Emanuel Walker, Sexton of Paxton Church

Their presence in northern cities enriched each African American community. Their shared first-hand stories of lives enslaved broadened the historical perspective and served to counter the "Lost Cause" myths. Knowing which citizens were formerly enslaved is invaluable for modern historians and persons researching their family histories. Small connections can often add up to bigger stories. The news items below represent snippets in the lives of these persons.

The death notice printed above says Walker came to Harrisburg "with his wife soon after the Civil war." However the census of 1870 shows Emanuel, a 25-year-old farm hand, his wife Lavinia, age 22, daughters Fanny, age 7 and Dora, age 3, all in Burkittsville, Frederick County. The family would not appear in Pennsylvania until the 1880 census, which places them in Harrisburg's Eighth Ward, living at 113 Cowden Street. At that location, Emanuel is enumerated as a 50-year-old laborer, with his wife Lavinia, age 51, and children Dora, age 12, Samuel, age 9, Laura, age 7, all attending school. Also in the household is an older daughter, Ellen, age 20, working as a servant. Of the children, the youngest daughter Laura is the only one recorded as being born in Pennsylvania. This establishes the family's move from Frederick County to Harrisburg sometime between 1871 and 1873.

There are discrepencies between the 1870 and 1880 census data for this family. Most significant is the progression in age for both Emanuel and Lavinia. Each gained 25 years or more in the ten year span between enumerations. While that may suggest the data is from two different families, nearly all other details match, with the exception of the oldest daughter, identified in 1870 as "Fanny", born about 1863. The eldest daughter in 1880 is identified as Ellen, born about 1860. Neither Emanuel nor Lavinia could read or write, so all information would have been communicated orally. Lavinia reported that four of her seven children did not survive childhood. Taking everything into account, nicknames, misspellings, estiimated ages, misunderstanding on the part of the census taker, and including the possiblity that the data in one or both the 1870 and 1880 censuses may have obtained from a neighbor if the census taker found no one at home, all indications are that this is the same family.

Records for the 1890 Census were mostly destroyed in a fire and no longer exist. The Emanuel Walker family resided in Harrisburg at least through 1887. Emanuel Walker, working as a laborer, is shown living at 1512 Vernon Street in the Harrisburg City Directory for that year. City directories at that time did not mention spouses or other family members, only heads of households, but is it likely the entire family was at this new address. By 1893 he disappears from the Harrisburg City Directories, indicating he moved the family to Swatara Township some time between 1887 and 1893. His death notices all reported he had been working as the Paxton Presbyterian Church sexton for twenty-five years, or since 1882. If the time of his employment at the church was accurate, he would have still been residing in Harrisburg when he began in that position. It is possible he came to work for the church through a member of the Rutherford family, who were prominent both in the city of Harrisburg and in the borough of Paxtang in Swatara Township where Emanuel's family later relocated, as well as being elders in the Paxton Presbyterian Church. The 1900 Census enumerated Edward T. and Eliza Rutherford in the dwelling next to Emanuel and Lavinia in 1900, further strengthening the ties between these two families.

By 1900 the family is now living in Paxtang, in Swatara Township. Emanuel has again advanced in age, gaining 25 years in the intervening two decades, reporting his age as 75. This census is the first to ask for month and year of birth, which is shown as November 1824 for Emanuel. Lavinia is reported as not knowing her month or year of birth, and no age is given for her. Dora, age 32 and by now married, is living with her husband William McGruder and 8-year-old son Harry in the same house. Emanuel and Lavinia report being married for 38 years, or circa 1862, a date which squares with the 1870 census data and the age of their eldest daughter. It is likely that the ages reported by Emanuel and Lavinia in 1870 are the most accurate, setting Emanuel's year of birth about 1845 and Lavinia's about 1848. My attempts to locate Emanuel in the 1860 census in an effort to verify his date of birth have been unsuccessful.