Francis Amasa Walker was born on July 2, 1840, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Amasa Walker and Hannah Ambrose. His father was an anti-slavery politician and educator who served as a Republican congressman during the Civil War. The family moved to North Brookfield, Massachusetts, in 1843, and Walker grew up and attended school there. He enrolled at Amherst College around 1855, and he earned his law degree in 1860. He began his legal practice in Worcester, Massachusetts, soon afterward.

 

Walker hoped to enlist in the Union army as soon as the Civil War erupted, but his father persuaded him to wait until after he turned 21. Walker finally mustered in as a sergeant major in the 15^th Massachusetts Infantry on August 1, 1861. Ten days later, however, he was promoted to captain and assistant adjutant general and assigned to the staff of Brigadier General Darius N. Couch.

 

He took part in the Battle of Williamsburg, the Battle of Seven Pines, and the Seven Days Battle. He was promoted to major in August 1862 and to lieutenant colonel on January 1, 1863. He fought at Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville, and during the latter battle, an exploding artillery shell broke his wrist and lacerated his neck. He recovered in time to participate in the Overland Campaign. Confederate forces captured him in August 1864, and he spent the next two months imprisoned in Petersburg and Richmond. He was exchanged in October 1864, and he resigned his commission in January 1865.

 

Walker returned to Massachusetts after leaving the army, and he married Exene Evelyn Stoughton on August 16, 1865. They had seven children: Stoughton, born around 1866; Lucy, born around 1867; Francis, born around 1870; Ambrose, born around 1870; Eveline, born around 1875; Etheredge, born around 1876; and Stuart, born around 1878. He spent the spring of 1865 working as a teacher. He eventually began editing the Springfield Republican, and he served as superintendent for the 1870 and 1880 censuses. He became president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the spring of 1881. He died of apoplexy in Boston on January 5, 1897.

 

Image: Francis Amasa Walker (courtesy Wikicommons)

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