Walker, Robert James, the fourth territorial governor of Kansas, was born at Northumberland, Pa., July 23, 1801, a son of Jonathan H. Walker, a Revolutionary soldier and later a judge in the state and Federal courts in Pennsylvania. Robert graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1821, and the following year began the practice of law in Pittsburgh. He soon won distinction as a lawyer, became active in politics as a Democrat, and was an enthusiastic supporter of Gen. Andrew Jackson for the presidency in 1824. In 1825 he married a Miss Bache, a grandniece of Benjamin Franklin, and about a year after his marriage removed to Natchez, Miss. He was appointed to the United States senate from Mississippi in 1836, and in 1840 was elected for a full term over S. S. Prentiss. While in the senate he introduced the first homestead bill and the bill recognizing the independence of Texas. In his political career he supported Jackson and Van Buren, opposed Calhoun, and it was through his influence that the Mississippi legislature adopted resolutions denouncing nullification and secession as treason. On the question of slavery he advocated gradual emancipation and set an example by liberating his own slaves in 1838. He was a prominent factor in securing the nomination and election of Polk in 1844, and on March 5, 1845, he resigned his seat in the United States senate to enter Mr. Polk's cabinet as secretary of the treasury, where he served until 1849. As secretary of the treasury he played an important part in formulating the tariff of 1846, which became widely known as the "Walker tariff." On March 26, 1857, he was appointed governor of the Territory of Kansas by President Buchanan. Holloway says: "Gov. Walker was undoubtedly the greatest and most distinguished man that was ever appointed to any position in Kansas by the general government." He resigned the office of governor on Dec. 15, 1857, his resignation having been forced upon him because he showed a disposition to accord fair treatment to the free-state men in Kansas. At the beginning of the Civil war he took a firm stand in favor of the Union and was appointed financial agent of the United States in Europe, where he negotiated the sale of $250,000,000 of United States bonds and prevented the sale of $75,000,000 of Confederate bonds. Gov. Walker died at Washington, D. C., Nov. 11, 1869.