Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany — circa 1600s


I. Hans Michael Walter

b. unknown
d. unknown
m. Anna Maria (maiden name unknown)

Notes: Hans Michael and Anna Maria, father and mother of Hans Bernard Walter are the earliest/oldest names found in our Walter lineage (1), (4).


II. Hans Bernard Walter

b. 13 Oct 1674 in Palatinate, Germany (4)
d. unknown
m. 28 Oct 1710 to Anna Maria Kuriss  b. 6 Jun 1690  d. 16 Jan 1727 in Nordheim, Wüertemberg, Germany

Notes: Hans Bernard and his wife had eight children, five died in infancy (1), (4). At 58 years of age with at least two sons, he probably traveled down the Rhine River by boat with other Palatines to reach Rotterdam, Netherlands. Father with two sons — one listed — Hans Conrad Walther (Walter) b. 9 Mar 1714 (1) age not given on manifest, were listed on the following ship's manifest. Conrad's place of origin Nordheim, Württemberg, Germany, and would have been 18 years old. The following boarding took place: Ship (Pink) Loyal Judith. Rotterdam, Netherlands via Cowes, England to Philadelphia 25 September 1732 (2); 1732 Loyal Judith [List 24 A, B, C] Loyal Judith Captain: Robert Turpin From: Rotterdam By Way of: Cowes Arrival: Philadelphia, 25 Sep 1732 (3).


III. Bernard (Barnet) Walter

b. 17 Feb 1721 in Nordheim, Wüertemberg, Germany (1)
d. 22 Mar 1781
m. 1740 to Eve (maiden name unknown), buried 21 Oct 1803

Notes: Bernard, at 11 years of age, would also have been on the above voyage. Ships manifests at the time often did not list names of young children or females. Barnet received in 1740 a land warrant (7)/bought (5) from John and Richard Penn (6), a farm of 300 acres in Forks Township, Northampton Co., PA. {near Easton}. He earned 9 shillings for three days work in May 1752 clearing the forest to form Center Square, in Easton (5). The German Bernard becomes Barnet in English (7). Faced with an eviction order by another generation of Penns claiming the quit-rent was not fully paid, Barnet's heirs had to pay up in 1810 (23). Sons Michael and Johan George Walter had first claim to the property in his will. Note: A brother Johann Bernhard Walter born 13 May 1716, died in infancy.


IV. Johan George Walter

b. 15 Apr 1752
d. 17 Sep 1826
m. 1775 Marie Barbara Bush  b. 15 Mar 1757  d. 18 June 1828 (5), (8), (9)

Notes: Johan, a farmer, served with brothers Michael and Conrad as privates in the Company of Captain Jacob Buss, of the Second Battalion of Northampton County Militia, commanded by Colonel William Roup (Raub), in the War of the American Revolution. Johan George along with Michael each inherited half of the Barnet Walter property in Forks Township, Northampton Co, PA (5). Johan and his wife had at least twelve children. 


V. Leonard Walter

b. 2 Feb 1787
d. 15 Jul 1862
1st m. 17 Apr 1810 Sarah Leidig (Lattig)  b. 29 Jan 1788  d. 22 June 1831

Notes: Leonard was a farmer in Williams Township, Northampton Co, PA. Leonard and his wife had ten children (9).


VI. Jacob Walter

b. 24 Aug 1822
d. 3 Sept 1890
m. 1845 Sarah Elizabeth Wolverton  b. 16 Jun 1824  d. 13 Sep 1890

Notes: Jacob was a farmer, miller, merchant miller and successful businessman following milling more than forty years. Charter-director of the Easton & Northern Railway which ran through his property, director of a bank and on the board of another. Owned Walter's Lower Mill, Forks Twsp, Walter's Upper Mill, Palmer Twsp. and leased the Newlins grist mill near Easton, PA. The mills were producing eighteen tons of flour daily in the 1880's. Jacob and his wife had ten children (9), (11), (12). Circa 1840-44 he went to near Honesdale (32 miles NE of Scranton, PA) to learn the milling trade (24). Honesdale is home of the first commercial steam locomotive to run on rail in U.S. in 1829. Sarah died ten days after his death.


VII. John Tilghaman Walter

b. 16 Sept 1852
d. 4 Nov 1908
2nd m. 2 Jan 1886 Emaline Warford Dillon  b. 20 Oct 1855  d. 24 Dec 1915

Notes: Walter's Lower Mill {demolished c. 1968-78} went to John who sold it in 1903 with the Upper Mill {destroyed by fire 1916} going to brother Charles (9), (14). Inventor of Walter's Improved Bolting Chest and other machinery used in the flour milling process (13). Appointed Postmaster at Walters, in Northampton Co., PA by John Wannamaker Postmaster General of U.S. in 1890 (13). This 2nd family three children of which two died. Emaline had teaching certification in 1879 for Warren Co., NJ (16). He died the evening of elections in Easton, when a railing around steps to a basement gave way. Lawsuit followed (25).


VIII. George Franklin Walter, Sr.

b. 13 Apr 1888 in Easton, PA
d. 21 Apr 1952
m. 8 June 1915 Adele Mildred Bray  b. 8 Aug 1891  d. 10 Mar 1964

Notes: Playing hide-and-go-seek with his older brother Albert in his father's grist mill, Albert mangled a leg in gearing and cogs of the mill, later died April 12, 1894 (17). The ironic part is that his mother Emaline had written a letter of instructions March 14th to Albert and one to George to be given to them when they got older in the event of her future death (21). Graduate of Lafayette College 1909 w/degree Civil Engineer. Assistant to General Manager of Pennsylvania Railroad Eastern Region. Superintendent of Freight Transportation at New York in 1939. Transferred to many cities w/railroad in the northeast (17). It was said he was responsible for having the train tracks redesigned to handle greater traffic through Newark Station, NJ during WWII. One child. Adele said that we were related to the actor Walter Huston through her mother's side, not confirmed. Adele's father Joseph Budd Bray b. 24 April 1845 enlisted 2 August 1862 discharged 2 Aug 1865 with rank of first sergeant. In 38 battles and skirmishes during Civil War. Assigned to Robertson's Horse Battery, Flying Artillery, Second Regular Army Corps, Army of the Potomac. Judge in East Orange, NJ (17), (18). The half-sister of George, Carrie H. Walter reputedly the first woman licensed to drive a motor car in the Easton, PA area (22).


IX. George Franklin Walter, Jr.

b. 9 May 1916, Philadelphia, PA
d. 13 Aug 1964, Elizabeth City, N.C.
m. 24 May 1936 Ruth Naomi Jenkins  b. 9 Mar 1917  d. 29 Aug 1999. Refer RNJ below

Notes: Attended Drexel Institute of Technology, Philadelphia, PA four years. He was a member of National Society of Scabbard & Blade and won the Bourse award, in ROTC. While in a school work study, he was a purser on ocean liners traveling to the Middle East. Manager for about twenty years with the W.T. Grant Co. 1942-64 once 7th largest retail chain; per Wikipedia.org., in 1976 became 2nd biggest bankruptcy in history. Left Grants for several years to start his own chain of variety stores Walpear Stores, Inc. 1954-56 with a Mr. Pearson. He was to make the money in Elizabeth City by being, the first at the time, to have check outs at the front of the stores reducing the number of clerks. Illness of his partners wife and an under performing store in Norfolk, VA caused the chain to close. He went back with Grants. Cited for outstanding managerial ability. Raised family of five children in Elizabeth City, NC. Member First Methodist Church, Eurek Lodge 317 AF & AM, an Elk and member of Sudan Temple of Shriners (26). Owned property and summer cottage from about 1948-53 south of and adjoing the U.S. Coast Guard Life Saving Station, Nags Head, NC.


10th — 13th GENERATIONS

Children (X), Grandchildren (XI), Great-Grandchildren (XII) & Great-Great-Grandchildren (XIII) of 9th Generation, above

1. Naomi Adele Walter  b. 13 Jun 1937  d. 25 April 1980
    +/dv. Willis Morse Brice, Jr.  b. 23 Nov 1933  d. 18 July 2014
        A. Willis Morse Brice, III {Skipper}  b. 1957
            +/dv. Enid Frances Christensen  b. 1958
                i. Willis Morse Brice, IV {Nick}  b. 1980
                   + Lisa Ann Cox  b. 1976
        B. Elizabeth Brice  b. 1960
            +/dv. Arthur M. Wicker, Jr.  b. 1956
                i. Dwayne Michael Wicker  b. 1976
            +/dv. Hiram J. Taylor, III  b. 1957
                i. Amber Leigh Taylor  b. 1987  Refer ALT below

2. Richard Jenkins Walter  b. 1940  Refer RJW below
    + Sandra Lee Parson  b. 1942  Refer SLP below
        A. Anna Marie Walter  b. 1966
            + Philip Arthur Johnson, b. 1956  Refer PAJ below
                i. Kelsey Marie Walter-Johnson  b. 1994
                   + Drew Thompson Smith  b. 1993
                       i. Carter Thompson Walter-Johnson  b. 2011
                ii. Megan Ruthanne Walter-Johnson  b. 1997
                iii. Jacob Dillon Walter-Johnson  b. 2000
        B. Sarah Adele Walter  b. 1975  Refer SAW below

3. Carole Marie Walter  b. 14 April 1942  d. 19 September 2017
    + John Dorset Earle, Jr.  b. 1943
        A. John Michael Earle  b. 1966
        B. Jeffrey Walter Earle  b. 1968
            + Lisa Killough Black  b. 1958
        C. Kevin Dorset Earle  b. 1975  Refer KDE below
            + Deborah Lee Hall  b. 1979
                i. John Dexter Earle {Jack}  b. 2015

4. Lea Louise Walter  b. 2 May 1944  d. 26 Dec 2007  Refer LLW below
    +/dv. Edward Major Gregory, Jr.  b. 1944
        A. Mary Katherine Gregory  b. 1964
            +/dv. Claude Edward Fightmaster, Jr. {Eddie}  b. 1963
            + David Alban Papineau  b. 1967

5. James Bray Walter, Sr. b. 6 July 1946  d. 20 Oct 2005  Refer JBW, Sr. below
    + Rose Mary Johnson  b. 1949
        A. James Bray Walter, Jr. {Jay}  b. 1980  Refer JBW, Jr. below


Notes

ALT Graduate of Old Dominion University 2011.
JBW, Jr. Graduate of Old Dominion University 2007.
JBW, Sr. Graduate of North Carolina State University c. 1972. In the U.S. Air Force 28 Sep 1964-5 July 1968. Sergeant w/ Strategic Air Command. Stationed Clark AFB, in Philippines and Grissom AFB, Bunker Hill, {north of Kokomo} Indiana. Lived in Virginia Beach, VA.
KDE Graduate of University of North Carolina Chapel Hill 1998. 
LLW Graduate of Elizabeth City State University 1972. Taught second grade for 23 years for Pasquotank Co. /Elizabeth City NC Public School System.
PAJ In the U.S. Army 1973-1976 with service in the Vietnam War.
RJW In the U.S. Air Force 18 July 1958-25 May 1962 Patrick AFB, FL with 6555th Aerospace Test Wing. Duty station Cape Canaveral, Launch Complex 19, w/Titan I Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. U.S. Coast Guard Reserve 1962-1965. Grew up on river, helped with friend rescue his 5th grade teacher and husband from drowning (20). Lived later in Vienna, VA.
RNJ Grandfather Thomas A. Garland b. 23 Sep 1847 with Company F, 48 Infantry Regiment Pennsylvania 31 Mar 1964 to 17 July 1865 during the Civil War. Wounded (18). Her mother Mary K.E. Garland Jenkins b. 6 April 1879, graduate of State Normal School 1907 Shippensburg, PA, qualified to teach any subject in grades 1 thru 12 (19). Mary's brothers thought to have been in the Spanish American War (1898).
SAW Graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University 2001.
SLP Retired after 38 years with the Central Intelligence Agency, made several trips to Eastern Europe.


Legend & Sources

I.II.III.1.A.i., etc. lists each succeeding generation
b. = born
d. = died
dv. = divorced
m. or + = married/union; 1st2nd order of marriage if multiple of ancestor

(1) Ancestry World Tree
(2) Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild, Ship (Pink) Loyal Judith 
(3) The Palatine Project (url defunct)
(4) Frankenfield-Beam Genealogy
(5) The Michael Shoemaker Book 1924 p. 256 & 7, Easton PA, Public Library
(6) John and Richard Penn appear to be grandsons of William Penn
(7) Horatio Gates Shull Genealogies 1930, Easton PA, Public Library
(8) DAR Patriot Index 1967 page 714, Arlington Co. Public Library
(9) Ancestor Chart 1939 w/text by Fredrick R. Walter b. 2 March 1920
(10) Letter July 1979 from Fredrick R. Walter b. 2 March 1920
(11) The Daily Free Press, Easton, PA news clipping obituary on Jacob
(12) History of Northampton Co., PA c.1877, page 248, Easton Public Library
(13) The American Miller Vol. XII, No. 6, 1 Jun 1884 Colvin Run Mill, Fairfax Co. Park Authority, Virginia
(14) Letter 6 Dec 1995 w/copy of news story/photos from Fredrick R. Walter b. 2 March 1920.
(15) Certificate signed by John Wanamaker
(16) Teacher's Certificate from Warren Co., NJ for the third grade
(17) Various newspaper obituaries and clippings from Easton, PA; East Orange, NJ area; the Newark (NJ) Evening News and NY Herald Tribune.
(18) In the U.S. Regular Army Artillery 2nd Regiment Battery “B ”. U.S. Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914. Military and Pension files, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
(19) Teacher's Certificate from State Normal School, Shippensburg, PA
(20) The Daily Advance, Elizabeth City, NC; Norfolk VA Pilot 28 Aug 1955 news clippings
(21) Letters in the effects of Emaline Warford Dillon b. 20 Oct 1855 held by Richard J. Walter
(22) Letter March 18, 1979 from Fredrick R. Walter b. 2 March 1920 Easton, PA
(23) Letter 9/1/1982 from Fredrick R. Walter and 3/28/1980 which also mentions it is in Historic Easton from the Window of a Trolley-Car by William Heller 1911.
(24) Letter circa 1981 by Fredrick R. Walter b. 2 March 1920.
(25) Easton, PA newsclipping of accident in collection of R.J. Walter.
(26) Elizabeth City, NC news clippings collection of R.J. Walter.