdeenshire, Scotland   

      George Townshend Walker (1490-1529) Ruddington, England      

               Alexander Walker (1509- 1579) Ruddington 

              John Thomas Walker (1510-1575) Ruddington  

              Thomas Ruddington Walker (1513-1574) Ruddington 

                      .   Dr. Thomas Walker (1535-1592) Ruddington  

                                Rev. Gervase Walker (1566-1642) Londonderry, Ireland 

                                        Rev. George Walker (1603-1677) Armagh, Ireland 

                                                  Rev. George Walker (1635-1690) Londonderry, Ireland 

                                                           John Walker I (1671-1726) Donoughmore, Ireland 

                                                                    John Walker II (1697-1742) Appoquinimink, Delaware 

                                                                           Col. John Walker (1728-1796) Rutherford, North Carolina

 

                           William Walker (1568- March 22, 1622) Virginia 

                           Robert Walker (1576-March 22, 1622) Virginia 

                           Henry Walker (1575-March 22, 1622) Virginia 

                           James Walker (1572-1654) New Kent, Virginia – Elizabeth Barfotte 

                                          James Walker (1590-1625) 

                                          William Walker (1591-1649) 

                                          Anne Walker (1596-1645) – George Cravin 

                                          George Samuel Walker (1600-1677) 

                          Samuel Walker (1570-March 22, 1622)- Elizabeth Sorrell 

                                       Capt. Alexander Walker (1614-1670) – Elizabeth Warren 

                                                 Alexander Walker (1632-1700) 

                                                 Mary Walker (1647-1689)               

 

A total of six sons of Sir John Thomas Walker and Isabel Abell immigrated to colonial Virginia in 1607 or closely thereabouts.  Listing of immigrants doesn’t necessarily confirm but family history does.

Son Williiam Walker born in Ruddington, England in 1565 married Mary Briggs (1580-1607).  William immigrated to Virginia in 1607 but Mary died in England just before the voyage. The family recorded that William was killed in James City during the attack of March 22, 1622.  Reports from the authorities in Virginia after the massacre did indicate that William Walker perished at Weyanoke while working for George Yeardley.  Weyanoke was on the James River downstream of Berkeley Hundred.

George Samuel Walker (1568-1642), believed to be a Ruddington Walker, arrived in Jamestown on the “Godspeed” on May 13,1607 with Captain John Smith. His wife, Peregrine Greswell immigrated to Virginia on the third supply. George and Peregrine survived the massacre and George died in Jamestown on July 1, 1642.  Colonial records verify this information. George was the first Walker in America. This information is not recorded in colonial records and is passed along ancestral stories. Much investigation is needed to verify or deny.

Samuel Walker born in 1570 in Ruddington, England arrived in Virginia after 1607 along with his second wife, Elizabeth Sorell (born in 1585).  It is believed that Thomas and Elizabeth immigrated in the 2nd Virginia Charter of 1609. Some reports that she died from complications of childbirth in Virginia in the year 1616.  Samuel lived in Virginia until his death in 1654.

Robert Walker born in 1576 immigrated to Virginia after 1607 and died in the massacre of March 22,1622 at Henrico settlement.

Henry Walker born in 1578 immigrated to Virginia after 1607 and also perished on March 22, 1622.

Why did the six Walker brothers immigrate?

Were Henry, Robert and William Walker married and who were their wives and children?

Where is the documentation on George Walker, the immigrant on the Godspeed of 1607?

 

There existed a second Walker family from Devon, England that did not immigrate but remained primarily in Exeter, Devon. The eldest patriarch was likely related to the Ruddington Walkers beginning with William Walker of Devon (1454-1529) but I haven’t connected them yet.

This is their tree:

John Thomas Walker (1430-1469)

William Walker (1468-1563)

Thomas Robert Walker (1500-1550)

James Walker (1524-1562) – Grace Tothill

Samuel Thomas Walker (1544-1628) was a wealthy merchant of Exeter, Devon, England

These are similar names and dates in time of the Ruddington Walkers. Be careful not to confuse the lines.

 

The second part of Ruddington Walkers continues with the sons and a daughter of Reverent George Walker who was the Governor of Derry and who died in the Battle of the Boyne.  See my previous blog about Colonel John Walker about one branch of that family. Reverent George Walker was the great-grandson of Dr. Thomas Walker discussed above.  While Reverent George Walker and his father, George Walker D.D., lived in Ireland for two generations, I will still refer to this family as Ruddington Walkers.

This is the line of the second wave of Ruddington Walkers:

Dr. Thomas Walker (1535-1592) Ruddington Patriarch

Rev. Gervase Walker (1566-1642) First Ruddington Walker to Ireland

Rev. George Walker (1602-1677)

Rev. George Walker, Defender of Derry, (1635-1690)

John Walker I (1671-1726) Tax collector in Armagh, Ireland

John Walker II 9 1697-1742) Immigrant to Delaware

Col. John Walker (1728-1796) American patriot

 

One son of Governor George Walker was John Walker I born in year 1671 in Londonderry, Ireland and died October 10,1726 in Dundalk, Ireland with burial at his church at Newry.  John Walker I had lived for years at his Glebe House in Mullygruen which was adjacent to Donoughmore, County Tyrone, Ireland). When he became Collector of Customs for Dundalk, he moved there. Some websites indicate that John I immigrated to Delaware, America in 1720. John Walker, I did not immigrate, only his son John Walker II.

My blog about Colonel John Walker is the story of the family from the 1690 Battle of the Boyne to post American Revolutionary War.  The Last Will of John Walker I proves that he did not immigrate as his will was made on September 12,1726 in Ireland with probate dated December 15, 1726. His son John Walker II did immigrate to Delaware, and I believe this to be in 1720 because he gave birth to a daughter in Delaware in 1723.

Note to the effect of the wife of John Walker II: Felix Walker talked about his mother being of Dutch descent, but his mother was not Dutch nor had Dutch ancestry.  Elizabeth Watson was from an early Virginia family (her great-grandfather had immigrated to Connecticut around 1650.).  I believe that Felix Walker’s grandmother, John Walker II’s wife, was Dutch.  The area where John Walker II settled in Delaware had been settled by a large Dutch contingency after the 1680’s.  Marriages with Dutch women were not held in churches but in the home of the bride or minister.  I believe this to be the reason that no records of the marriage were recorded.  In my tree, I will refer to John Walker II’s wife as “Delaware Dutch.”

Immigration records indicate that John Walker II did immigrate in the year 1720 and that he was the sole member of his family.  This cements that he was indeed married in Delaware after 1720. His arrival port was Baltimore.

There was a John Walker family in the Appoquinimink River area in the year 1620 with the son, also named John of the years 1643-1695. I have no idea of the origins of this family but the farm of this family was very close to the one of John Walker II who immigrated to Delaware in 1720.  I have found a document of the year 1741 stating that John Walker II stood respectfully and peacefully by while he had 300 acres of land seized and transferred to John Wilson. The script, in the old English form, was difficult to read and I am sure my understanding of the document is somewhat unclear. The same document stated that this John Walker obtained the land in question in year 1694, so not our John Walker I.

One thing that is strange is that the name James Read appears on this document. This is strange because John Walker II’s sister, Ann Walker, was married to another James Read in 1736, Ireland.

This acreage was north of Appoquinimink River, east of Bohemia River, east of Little Back Creek and just northeast of Middleton and Odessa, Delaware (the same as recorded by descendants of John Walker I). This area is was very fertile and had access to volumes of water. John Walker II died in 1742.  The complete and true story of this man remains a mystery. A friend and neighbor, William Smart, a Presbyterian Minister, who years later moved to Rutherford County, North Carolina where Felix Walker received information from William Smart concerning his grandfather John Walker II shared some crops with John Walker II. It was said that John Walker was a good, decent, simple farmer with a good reputation. William Smart claimed to be a relative of John Walker II but I have found no connection.  Perhaps one to explore is perhaps John married into William Smart’s wife’s family, the McGaughy family from Northern Ireland.

 

Note to all, the Irish Walker family, which was the second wave of Ruddington Walkers, did not have Alexander, nor McKnight, nor Rutherford in their names. The Scottish Walkers discussed below did.

THE WIGTOWN WALKERS

The second Walker line is one that I call the Wigtown (Scotland) Walkers. The geographic area of their beginning was located southwest of Dumfries and Galloway regions of Scotland. I have published a short ancestry/history story on Amazon Prime entitled “The Walker Brothers-Cornerstone of America.” This story is about the ancestry and lives of four brothers, one of which was Joe Walker, the famous Mountain Man, and Jacob Walker, the last defender to fall in the Alamo. This story discusses the entire family history of the Wigtown Walkers. In my opinion this is the most courageous and consequential Walker family going.

The patriarch of this family was John Alexander Walker I and his wife Jane McKnight who lived in Wigtown Bay, Wigtownshire, Scotland.  He was born in 1655 and died in 1732. For purposes of this blog, two sons of John Alexander Walker I are referenced.

The first son, John Alexander Walker II was born in 1682 in County Down, Ireland and died in 1734 Chester County, Pennsylvania. He was married to Katherine Rutherford.

The second son, Alexander McKnight Walker died in 1708 in Ireland.  However, two of McKnight Walker’s sons immigrated to America along with their Uncle John Alexander Walker II on August 2, 1726, to Chester, Pennsylvania. One of McKnight Walker’s sons was John “Gunstock” Walker and the other Alexander “Swaney” Walker, a wheelwright. These are the two nephews that immigrated with Uncle John Alexander Walker II. Their cousin John Alexander Walker III would become known as “Gunmaker” Walker while in Augusta County, Virgina.

John Alexander Walker II also had four sons that immigrated with their cousins. These sons are:

John Alexander Walker III and wife Ann Houston. Ann Houston was born in New Castle, Delaware. This Houston family from Atrim, Ireland were the ancestors of General Sam Houston of Texas.

Augusta County, Virginia

John III was called “Gunmaker” and was killed by Cherokees on November 17,1778 at Walker Creek, Virginia. This man is likely my favorite Walker of all time.

Here is a summary of Gunmaker John Walker’s life:

John Walker III was born in Wigton Scotland, in 1705, his name is listed as John Alexander Walker III or John Rutherford Walker III.  He moved, with his parents, John Walker II   and Katherine Rutherford about 1710 from Wigton to Newry, Ireland. The name Rutherford should not have been used in his name nor any many other Walkers down the line.

In1726 the family emigrated to America, settling near Rising Sun, Cecil County MD which was Chester County, Pennsylvania in those days. Here John III married Ann Houston in 1734, and migrated to the Valley of Virginia, probably between 1734 and 1738.

During the French and Indian War (1754-1763) he left the area for North Carolina, settling in Orange County about 1756.

Toward the end of his life John III made relocated to southwest Virginia about 1771 at the “Sinks” between Castles Woods, and Dungannon, in modern Scott County, Virginia. Children of John Walker III & Ann Houston:

Susanna Walker (1736- 1815) married Patrick Porter (1731-1806)

Mary Walker (1737-aft 1803)

Catherine Walker (1739-772) married Robert Bell (1736-1816)

John Walker IV (1740-1817) called “Indian Killer” – married female Long

Samuel Walker (1741-1776) was never married, killed by Indians on Clinch River in May 1778

Margaret Walker (1742) possible marriage to John Snoddy

Ann Walker (1743) possibly married to Samuel Cowan

Martha Walker (1744) possibly married to Alexander Montgomery

Jane Walker (1755 VA-1806 Tenn) married William Cowan (1750)

John Walker III, “Gunmaker”, was the most famous and active Indian fighter of the region. The Walkers, by settling on the western most boundary of the area, were heavily engaged in the border wars with roving bands of Indians. From the 1750s onward all able Walker man fought, and fifteen members of the family were to be killed or captured by the Indians. By 1755 John was listed in the records as a range who is assigned to stay more or less permanently in the woods to wait for and deal with Indian raiders. In addition to his ranger duties, John Walker, along with two of his brothers, Samuel and James, fought at Point Pleasant, one of the most crucial pitched battles of the border wars. His brother Samuel was killed in 1778 while hunting along the Clinch River.

 

This is the area that John “Gunmaker” Walker, his brothers Samuel, James and other Walkers, settle around 1771 in southwest Virginia, which at the time was Old Augusta County and now Scott County. During that time this was the westernmost frontier and along the travel routes and hunting grounds of the Cherokee and Shawnee. I can’t begin enough to emphasize the courage and skills to live here doing this time despite its beauty and resources. I know firsthand as I went to college here almost two hundred years after his death.

 

 

The other three sons of John Alexander Walker II and brothers to John Walker III above were:

James Walker (1707-1787) and wife Mary McGuffey.

Samuel Walker (1714-1793) and wife Jane Patterson.

Joseph Walker (died 1722) and wife Nancy McClung

 

Here is a simplification of the Wigton Walker tree for the first few generations:

John Alexander Walker I (1650-1732) – Jane McKnight (1650-1744) patriarch

  John Alexander Walker II (1680-1734) – Katherine Jane Rutherford (1682-1738) first son of Alexander I

1. John Alexander “Gunmaker” Walker III (1705-1778) – Nancy Ann Houston

2.James Walker (1707-1787) – Mary McGuffey

3. Elizabeth Walker (1703-1745) – John Campbell

4.. Janet McAlpine Walker (1707-1745) -Walter Munn

5. Martha Walker (1710)- Emmerson

6. Virginia Walker (1712-1793) – James Moore (1711-1791)

7. Samuel Walker (1714-1793) – Jane Patterson

8. Alexander Rutherford Walker (1716-1784) – Jane Hammer

9. William Alexander Walker (1717-1783)

10. Joseph Rutherford Walker (1722-1806) – Nancy McClung (1729-1789)

11. Mary Walker (1723-1789) – William Adams

    Alexander McKnight Walker (died 1708) second so of Alexander I

1. John “Gunstock” Walker

2. Alexander “Swaney” Walker, a wheelwright

 

Here is the THING about a link between the Ruddington Walkers and the Wigtown Walkers: in the year 1705. John Alexander Walker II, wife Katherine Rutherford and children (Wigtown Walkers) moved from Scotland to Newry, Ireland.  John’s nephew. John “Gunstock” Walker moved as well. They lived in Ireland for one generation before immigrated to a landing port in Delaware in 1726 before later settling in Chester County, Pennsylvania.

In Newry, Ireland, John Walker I (Ruddington Walker )was the Collector of Customs there.  There is belief that John I and family attended church in Newry.  In as much as John Walker I (Ruddington Walker) requested to be buried in the churchyard at Newry tells me that the Ruddington Walkers and Wigtown Walkers knew each other from tax business and the Newry Anglican church congregation.  It is possible that some Ruddington Walkers and the Wigtown Walkers immigrated together to Delaware but that would be a stretch because John Walker II (Ruddington) gave birth to a son in Delaware in 1722. Upon arrival in Delaware, the Wigtown Walkers soon moved to Pennsylvania while the Ruddington Walkers stayed in Delaware. This is probably the reason why these families are confused.  There are people alive today who share DNA from both Walker families. 

The Walkers sailed from Strangford Bay around May,1726 and arrived at a port in Delaware on August 2, 1726. The ship was owned by and commanded by Richard Walker, a merchant from Dublin, who may have been a relative of the Wigtown Walkers.  John Walker II (Ruddington Walker) appears to have left Donaughmore, Ireland just before his father’s will of September 12, 1726.  Newry was only 30 miles from Strangford Bay.  William Smart who was born in Middleton, Delaware in 1720 knew the John Walker II family and conveyed information to Felix Walker.  I believe that John Walker II did immigrate in 1720 and married a local woman of Dutch descent.

 

 

WALKERS OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA

The Walker families of early Pennsylvania formally attributed to James Morgan Walker (1670-1757) are included in the grouping who were lumped into the Letterkenny Walker group in the past. However all the Walkers in this region were not attributed to one father. The was two unrelated Walker families. These families can be called “Derry Walkers” or “Letterkenny Walkers” or called “Walkers of early Pennyslvania.”

James Morgan Walker who was born around 1670 in Letterkenny, Donegal, Ireland and died around 1757 had been credited with six sons who settled in Pennsylvania after the year 1730. Three Walkers settled east of the Susquehanna River in Derry Township, Lancaster County, and three Walkers settled west of the river in what is now Cumberland County. For many years, genealogists, mainly William Henry Egle, lumped all six as biological brothers. Y-DNA studies from the Walker DNA Project have shown this to be not true. The eastern settlers belong to Y-DNA Group 5, who we call the “Derry Walkers” and the western settlers belong to Y-DNA Group 33, which we call the “Letterkenny Walkers.” These six sons were never the sons of one man.

This chart below shows them as what the DNA evidence shows they are: two separate, unrelated Walker families who happened to share a surname, an Ulster origin, and a Pennsylvania destination. Both families are distinct from the Wigton Walker line descending from John Alexander Walker I of Wigton, Scotland which is Y-DNA Group 8. The Ayrshire, Scotland attribution is unsupported by documentation.

Six Walker men erroneously attributed to a single father, settled in Pennsylvania after 1730. Three settled east of the Susquehanna River in Derry Township, Lancaster County, and three settled west of the river in what became Cumberland County. Y-DNA evidence has since demonstrated that these eastern and western groups do not share a common father.

 

Settlement	Individual	Location	Y-DNA Group
East of the Susquehanna	Governor James Walker	Derry Twp., Lancaster Co., PA	Group 5
Henry Walker	Derry Twp., Lancaster Co., PA	Group 5
Andrew Walker	East of the Susquehanna (precise township uncertain)	Unplaced
West of the Susquehanna	Samuel Walker	Pennsboro/Cumberland area	Group 33
Robert Walker	Pennsboro/Hopewell Twp., later Cumberland Co.	Group 33
William Walker	Western Susquehanna area	Group 33

The Letterkenny Walkers – Y-DNA Group 33 were the western settlers of Cumberland County, PA

The Letterkenny Walkers settled west of the Susquehanna River in Pennsboro and Letterkenny Townships, in territory that became Cumberland County after 1750 and Franklin County after 1784. Their Y-DNA signature, Group 33 in the Walker DNA Project, indicates a common ancestor born around 1670. The Letterkenny Township in Pennsylvania was very likely named by these settlers after their homeland in Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland. William, Robert, and Samuel appear in early Cumberland County records. Robert Walker (1692–1753) is identified as the father of the three documented patriarchs of the next generation, though the Y-DNA evidence raises questions about whether the common ancestor was named Robert or James.

William Walker (born around 1690, Ireland, death unknown)

William settled west of the Susquehanna River, Pennsylvania, after 1730. No surviving estate or court records have been identified for him. His wife and children remain undocumented. It is important to note that his placement within Group 33 is inferred from his western settlement pattern rather than direct Y-DNA testing.

Robert Walker (1692, Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland — died 1753, Hopewell, Cumberland Co., PA)

Robert immigrated to the American colonies around 1725, landing at Baltimore, Maryland. He settled west of the Susquehanna in Pennsboro Township, Lancaster County, in territory that became Cumberland County after 1750. His will, dated 20 June 1750 in Hopewell Township, survives in the Cumberland County records. His wife’s name is uncertain, though some sources suggest she may have been named Jean.

Children of Robert Walker, group 33

1. James Walker “of Newville” (born before 1710, Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland and died before January 1779, Cumberland Co., PA). His wife was named Elizabeth and his will named ten chlildren:

        John, Samuel, James, Elizabeth, Abraham, Robert, William, Joseph, Jean, and Andrew. William Walker of Hogan’s Creek was a witness to James’s will, providing a key fraternal link between the two brothers.

     2. Robert Walker Sr. “of Yellow Breeches” (1718, Letterkenny, Ireland and died 1792, Franklin Co., PA). His son Robert Walker Jr. served as a Justice of the Peace.

3. William Walker “of Hogan’s Creek” (1715, Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland and died1769, Orange [later Rockingham] Co., North Carolina). His wife’s name was Jean and he migrated from Ireland to Cumberland County, Pennsylvania in the 1740s, then to Orange County (later Rockingham County), North Carolina in the 1760s, traveling with McClintock and Herron families from the Newville, Pennsylvania area. His will in Orange County, NC (1769) names five sons: William, James, John, Alexander, and Abraham. William was a witness to his brother James’s will in Cumberland County. His sons married into the McClintock and Herron families who migrated with the family from Pennsylvania to North Carolina. William’s son William Walker Jr. was in Rockingham County, NC by 1768–1780 and named his own sons James, Robert, and William, showing strong naming continuity across generations.

4. Thomas Walker (b. 1720, Letterkenny, Ireland).  He appears in early records associated with the Letterkenny settlement, but no will or estate record has been identified.

An unresolved question surrounds the parentage of these three of these four sons of Robert Walker. The traditional framework shows them as sons of Robert Walker (1692–1753). However, Y-DNA analysis within Group 33 suggests a common ancestor born around 1670, which aligns with the generation of James Morgan Walker rather than his son Robert. Every one of the three patriarchs named a son James, and the name James recurs with unusual consistency across the next generation as well. This raises the possibility that William, James, and Robert of Cumberland County were sons of James Morgan Walker himself rather than grandsons through Robert. I think this is the probable scenario.

Samuel Walker (1694, Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland — 1757, near McCormick’s Fort, Cumberland Co., PA)

Samuel settled west of the Susquehanna River, Pennsylvania, after 1730. He was killed during the French and Indian War near McCormick’s Fort, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, in 1757. His wife and children remain undocumented. Do not confuse this Samuel Walker with the Samuel Walker of Natural Bridge, Virginia of the Wigton Walker line.

The Derry Walkers of Y-DNA Group 5 which were the eastern settlers in Derry Township, Lancaster Co, PA

The Derry Walkers settled east of the Susquehanna River in Derry Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Their Y-DNA signature, Group 5 in the Walker DNA Project, is entirely distinct from the Letterkenny Walkers’ Group 33, confirming they are a separate and unrelated family despite sharing the Walker surname and an Ulster-Scots background. The actual father of this family has not been identified. Governor James and Henry could not be sons of James Morgan Walker using Y-DNA data.

1) Governor James Walker (1696 Ireland-1753, Derry Township, PA)

Governor James settled east of the Susquehanna River and married Margaret, who died around 1753. His Y-DNA belongs in Group 5. His will probated on May 1, 1753, listed Archibald Walker as an executor. Some descendants migrated to Sugar Creek, North Carolina after 1760. His children were:

a. James Walker V (1715 Ireland-1784, Lancaster, PA)

b. Archibald Walker (1719 Ireland- 1796, Derry Township, Lancaster, PA)

c. Agnes Walker – married Alexander McCollum in 1757

d. Sarah Walker

2) Henry Walker, the second Derry Walker settled east of the Susquehanna River and married before 1715, wife’s name is unknown. He remarried an Ann before 1716 and later emigrated in 1732 to America, arriving in Philadelphia. His children were:

a. Benjamin Walker born in Londonderry, Ireland around 1698 and died in Derry Township, Lancaster, Pa sometime from 1742 and 1766.

b. John Walker born around 1706, Ulster, Ireland

The crossover on the above illustration shows that Ulster R‑L21 Walkers and Wigton Walkers may share a pre‑surname ancestor, possibly in southwestern Scotland before 1600.

SENATOR WALKERS

The first Walker in the line who is actually documented in Virginia as ancestor to Senator Walker was John Walker born in 1654 in Virginia. No parents are proven. No immigrant ancestor is known. No link to England, Scotland, or Ireland has ever been established.

One son, Thomas Walker (1680-1715) who married Susannah Peachy. They were the parents of Dr. Thomas Walker.

Dr. Thomas Walker (1715-1794) who married Mildred Thornton of King and Queen County, Virginia. He was part of a large exploring party through the valley of Virginia and explorer of the Cumberland Gap in 1750. He was an agent for the Loyal Land Company. Without his exploration, there would not have been the Beverly or Borden Grants.

Children of Dr. Thomas Walker and Mildred Thornton

• Col. John Walker (1744–1809) — U.S. Senator from Virginia
• Francis Walker (1764–1806) — U.S. Congressman
• Thomas Walker Jr.
• Mildred Walker
• Lucy Walker
• Susannah Walker
• Elizabeth Walker

Senator John Walker was educated at the College of William and Mary and was in the Revolutionary War where he was a Colonel serving as an aide-de-camp to General George Washington. He married Elizabeth Moore (1742-1809) and was elected as a United States Senator. John and Elizabeth, called Betsy, resided in Castle Hill, Virginia. This impressive mansion was built by father Dr. Thomas Walker and was located close to where Monticello would be built later on. Senator John Walker should not be confused with Col. John Walker of Rutherford County, North Carolina. Many people do make this mistake primarily since they served in the Continental Army during the same period. John and Betsy’s children were:

1. Mildred Walker
2. Lucy Walker
3. Elizabeth Walker
4. Jane Byrd Walker
5. Susanna Walker
6. John Walker Jr. who died young
7. Francis Walker who died young

 

Note that none of Senator Walker’s sons survived to marry and thereby no descendants carry Y-DNA. Simply there are no descendants from Senator Walker that carry a Walker surname.

 

Walker Y-DNA Group 28- Thomas & Elizabeth Leache Walker Family of Manchester, England and early Virginia

The story of this Walker family begins in the industrial heart of Manchester, Lancashire, where Thomas Walker was born on April 19,1601. He married Elizabeth Leache on February 19.1626 at the Manchester Collegiate Church. This couple represents one of the earliest documented Walker migrations from England to Virginia. All eleven of their children were born in England however both Thomas and Elizabeth died in Virginia — Thomas in Gloucester County in 1665, and Elizabeth in Northumberland County in 1657. Their arrival predates the better‑known Walker families of Albemarle, Augusta, and the Shenandoah Valley. This makes the Thomas‑Elizabeth line one of the oldest Walkers in the colony.

Thomas Walker migrated to Virginia in 1652, settling first in the Tidewater region where his wife Elizabeth died in 1657. He died in Gloucester County in 1665

Children of Thomas and Elizabeth:

• Thomas Walker (1624–1683)
• Grace Walker (b. 1630)
• Ellen Maria Walker (1633–1687)
• Maria Walker (b. 1633)
• Mary A. Walker (1634–1634)
• Emily M. Walker (b. 1636)
• William Walker (1640–1657)
• John Walker (1640–1661)
• Richard Walker (1645–1698)
• Martha Walker (b. 1645)
• Col. Thomas Lacey Walker (1650–1716)

These children form the foundation of what later becomes known in Y‑DNA studies as Walker Group 28, a line with deep English roots. Descendants in Virginia. The descendants of Thomas and Elizabeth spread through the Tidewater counties — Gloucester, Northumberland, Westmoreland — and later into the expanding frontier.

Their sons Richard Walker and Col. Thomas Lacey Walker were frequently documented.

 

THE MASSACHUSETTS WALKER CLUSTERS

 

The Samuel Walker (1615–1684) line is anchored in the Woburn & Reading (Middlesex County). He immigrated from England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1637 and settled in Reading before 1642. His descendants lived in Woburn, where he died in 1684. His children were born in Reading during the 1643-to-1648-time frame. There were many generation presences in Woburn until descendants spread into Vermont, New York, Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Iowa.

The Richard Walker (1611–1687) line is associated with early settlement in Lynn and Boston. This group mixes with the Woburn/Reading Walkers but is genealogically distinct. The family was prominent in early Massachusetts civic life and connected to the same Puritan migration stream as the Woburn Walkers

The Plymouth Walker cluster included James of Taunton, Philip of Rehoboth, William of Eastham, John of Marshfield and Thomas of Bristol. Records indicate a 1620–1700-time frame for these families. These families appear in Plymouth Colony records from 1620–1700 and form a separate southeastern Massachusetts Walker footprint. These peoples are not tied to the Woburn/Reading Walkers.

Town Founding Walker Typical Names Religious Affiliation Migration Direction Woburn / Reading Samuel Walker Samuel, Caleb, Ebenezer Congregational North to NH, west to VT Lynn / Boston Richard Walker Richard, Thomas, Nathaniel Puritan South to CT, RI Taunton / Rehoboth James & Philip Walker James, Philip, Benjamin Independent West to RI, NY Marshfield / Eastham William & John Walker William, John, Joseph Separatist South to Cape & Islands

 

 

Tee Ledbetter republished April 26, 2026