Joseph Knox Walker

Walker was born on July 19, 1818, in Columbia, Tennessee. He was the son of James Walker, of Columbia, Tennessee, a nephew of President James K. Polk, and a brother of Lucius Marshall Walker. He graduated from Yale College in 1838.

In March 1845, he became Private Secretary of President Polk and the signer of land-warrants. In 1858, he was a member of the Tennessee Senate.

Soon after the beginning of the American Civil War, he entered the Confederate States Army and became colonel of the 2nd Tennessee Infantry Regiment. Exposure in camp at Columbus, Kentucky, and afterward in the vicinity of the Siege of Corinth and Battle of Shiloh, impaired his health so seriously that he resigned his command. The United States Army general commanding the department permitted him to return home to Memphis, Tennessee. There, his strength gradually declined until he died.

He died at the residence of his brother-in-law, Mr. Wm. S. Pickett, on August 21, 1863, aged about 45 years.

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Yale Obituary Record.