George W. Walton

WALTON, George W. Prairie Grove, May 3 – George Walton, aged Confederate veteran, who lately suffered a slight stroke of Paralysis is reported to have developed pneumonia, and to be in a very serious condition. [Northwest Arkansas Times 5/3/1938]

Prairie Grove, May 4 – George W. Walton, Confederate Veteran, died at his home here at noon of Tuesday of pneumonia, which followed a stroke of paralysis about ten days ago. He was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee June 25, 1847 and would have been 91 if had lived until his next birthday. Funeral services were held this afternoon at the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, with Rev. H.H. Scudder, pastor, reaching the sermon. Burial services were in charge of the Masonic Order, of which he was a member, pallbearers being members of the local lodge. Interment was made in the Prairie Grove cemetery. Mr. Walton was a member of the Baptist Church. Mr. Walton joined the Confederate Army at the age of 15, in Madison County, Georgia. He was in Longstreet’s Division and served with General Robert E. Lee. According to recent reminiscences, he last saw Lee at the Battle of the Wilderness in which battle he sustained wounds. Soon after the War Between the States he moved to Van Buren, where he engaged in farming, from there he moved to Cove Creek and finally Prairie Grove several years ago. He is survived by a sister, Mrs. Fannie Jackson of Dallas, Texas. He was married three times, but left no children. He was the last surviving Confederate veteran of the community and was affectionately known as “Uncle George.” He was a familiar figure at the Confederate Reunions and at the banquets held annually on December 7, the anniversary of the Battle of Prairie Grove. In January he attended a Lee-Jackson celebration at the public school. Until his recent stroke, he was hale and hearty for his age. [Northwest Arkansas Times 5/4/1938]

George W. Walton filed Veteran Application #21595 with the Confederate Pension Board of Washington County for a Confederate pension and it was received as allowed August 16, 1917 at the State, citing service with Company E, 59thGeorgia Infantry from 1863 thru 1865. Mr. Walton died May 23, 1938. [State of Arkansas Confederate Pension Archives]

WALTON, George W. - George W. Walton Grand Old Man Veteran Of Peace - by Theodore F. Bayless - George W. Walton was born in Madison County, Georgia, the year of 1849. His parents owned slaves and he says that his most pleasant recollections are of his old colored people of his childhood days. In telling of the old black mamy, who told him bed time stories, and healed his hurts and blessed his little heart, when he was sad, Uncle George could not hide his emotion, or keep the tears from his eyes.

The year 1863 came and the Civil War was raging, George W. Walton was fourteen years old but he enlisted in the army of Virginia and served through the war with General Robert E. Lee. He was in several minor engagements and escaped unhurt.

On the 4th of May 1864 General U.S. Grant crossed the Rapidan river and entered a forest known as the wilderness, and here was fought one of the most terrible battles of the war, and here Geo. W. Walton received his baptism of fire.

The woods was filled with dead and wounded men the dead leaves of the previous year lay thick and dry on the ground, and to add to the horror of the situation these leaves caught fire, and the wounded died a horrible death by fire.

While in this inferno of bullets and fire George W. Walton was shot in the face, and his jaw was broken, but he pressed on until a minnie ball pierced his leg, and he fell. A comrade carried him from the fire zone to a place that was more safe, and left him. He was still in the hospital when the war ended.

Uncle George Walton's life since the Civil War has proved that he is a man of peace, and not a warrior, and he says he is opposed to slavery, and is glad that we still have a union of the states grand and great.. Yet he holds in sacred memory the leaders and his old comrades of the Gray Army. He loves to dwell on the leadership of Stonewall Jackson at Chancellorsville and Robert E. Lee at the wilderness. He tells of Lee at the wilderness in this way: We were in the thick of the fight, and there was a leaden hail from Grant's Army. The dead and dying were lying thick about us, when General Lee came dashing up to the front. An officer caught his horse's bit and said, "General Lee, you must retire to a place of safety, we cannot afford to lose you for the outcome of the war depends on you." With tears running down his face Lee replied, "My boys are dying and my place is here." Kindly but firmly he was forced to a place where there was less danger.

When George Walton returned home after the war, he found a school, founded for the benefit of wounded Confederate soldiers. He attended this school for two years, preparing himself for the battle of life.

Four years after the war, in the year 1869, he came to Arkansas and settled at Little Rock in 1871, he married one of Arkansas's fairest daughters and came to Crawford county to live.

He had left his aged parents in Georgia, and their pleading for him to come back was successful, and in 1883 he returned home or to his boyhood home, but everything was so different from his Arkansas home that he could not be satisfied and he only stayed in Georgia six months.

One bright spring morning he bade good bye to his father and mother and started for Arkansas. This was the last good bye to father and mother for he never saw them again.

He lived in Crawford County a short time and came to Washington County; settling on Cove Creek selling out his farm he moved to a small place near Prairie Grove, where he lived until 1910. Here his devoted wife died. There had been no children born to them, so Uncle George was alone in a darkened home.

The year of 1911 came and growing tired of his lonely life, he married Mrs. N.T. Neal, a highly respected widow. He then moved out on the "Old Wire road," where the old Strickler post office once stood; where he lives today.

Few men live who can say, "I have no enemies," but in all this wide world I suppose there could be found no one who would say "I am an enemy to George W. Walton." No borrower was ever turned away from his door empty handed. No poor wandering tramp ever asked for a meal and a nights lodging in vain.

Some men have craved and died and died for a crown, but I had rather have the record of George W. Walton, than to be heir to the most costly crown the world ever saw.

Uncle George will soon be eighty years old, but is hale and hearty, and full of life and fun. He enjoys a joke at his expense as well as at other fellows. He is intelligent and is aware of the fact that he is approaching the mystic river and will soon cross over, but he has no fear, for if there is a place beyond the star where humanity meets, Uncle George will meet a host who have gone on before. There will be father and mother and wife and friends and neighbors who loved him, and the poor tramp that he warmed and fed and encouraged to lead a better life will welcome him to the home in the land where there is no more hunger. It is worth more than a golden diadem to live the life that George W. Walton has lived.

May he live many years to enjoy life and the company of those who love him, is the earnest prayer of the writer. [Arkansas Countryman 9/8/1927]

WALTON, Mrs. G. W. - Mrs. G.W. Walton died at her home a short distance South of town Wednesday night about 8 o'clock, after a brief illness.

Tuesday she was attending to her household duties as usual, but that night she was taken sick with an affection of the heart, which caused her death the following night

Mrs. Walton was about 61 years of age, and with her husband, who survives her, came to this state from Georgia a number of years ago, and located on Cove Creek, where they lived until about two years ago, when they moved to their farm near town. She was a devoted Christian woman and was highly esteemed by her neighbors and friends, as attested by the large number who attended her funeral. She was a member of the Missionary Baptist church, and also a member of the Eastern Stars. The members of this order attended the funeral in a body. The funeral services were held at the Cumberland Presbyterian this afternoon, conducted by Rev. J.F. Parker and the burial made in the Prairie Grove cemetery. [Prairie Grove Herald 5/31/1910]