JOHN SMITH WALKER was born in Adams county, Pennsylvania, in November, 1826, the son of Andrew Walker, a native of the same state and county; there the father was reared and married; he was a farmer by occupation, and followed agricultural pursuits in Adams county until 1839, when he emigrated to Illinois, accompanied by his wife and eight children.. They made the entire trip overland, and on their arrival to Schuyler county they settled on what is now Littleton township. Mr. Walker rented land, and later purchased a tract uncultivated and without improvements; he built a small frame house and log stable, and here passed the remainder of his days; he died in 1843. His wife's maiden name was Ann Wilson, a native of Adams county, Pennsylvania. After her husband's death Mrs. Walker lived with her children at their various homes until her decease, which occurred in October, 1870, at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. John McGaughey, near Industry, McDonough county, Illinois. She was buried beside her husband in the Camp Creek cemetery south of Macomb, Illinois.

John Smith Walker is one of a family of ten children; he was thirteen years of age when the family left their Pennsylvania home and penetrated the wilds of the frontier, as Illinois was then called. The country was thinly settled; there were no railroads, game was abundant; they were pioneers, and had to undergo all the privations incident to the settling of a new country. Our subject attended the common schools taught in the primitive log house, conned his lesson while sitting on a puncheon seat, and learned to write on a puncheon desk. He assisted in the farm work and resided with his parents during their lifetime. He has been successful in his farming operations, and owns at this time 200 acres of choice farming land. He resided on his farm until 1887, when he removed to Rushville, where he now makes his home.

Mr. Walker was united in marriage, in 1868, to Elizabeth Huckeby, a native of Breckenridge county, Kentucky, and a daughter of Thomas Huckeby, her parents emigrated to Illinois in 1836, making the journey by the river on steamboat; they were pioneers of Schuyler county.

The mother died within three years after coming to this State and was buried in the Thompson cemetery a short distance southwest of the village of Littleton. The father was married again and removed to Fulton county, where he resided until the time of his death in March, 1847.

Mrs. Walker was but sixteen months old when she was brought to Illinois, and has therefore witnessed the transformation of the country from a wild prairie to a rich farming community. Mr. and Mrs. Walker are the parents of two children, Anna and John.