Timothy Walker 7th great grandpa on RootsMagic tree.

Timothy Walker was born on September 14, 1687 in Rehoboth, Massachusetts to Samuel and Martha Ide Walker. Timothy’s 4 grandparents came to America from England in the 1630-40s. Timothy was the 3rd generation to live on his family’s farm. He had an older brother and 4 younger sisters.

On May 6, 1713 Timothy published his intention of marriage to Grace Child and they married on May 14th. Grace and Timothy lived on the Walker family farm. In Rehoboth, Timothy farmed and worked at the family sawmill and inherited both when his dad and his brother both died in 1812. The farm and sawmill are long gone but at 432 Massasoit Ave., East Providence, RI the house Timothy built is still there: The Walker House. Timothy was a widow in 1729 and married 2nd wife Rachel Beverly on January 15, 1730. Timothy wrote his will in November 1744 and died in 1745. The will is 32 pages, it includes his children’s names, an inventory and his signature. Timothy is buried at Newman Cemetery about 1 mile from the Walker House, his house.

The Walker House is on land Timothy’s dad Samuel Walker inherited from his dad Philip Walker. The Walker House stayed in the family until 1812 and was donated to Preserve Rhode Island in 1984. “At the time of its erection it was considered a marvel of architecture. North of the house were apple orchards and outbuildings, including a barn, shed, carriage house, and chicken house.”

Major updates were completed in 2008 by Preserve Rhode Island, ‘The Statewide Advocate for Rhode Island’s Historic Places’. Today Timothy Walker’s house is a study house, “for architectural history and historic preservation students, who can benefit from first-hand observations of architectural features”. The website has photos, a field study PDF and an orientation packet PDF, 10 pages of detail about the house, its history and the Walker family. Virtual visit: https://www.preserveri.org/walker-house

Sources

• Rhode Island historic cemetery database
• Walker House on Google maps
• Preserve Rhode Island, map images from the Orientation Packet PDF
• Vital record of Rehoboth, 1642-1896 at HathiTrust
• Abstracts of Bristol County, Massachusetts Probate Records, 1745-1762 at Ancestry