July 26, 2011

Thurman Walker's body laid to rest in Rose Hill Cemetery

- Compiled by Betty Jane Wilson, Society President

Thurman Walker, Valley Falls farm boy whose 1908 murder in Colorado was recently detailed in this column, was the youngest child of Jesse and Hannah Bunker Walker. He was born Sept. 2, 1888, and died Aug. 19, 1908, murdered by a companion, Cleveland Nunn.

Siblings of young Walker were elder brother Edwin L., who assisted Colorado deputies in the investigation of Thurman's murder; sister, Lena, brothers Jesse Franklin (Frank) and John H., who lived less than a week after birth, and sister, Mary Catherine (Kate).

His father, Jesse, a successful farmer and stockman, died in 1905, and mother, Hannah, died in 1914. Both parents are buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, Valley Falls.

Edwin L. Walker accompanied his brother's remains from Colorado for funeral services and burial in Rose Hill Cemetery.

Information sources: Farmers' Vindicator 1908 and Walker family history, 1800 to 1968 by Eunice Marie (Walker) Foot.

The society's museum will be open at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 30. Admission is free.

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