William Walker (2 March 1834 – 7 November 1899) was an American farmer and politician in Iowa.

Walker was born in Huron County, Ohio, on 2 March 1834. He was one of ten children born to a father of English descent and a mother of Irish descent. Walker was raised primarily in Michigan. He moved to Audubon County, Iowa, in 1855 and began farming. In 1858, Walker married fellow Ohio native Nancy J. Bowen, who had relocated to Audubon, Iowa. The couple raised five sons and four daughters to adulthood. Alongside his agricultural investments, Walker owned a general store in Exira, Iowa, and was a Freemason. In later life, he converted from Methodism to Congregationalism.

William Walker (Iowa politician)

Walker voted for John C. Frémont in the 1856 United States presidential election and continued supporting Republican political candidates throughout his life. Though he lived in an area dominated by the Democratic Party, Walker was elected to consecutive terms on the Iowa House of Representatives in 1888 and 1890, and held the District 34 seat until 1892.

William Walker (Iowa politician)

In 1899, Walker was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He sought medical treatment in Chicago, and died of the disease in Exira on 7 November 1899. Walker was buried two days later, in Exira.

William Walker (Iowa politician)

References

People from Audubon County, Iowa

American people of Irish descent

American Freemasons

American people of English descent

Deaths from cancer in Iowa

Deaths from stomach cancer

1899 deaths

1834 births

Farmers from Iowa

19th-century American merchants

19th-century American politicians

Republican Party members of the Iowa House of Representatives

American Congregationalists

People from Huron County, Ohio

Converts from Methodism

Methodists from Iowa

19th-century Congregationalists