Mary Sarah Burnett

Mary Sarah Burnett
Born	October 11, 1788(1788-10-11) Franklin, Delaware County, New York or New Jersey
Died	January 22, 1849 (aged 60)
Resting place	Walker Family Cemetery, Pleasant Valley, Johnson County, Iowa
Spouse	James Walker (m. 1807–1848) «Did not recognize date. Try slightly modifying the date in the first parameter.–Did not recognize date. Try slightly modifying the date in the first parameter.»"Marriage: James Walker to Mary Sarah Burnett" Location: (linkback:http://jimlindstrom.com/mediawiki/index.php/Mary_Sarah_Burnett)
Children	Samuel Walker Joseph Walker James Walker, Jr.

Native American-ness

Mary's native American credentials (see next sections) are suspect and unproven. According to James Opfell:

One of the family secrets is about Eliza - Betsey Walker who was reported to have been an Indian by the Wortingers in their genealogy. She was full blooded as were her other siblings, your Samuel, my James etc. I suppose this came from the Burnett rumour. James' brother, John went off to the Revolutionary War, came back and married Rachel Cochran in 1789, but her daughter, Elizabeth also Betsey was born in 1788. When Rachel wanted to renew John's pension she had testimony by John's brother Robert, in 1841, testify that she had been married as 1789, but they didn't straighten out that she had had a child before she married John, as if she had had another husband. Sometimes they had to get married by a justice as the 'supply' of preachers was not fast enough to cover the situation, and couples were exposed to the indignity of having had an 'indian' marriage. (i.e. no preacher)

Mary Sarah Burnett's mother is a case in point. She, Nancy I have given the name "Holiday" because her grandfather, Rev. Moses Holiday, married Elizabeth Hall without properly divorcing his English wife, first. The child, also named Moses, became a son of Ephriam Quimby when the latter married Elizabeth, who bore him a large family. Moses was active in the operation and building flour mills for the Quimbys' Mary Sarah's mother was Elizabeth Higgins, who had a large family and all moved to eastern KY. I have heard of this 'Indian' connection from several others, but I don't believe we will find an actual Indian in the ancestry.

Roy and Linda Linn say:

None of the names we have for Sarah Burnett's ancestors sound remotely Indian. One of Libbie Walker Linn's brothers, Sherman, was married to Mary Petah who was an Indian and she and her 2 sons can be found in the Indian census records in the Oklahoma area.

Walker Pioneer Family Bio

James and Mary Sarah "Betsey" Walker arrived [in Johnson County, Iowa] with three more of the family's nine children in 1840. They were 18-year-old Laura, 14-year-old Frances (Fannie) and 11-year-old Henry. Their two oldest daughters had stayed in Ohio or Indiana with their husbands.

Soon after they arrived, James and Mary decided that their children needed a school, Walker said, so they built the first school house in Johnson County, near River Junction north of Highway 22.

It was very near an existing Indian town, Walker said, but the natives were friendly with the Walkers and vice versa (the treaty forcing Iowa's native residents to move to Fort Des Moines in Tama County wasn't signed until 1843).

(Note: See [History of Iowa from its Earliest Times to the Twentieth Century (p88)] for the story on the removal of the Sac and Fox tribes from Western Iowa.)

Linn Clan Entry on the Walkers

John Walker, an Ohio farmer, was married to Sarah Burnett, who was three-fourths American Indian. John's three sons: Samuel, James, and Joseph, emigrated to Johnson County, Iowa from Ohio in 1837. Their father followed his sons in 1841. Samuel Walker and his wife, Elizabeth Stover, were members of very respected families which were community leaders in the early pioneer days of Iowa. Their son John S. Walker, married Sarah Woodruff. John and Sarah and their two daughters, Libbie (Hannah Elizabeth) and Hattie, moved to western Iowa and thence to the silver mines of Jefferson City, Montana. Elizabeth Stover Walker, having lost her husband, Samuel, in 1852, accompanied them. Elizabeth died on 29 July 1888 in Jefferson City. The walker family returned to Iowa by wagon, as they had gone. They settled near Shelby, Iowa, where Libbie married Frank B. Linn. The children of Libbie and Frank were 3/64ths American Indian.

• (Note 1: The above paragraph contains a mistake. "John Walker" should read "James Walker, Sr.")
• (Note 2: Sarah Burnett's alleged Native American heritage is suspect. See this discussion of the claim.)

Old Settlers' Reunion (1882)

The "History of Johnson County, Iowa" refers (pg. 320-322) to Betsey as having attended the "Old Settlers' Reunion" on September 3, 1882:

Saturday last, September 23, the Old Settlers and their friends, to the number of over 500, gathered at the fair grounds, to renew and strengthen the ties that have bound them together from 1839 to 1882. The proceedings were quite informal, and began with a dinner, to which each present contributed with a liberatliy that forbade good appetites. The old settlers have lived long years, and they ate well, for it is five years since their former picnic. During the dinner hour the band furnished music galore.

Lunch disposed of, the party gathered in the amphitheater, where Mr. Cyrus Sanders opened the programme with a most graphic description of early times in Iowa. Mr. Sanders came to Iowa in 1838, his property [consisting of] a compass and staff and such portables as might be carried in "saddle bags." It is probable that he has broken down more hazel brush than any other man in Johnson County. The first pioneer cabin was built by Nathan Fellows, on Clear Creek, the second, by a Mr. Miller, near the fair ground. S. C. Trowbridge was the first sheriff, and exercised jurisdiction from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. At this time, the breadth of land between Iowa City and Bloomington, (now Muscatine) was an unbroken prairie, and many were the surmises as to its future. Then it was hardly deemed possible this wide expanse should be settled. There was no Iowa City then, but in 1839 the first stake was driven where the University now stands; at this time the city and county had neither lawyer, doctor, nor preacher. Mr. Sanders was listened to with close attention and his words brought back "ye olden time" to many present.

Mr. L. B. Patterson spoke of the reasons that induced the migration of men from happy homes and thronged cities into the trackless wilderness, and closed with an eloquent contrast between the hardships of the pioneers, and the comforts and luxuries that now surround them.

Hon. S. H. Fairall made a very brief address, pointing out the work of the old settlers in laying the foundation of our county and State, and the debt due them from posterity and history.

Mr. Samuel Magill, our local laureate, read a pleasant poem, which was received with great applause.

Col. Henderson, of Nebraska, who came to Iowa as a surveyor, with Mr. Sanders in 1839, and removed to Nebraska eight years later, was present, and spoke briefly in fitting words.

The association then went into business session; the former officers were continued, save the secretaryship, made vacant by Hon. Jno, P. Irish's removal. Mr. A. E. Swisher was elected to the place

Among the old settlers and pioneers present, with wives, children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, were the following: [...] Mrs. Betsey Walker [...]