Walker Plantation Houses

Walker Plantation Houses in Harris County, GA

William "Rich Billy" Walker (bio) built plantation houses for himself, and reportedly one for each of his adult children. Several of these houses were located in Harris County, Georgia, about eight miles southwest of Hamilton, Georgia, mainly along what is now Hoody Hudson Road in Cataula, Georgia. At the time, that area was considered "Mulberry Grove", with the plantations running along both sides of Mulberry Creek. The road to Hamilton, now called Hamilton- Mulberry Grove Road, passed over Mulberry Creek, and at one time there was a covered bridge over the creek called "Walker Bridge". The current bridge over Mulberry Creek is a little upstream from where the covered bridge was.

The plantation houses located along Hoody Hudson Road included houses for Rich Billy, and one each for Virgil Homer Walker, William G. Walker, David Enoch Walker, and about a mile north of Mulberry Creek, on Lower blue Springs Road, Thacker Vivion Walker's house (adjacent to where Macedonia Baptist Church now stands). The Walker Family Cemetery is located where Rich Billy's house had been.

It is unclear if Rich Billy built plantation houses for his other children:

Daughter Mary may have lived in Rich Billy's house, as she married the plantation overseer Elijah Cook about the time of her father's death, and Elijah eventually sells off the property after his wife's death in 1850.
Daughter Lucina Sarah (Walker) Brookes married in 1822 in Putnam County GA. She died shortly after the birth of her son, Walker Brookes. Upon Rich Billy's death in 1831, Lucina's share of inheritance, including lands in Putnam and Jasper counties, is passed to her 6-year old son, Walker Brookes, under the guardianship of her surviving husband and Walker's father, Iveson L. Brookes. Because Rich Billy and family lived in Putnam County prior to moving to Harris County, I assume that Lucina stayed on at the Putnam County plantation, possibly living in the family's prior home there, and thus did not have a home built in Harris County.
Son Austin Martin Walker was a physician living in Columbus GA (Muscogee County), about 20 miles south of the Walker plantation homes in Harris County. In Rich Billy's will, he was given lands in Harris, Meriwether, and Putnam Counties. Because he lived most of his life in Columbus, I don't believe he had a plantation home built.
Son John Thacker Walker lived in Columbus GA, and evidently worked there most of his life as a "magistrate" (County Assessor, Health Inspector, etc.). In Rich Billy's will, he was given lands in Jasper and Putnam Counties. As with Austin, because he lived most of his life in Columbus I don't believe he had a plantation home built.

Detailed information on the Harris County houses can be found in the book "Pine Log and Greek Revival" by Davidson (ref 3, pg. 192-199, or PDF). This book mentions that Rich Billy's house was built between 1816 and 1818 which, if correct, was well before Harris County was formed in 1827. There are photos of three houses in the book, Rich Billy's house (titled William Walker-Cook-Hood House), Virgil Homer Walker's house, and Thacker Vivion Walker's house. Photos presented on this web page are from private collections. The Davidson book link to the PDF has other photos published in that source.

Here is a photo of Rich Billy's house, probably taken in the 1940's or so. Note that there is no balcony. Rich Billy's house was built without a second floor balcony, but each of the kids' houses had balconies. By the 1960's, this house was inhabitable, and it burned down in the 1990's

The older boy is Edward Norphlet Brown (aka "Judge"), the young girl is Frances Thacker Brown, the mother is Mary Frances Brown, and the middle boy is William Raoul Brown Jr. The little boy in white in the very front is unknown. The photograph was taken by William Raoul Brown, husband and father of those pictured, and son of Frances Thacker (Walker) and E.N. Brown. Frances was daughter to Dr. William A. Walker (B. 1832), granddaughter of William G. Walker, and great-granddaughter of Rick Billy Walker.. Photo from Abigail Doughty collection, Abigail is granddaughter of the young girl in the photo (Frances Thacker Brown).

The next photo is of William G. Walker's house, located about a mile from Rich Billy's house. This photo is probably from the 1940's as well. There is no photo of this house in the Davidson book. Although partially blocked by the trees, note that the house has a balcony running the full length of the house. This house burned down sometime in the 2000's.

Photo from Abigail Doughty collection.

In the Davidson book, Rich Billy's son Thacker Vivion Walker's house is described, but it no longer exists either. The Davidson book includes a photo. It was a 1 1/2 story house, so there is no balcony, and the interior was evidently left unfinished. Thacker Vivion Walker (b. 1806, d. 1873) never married. Thacker's house was located about a mile due north of Rich Billy's house (see the map for relevant locations of the houses mentioned here). There may be a few possibilities why this house was unfinished. First, Rich Billy may have died (1831) before the house was completed. Second, since Thacker never married, he may not have had the inclination to finish it. Third, with three other Walker homes near Rich Billy's, perhaps Thacker's home was more of an "outpost" and maybe not occupied full time. After the Civil War, at least one of Thacker's slave families stayed on with him to continue to work the plantation. When Thacker died in 1873, he left the house and four lots (810 acres) to this family (Frances Walker and children).

This brings us to the crown jewel, the house of Virgil Homer Walker (b. 1792). I saved this for last because this house is not only still standing, but it is occupied. (That, and I'm proud to be Virgil's Great-Great-Great Grandson.) In fact, the house last sold last sold in 2015, so it is in great condition. It is described in Davidson's book as well, but we have a number of current photos of this house.