George H. Walker (October 22, 1811September 20, 1866) was an American trader and politician, and was one of three key founders of the city of

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. He served as the 5th and 7th

Mayor of Milwaukee This is a list of mayors of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. List External linksJS Online {{Mayors of the City of Milwaukee Milwaukee Milwaukee, Wisconsin Mayors In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporatio ...

, and represented Milwaukee in the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

and its predecessor body in the

Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belmont was ...

. His younger brother,

Isaac P. Walker Isaac Pigeon Walker (November 2, 1815March 29, 1872) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin. Walker was born in Virginia and moved with his family to Illinois in 1825. He practiced law in Springfield, Illinois, and ...

, was one of the first two men elected to the United States Senate from Wisconsin.

Background

Walker was born in

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner John Lynch (1740–1820), John Lynch, the city's populati ...

, and moved with his family to

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

in 1825. The fur trade brought him to the vicinity of the

Milwaukee River The Milwaukee River is a river in the state of Wisconsin. It is about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 19, 2011 Once a locus of industry, the river is now the c ...

in 1833, and, on March 20, 1834, he established himself on the south bank of the river. In June 1835, he founded the settlement of Walker's Point and established a fur trading post. In 1846, Walker's settlement combined with two rival villages -

Solomon Juneau Solomon Laurent Juneau, or Laurent-Salomon Juneau (August 9, 1793 – November 14, 1856) was a French Canadian fur trader, land speculator, and politician who helped found the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was born in Repentigny, Quebec, Canad ...

's Juneautown (present-day East Town) and

Byron Kilbourn Byron Kilbourn (September 8, 1801December 16, 1870) was an American surveyor, railroad executive, and politician who was an important figure in the founding of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was the 3rd and 8th mayor of Milwaukee. Biography Kilbour ...

's Kilbourntown (present-day

Westown Westown is a suburb of New Plymouth, in the western North Island of New Zealand. It is located to the southwest of the city centre and west of Frankleigh Park. According to the 2013 New Zealand census, Westown has a population of 3,414, an incre ...

) - to incorporate the City of Milwaukee.

Land that belonged to Walker is now part of the

Walker's Point Historic District The Walker's Point Historic District is a mixed working-class neighborhood of homes, stores, churches and factories in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with surviving buildings as old as 1849, including remnants of the Philip Best Brewery and the Pfister ...

, listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

Public office

In 1835, those parts of Michigan Territory who were not set to become part of the new State of Michigan were invited to elect members to a seventh and last Michigan Territorial Council (the so-called "Rump Council"). Walker was elected from Milwaukee County, but was one of the four (out of thirteen) who did not attend the "Rump Council" when it met (briefly) in January 1836. Walker served in the first three sessions of the 4th Legislative Assembly of the

, serving from 1842 to 1845, and was speaker for the 2nd and 3rd sessions. He was elected to the

in 1850, serving in the

3rd Wisconsin Legislature The Third Wisconsin Legislature convened from January 9, 1850, to February 11, 1850, in regular session. Senators representing even numbered districts were newly elected for this session and were serving the first year of a two-year term. Senator ...

. Walker also served as the city's supervisor, register of the land office, alderman, and as mayor in 1851 and 1853. He was one of the builders of the city's first street car line in 1859, and was invested in the

Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), often referred to as the "Milwaukee Road" , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until 1986. The company experience ...

, the Milwaukee and Watertown Railroad, and the La Crosse and Milwaukee Railroad.

Electoral history

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election

Family life

Walker's younger brother,

, was a

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

from Wisconsin, serving from 1848 to 1855. He died on September 20, 1866, and is buried at

Forest Home Cemetery Forest Home Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located in the Lincoln Village neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is the final resting place of many of the city's famed beer barons, politicians and social elite. Both the cemetery and ...

in Milwaukee.

References

External links

George H. Walker portrait
at

Wisconsin Historical Society The Wisconsin Historical Society (officially the State Historical Society of Wisconsin) is simultaneously a state agency and a private membership organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of N ...