Stephen L. Walker

STEPHEN L. WALKER, junior member of the law firm of Skidmore & Walker, of Columbus, was born June 22, 1873, in Cherokee County Kansas, and is a son of Arcenith and Lucinda A. (Le Grand) Walker.

Arcenith F. Walker and his wife were reared in Illinois, the father in Bond County, and the mother in St. Clair County, and they came to Neosho township, Cherokee County, Kansas, in 1867. Mr. Walker has followed farming and stock-raising ever since. Of their nine children, seven still survive, namely: John, a stonecutter by trade, who is married and resides on his farm in Lyon township; Edward, also married, who lives on his farm in Lola township; William, who also has a family, and lives on his farm in Lyon township; Stephen L., about whom we write; Daniel A., who is a dentist in the town of McCune, Crawford County, Kansas; Frederick A., who is an attorney at Weir City; and Walter, who is a high school student. Jennie married S. D. Newton, and was accidentally killed in 1896, at the age of 28 years, leaving a family of four little children. Myrtle died at the age of 18 months.

Mr. Walker was reared in Cherokee County, and is a product of her public schools. From the Columbus High School he went to the Kansas Normal College at Fort Scott, and then took up teaching as a profession. This he followed for eight years through Cherokee County, in the meantime preparing for the serious study of the law. After two years spent with C. D. Ashley, a prominent attorney of Columbus, he was admitted to the bar on September 25, 1900, and practiced alone until January, 1903, when he formed his present partnership with Judge A. H. Skidmore. He is considered one of the most promising of the younger members of the bar, and his past success may be taken as an indication of his future. His quickness and ability joined to Judge Skidmore's learning and experience make a combination of exceeding strength, and the firm handles a large part of the important legal business of this section.

During the late Spanish-American War, Mr Walker enlisted in Company F, 22nd Reg., Kansas Infantry, U.S. Volunteers, and remained six months in the service, being stationed at Camp Alger and other points in the East, with the rank of sergeant.

Mr. Walker's family consists of a wife and son, the latter a bright lad bearing the name of Maurice Andrew. Mrs. Walker was formerly Minnie Mayhew, whose mother, Mrs. Sarah Mayhew, resides in Columbus. The Mayhew family came to Cherokee County in 1880, and here Mrs. Walker was a successful teacher for about nine years. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Politically, Mr. Walker is a Republican. Like his father, who is a veteran of the Civil War, he is patriotically devoted to his country while at the same time he is fully awake to the needs and the opportunities of his county and city. Possessing a winning address and sterling traits of character, many are found to predict a bright future for this able young attorney.

History of Cherokee County Kansas and its representative citizens, ed. & comp. by Nathaniel Thompson Allison, 1904, transcribed by Israel Rivera, student from USD 508, Baxter Springs Middle School, Baxter Springs, Kansas, January 17, 1997.