John Williams Walker Fearn (January 13, 1832 – April 7, 1899) was an American diplomat.

Early life

Fearn, born in

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in t ...

, was an 1851 graduate of

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. He was the nephew of

LeRoy Pope Walker LeRoy Pope Walker (February 7, 1817 – August 23, 1884) was the first Confederate States Secretary of War. Early life and career Walker was born near Huntsville, Alabama in 1817, the son of John Williams Walker and Matilda Pope, and a grand ...

, the first Secretary of War of the Confederacy. Following

, Fearn continued to study law and was admitted to the

Mobile Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ( ...

bar in 1853.

Career

He spent most of the 1850s on the staffs of the American embassies in Belgium and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, then joined the Confederate diplomatic corps when the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

broke out in 1861. While in Europe, he attended the lectures of the College de France in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. After serving on unsuccessful missions to Spain, France, Russia, and

, Fearn moved to New Orleans when the war was over to practice law. From 1885 to 1889, Fearn served as the American minister to Serbia, Romania, and Greece. He later served as chief of the Department of Foreign Affairs for the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordi ...

in Chicago in 1893.

Personal life

Fearn married Frances Hewitt of

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

in 1865. They had four children including Mary Walker, Percy Le Roy, James Hewitt and Clarice Hewitt. Their daughter Mary Walker married Prince

Serge Wolkonsky Prince Serge Wolkonsky (also referred to as Sergei Mikhailovitch Volkonsky; russian: Серге́й Миха́йлович Волко́нский) (4 May 1860 – 25 October 1937) was an influential Russian theatrical worker, one of the first R ...

. John Walker Fearn died on April 7, 1899.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fearn, Walker 1832 births 1899 deaths Ambassadors of the United States to Greece Ambassadors of the United States to Romania Ambassadors of the United States to Serbia Yale University alumni Confederate States of America diplomats People from Huntsville, Alabama