Résumé

As a young man, he worked for the architect Robert Young in Los Angeles.

Solicitor, McAlester and Jones, Real Estate Agents and House Brokers, San Francisco, CA, 1887. (See San Francisco Directory, 1887, p. 1188.) At this time, McAlester and Jones had its office at 422 Montgomery Street in the city's Financial District.

Service, US Army, Manila, Philippines, 08/1898-07/1899.

Partner, McManus and Walker, Architects, Seattle, WA, 1900-1901. Walker opened an architectural partnership in Seattle, with Edward C. McManus.

Principal, James Flood Walker, Architect, Santa Ana, CA, c. 1913. He returned to Santa Ana, CA, c. 1914, opening an office in the Spurgeon Building, 303 East Fourth Street, Santa Ana, CA;

Vice-President and General Manager of the Western Mausoleum Company, San Francisco, CA, 1915- . He left Santa Ana in 11/1915, and moved to San Francisco, accepting a job with the Western Mausoleum Company that maintained an office in Room #409 of the Bankers Investment Building.

Relocation

James Flood Walker was born in Binghamton, NY, on 02/05/1868, the son of Jonas Moulton Walker and Eliza Caroline Walker. Like his parents, James Flood Walker moved restlessly, living in the States of NY, CA, WA, and TX during his lifetime.

The Walkers likely lived in NV between 1865 and the late 1860s, before relocating to Binghamton, NY, by 1868, at the time of James's birth. By 1869-1870, the Walkers resided in Philadelphia. In 1870, they had a dwelling in the 89th Census District of Philadelphia, PA, in 1870, which was a very affluent neighborhood. According to the 1870 Census, Jonas Walker was a "retired miner," who had reported assets of $125,000, a very considerable sum for the time. His neighbors were wealthy merchants and businessmen, many worth between $50,000 to $210,000. One, John Van Holinger, was a retired, 72-year-old coal merchant who controlled $50,000 worth of real estate and had personal assets of $40,000. Another, William H. Woodward, was a 50-year-old retired grocer, who had $150,000 worth of real estate and $60,000 in personal assets. How did Walker amass such a fortune?

While living in NV, Jonas Walker had become associated with John William Mackay (1831-1902), James Graham Fair (1831-1894), James Clair Flood (1826-1889) and William S. O'Brien (1825-1878), who made millions mining gold and silver in various mines near Virginia City, NV. Jonas, too became a multimillionaire and spent lavishly for a time. Gradually, however, he made many bad investments after his initial good fortune in Virginia City, losing a large sum in railroad stocks during the Depression of 1873. The Ssn Francisco Chroncle said of him after his death: "After the first few lucky years, everything went wrong with him. Nothing he handled seemed to prosper, and thousands and hundreds of thousands faded away in every venture in which he enlisted, until finally the structure of his fortune was so undermined at so many points that it fell with a crash, burying him, a broken, sick man, practically penniless." (See "Once a Millionaire," San Francisco Chronicle, 01/04/1895, p. 12.)

By 07/31/1875, the Walkers had moved transcontinentally to Oakland's Ward #2, where a voter roll of c. 1878 indicated that Jonas had registered. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Registers, c. 1878; Collection Number: 4-2A; CSL Roll Number: 1; FHL Roll Number: 976446, accessed 04/18/2022.) When the US Census was taken in Oakland, CA, on 06/09/1880, it listed the Walkers living at 1059 Jackson Street. At the time, Jonas Walker made a living in mining, a substantial enough income to hire three household servants: Sarah Keating (born c. 1842 in Ireland), Henry McCloy (born c. 1931 in Ireland) and Ah Jung (born c. 1857 in China). (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011, accessed 04/18/2022.)

By 1887, James was working as a solicitor in San Francisco, and lived with his parents at 117 Capp Street. (See San Francisco Directory, 1887, p. 1188.)

In 02/1918, Walker lived in San Antonio, TX, where an application for a US passport indicated that he worked as an "accountant." He sought a passport because he intended to travel to Mexico, where he was to have employment with the Companie de Minerales y Metales at Monterey, Mexico. A note appended to the application stated: "Miss Alexander telephoned that another letter has been received from Senator Sheppard saying that it is desired that Mr. and Mrs. Walker be permitted to proceed to Monterey immediately." This support letter may have come from Senator John Morris Sheppard (1875-1941), a Democrat who served in the US Senate from 1913 until 1941. He was in a leadership position as Senate Minority Whip between 1929 and 1933. Sheppard had, to contemporary eyes, divergent attitudes, supporting social welfare programs and anti-trust legisaltion while also advocating rigid racial segregation and eugenics. It is interesting that Walker could count on support from such an elevated political figure in Washington, DC, to expedite his passport paperwork. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; Roll #: 470; Volume #: Roll 0470 - Certificates: 5500-5749, 13 Feb 1918-15 Feb 1918, accessed 04/18/2022.)

Walker died in Santa Barbara, CA, in 1924, and was interred at the Santa Barbara Cemetery.

Parents

James's father Jonas Moulton Walker (born 10/29/1837 in Gibson, PA-d. 01//03/1895 in San Francisco, CA) was considerably older, about 23 years, than his mother Eliza Caroline Walker (born c. 09/1848 in WI-d. 04/21/1920 in San Francisco, CA). During his lifetime, Jonas moved around the US a considerable amount, but found initial luck as a miner of precious metals. His obituary in the San Francisco Chronicle told the story of his early years: “At the age of 21 he was stricken with the gold fever an arrived in California in 1849, taking up residence in Sacramento. He engaged in mining immediately and operated for some time with indifferent success. He removed finally to Virginia, Nev., where he became interested in mines and became a partner with the big four on the Comstock. Money rolled into his coffers in thousands, and at the end of three years he could not have told without a prolonged siege of figuring just how many millions he was worth.” (See "Once a Millionaire," San Francisco Chronicle, 01/04/1895, p. 12.)

By 1870, living in Philadelphia, Jonas Walker had become a "retired miner" with siginificant assets. In 1875, Walker called himself a "capitalist" when he registered to vote in Oakland, CA, on 07/31 of that year.

Shortly after losing a great deal of money on railroad investments in the East, Jonas chose to relocate his family to the West Coast, where they lived in Oakland, CA, by 1880. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011, accessed 04/18/2022.) Likely, he wanted to re-enter mining in the West, where he had been so prosperous before. Jonas, Eliza and their family resettled across the Bay in San Francisco at 117 Capp Street by 1887. (See San Francisco Directory, 1887, p. 1188.) A year later, Jonas had switched habitations to 25 Hill Street. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Registers, 1888; Collection Number: 4-2A; CSL Roll Number: 69; FHL Roll Number: 979475, accessed 04/18/2022.) Two years later, in 1890, the San Francisco voter rolls listed his occupation as miner and his residence at 324 Scott Street. (See Ancestry.com. San Francisco, California Directories, 1889-91, accessed 04/18/2022.) It is likely that in his later years in San Francisco, he was forced to move from place to place due to his considerable debts.

Eliza Walker became a widow by 1895 and spent the last years of her life in San Francisco. In 1900, she lived on her own in a rooming house at 860 McAllister Street. In 1918, Eliza lived at 1300 Page Street. (See San Francisco, California, City Directory, 1918, p. 1721.) To make ends meet, she operated a

Eliza and Jonas had a large number of children, who inlcuded: Gilbert C. Walker (born c. 1865 in NV), Carrie M. Walker (born c. 1866 in NV), James Flood Walker, Mary F. Walker (born c. 1870 in NY), Sallie Walker (born c. 1872 in PA) and John M. Walker (born c. 1874 in PA).

Spouse

He wed Marie Davis.

Children

He and Marie had two children: Moulton G. Walker and

Biographical Notes

At age 49, Walker's US passport application noted that he stood 6-feet and 1/2-inch. He was Caucasian with a fair complexion, and had a broad forehead, gray eyes, prominent nose, round chin and thin face.

Historian Duane Dietz listed Walker as resident in Seattle, WA, only from 1900-1901 in his "Architects and Landscape Architects of Seattle, 1876-1959: An Annotated List Compiled from City Directories," typescript, n.p.

• Santa Barbara, CA (Architect's Death)
  Santa Barbara, CA 93101

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• Binghamton, NY (Architect's Birth)
  Binghamton, NY 13901

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