George Herbert "Bert" Walker Sr. (June 11, 1875 – June 24, 1953) was an American banker and businessman. He was the maternal grandfather of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

George H. W. Bush and a great-grandfather of

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

, both of whom were named in his honor. He was also the amateur heavyweight-boxing champion of

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

while studying law at

Washington University Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

Early life

George Herbert Walker was born on June 11, 1875 in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. Walker was descended from a

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

family of slave owners. His great-grandfather Thomas Walker was a British

slave trader The history of slavery spans many cultures, nationalities, and religions from ancient times to the present day. Likewise, its victims have come from many different ethnicities and religious groups. The social, economic, and legal positions of e ...

. He was the youngest son of

David Davis Walker David Davis "D. D." Walker (January 19, 1840 – October 4, 1918) was an American businessman. He started his career as a dry goods wholesaler in St. Louis, Missouri. He was the co-founder of Ely & Walker, which remains a clothing brand to this ...

, a

dry goods Dry goods is a historic term describing the type of product line a store carries, which differs by region. The term comes from the textile trade, and the shops appear to have spread with the mercantile trade across the British Empire (and forme ...

merchant from Bloomington,

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

, and Martha Adela (Beaky). Ely, Walker & Company, which grew into a leading regional wholesaler, was later acquired by

Burlington Industries Burlington Industries, formerly Burlington Mills, is a diversified American fabric maker based in Greensboro, North Carolina. Founded by J. Spencer Love in Burlington, North Carolina in 1923, the company has operations in the United States, Mexi ...

. Walker, who was

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

, was educated at Stonyhurst College, a Jesuit boarding school in England. He graduated from

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

in 1897.

Business career

Walker started a banking and investment firm named G.H. Walker & Co. in 1900. His family had developed many international banking contacts, and he helped organize the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Walker was known as the power behind the local

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. In 1920, Walker became the President of the W.A. Harriman & Co. investment firm, and quickly arranged the credits that W. Averell Harriman needed to take control of the Hamburg-Amerika Line. Walker also organized the American Ship and Commerce Corp. to be subsidiary of the W.A. Harriman & Co., with contractual power over the affairs of the Hamburg-Amerika. W.A. Harriman & Co. (renamed

Harriman Brothers & Company Harriman or Hariman (variant Herriman (disambiguation), Herriman) is a surname derived from the given name Herman (name), Herman, and in turn occurs as a placename derived from the surname in the United States. Buildings * Dr. O.B. Harriman House, ...

in 1927) well-positioned for this enterprise and rich in assets from their German and Russian business, merged with the British-American investment house Brown Bros. & Co. on January 1, 1931. Walker retired to his own G.H. Walker & Co. This left the Harriman brothers, his son-in-law Prescott Bush and Thatcher M. Brown as senior partners of the new firm of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. The firm's London branch continued operating under its historic name Brown, Shipley & Co. Walker was a director of the W.A. Harriman & Company; Harriman Fifteen,

American International Corporation American International Corporation was an American investment trust founded in 1915 by Frank Vanderlip; Willard Straight was the key operational leader. Its board and stockholders included a wide range of leading American financiers and industrial ...

; Georgian Manganese Corporation; Barnsdall Corporation; American Ship & Commerce Corporation;

Union Banking Corporation The Union Banking Corporation (UBC) was a banking corporation in the US. Founding member and one of its seven directors was Prescott Bush. The banks assets were seized by the United States government on October 20, 1942, during World War II unde ...

; G.H. Walker & Company;

Missouri Pacific Railroad The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad ...

; Laclede Gas and the New Orleans, Texas and Mexico Railroad.

Golf and horseracing

In addition to his business concerns, Walker was also a golf enthusiast and a President of the

United States Golf Association The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rules ...

(USGA). The USGA's

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup Match (not "Matches" as in Ryder Cup Matches). It is ...

(the famous biennial golf match) acquired Walker's namesake for his role in the event's creation. He also coheaded the syndicate, (with W. Averell Harriman), which rebuilt the famed sports venue of Madison Square Garden and the Belmont Race Track, 1925.

Personal life

Walker married Lucretia Wear (1874–1961), daughter of James H. Wear and they had six children: Dorothy Wear Walker,

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

cofounder George Herbert Walker Jr.,

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a cancer treatment and research institution in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital. MSKCC is one of 52 National Cancer Institute� ...

CEO Dr.

John M. Walker John Mercer Walker Sr. (January 15, 1907 – August 16, 1990) was an American physician and investment banker. A member of the prominent Bush-Davis-Walker family political line, Bush-Walker family, he was a maternal uncle of US President George ...

Sr. (father of Judge

John M. Walker Jr. John Mercer Walker Jr. (born December 26, 1940) is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He served as chief judge from September 30, 2000, to September 30, 2006, when he assumed senio ...

), James Wear Walker, Nancy Walker, and

Louis Walker Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ( ...

(S&B 1936). His brother-in-law Joseph Walker Wear was one of the founders of the Davis Cup. His son-in-law Prescott Bush was a member of the executive committee of the USGA, serving successively as Secretary, Vice President and President, 1928–1935. Walker not only maintained the Walker's Point estate in

Kennebunkport Kennebunkport is a resort town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,629 people at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland– South Portland–Biddeford metropolitan statistical area. The town center, the are ...

, but also a mansion on Long Island, and a stunning residence at One Sutton Place in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. In the 1930s Walker purchased the 10,000-acre (40 km²) Duncannon Plantation near Barnwell, South Carolina as a private hunting retreat. In the 1940s Walker moved out of the circa 1835

plantation house A plantation house is the main house of a plantation, often a substantial farmhouse, which often serves as a symbol for the plantation as a whole. Plantation houses in the Southern United States and in other areas are known as quite grand and e ...

, and the property became a

hunting Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, ...

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

. Much of the land was later purchased by the U.S. Government for development of the

Savannah River Site The Savannah River Site (SRS) is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) reservation in the United States in the state of South Carolina, located on land in Aiken, Allendale, and Barnwell counties adjacent to the Savannah River, southeast of August ...

Death and legacy

Walker died in 1953 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, New York, aged 78. He was survived by his wife, daughter

Dorothy Walker Bush The Bush family is an American dynastic family that is prominent in the fields of American politics, news, sports, entertainment, and business. They were the first family of the United States from 1989 to 1993 and again from 2001 to 2009, and w ...

, several grandchildren including George H. W. Bush, Ambassador to Hungary and Stifel Nicolas CEO

George Herbert Walker III George Herbert Walker III (March 16, 1931 – January 18, 2020) was an American businessman, diplomat and philanthropist. He served as the United States Ambassador to Hungary from 2003 to 2006. He was the first cousin of President George H. W. Bu ...

, William H. T. (Bucky) Bush, Nancy Ellis Bush, Ray Walker, Betty Walker Holden, and many great-grandchildren including

and

Jeb Bush John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. Bush, who grew up in Houston, was the second son of former President George H. W. Bush ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, George Herbert 1875 births 1953 deaths American bankers American financiers American expatriates in the United Kingdom American racehorse owners and breeders People educated at Stonyhurst College Businesspeople from St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis alumni Missouri Democrats Golf people