William M. Walton
Encyclopedia
William Martin Walton was a prominent lawyer
in Austin, Texas
. During the Civil War
, Walton was a Major in the Confederate Army
. After the War, he was elected Attorney General of the state and also headed the state Democratic Party
. At the time of his death, Walton was one of the most respected lawyers in Texas.
on January 17, 1832. Walton had three brothers (George, Philip and Jesse) and a sister, Mary. "Buck" was a nickname given to Walton by his brother, George, and was used throughout his life. In 1834, the Walton family moved to Carroll County, newly created from Indian lands in the Choctaw Session.
When Walton was just seven years old, Samuel Walker Walton died. His widow Mary remarried to Benjamin C. Strange. Benjamin and Mary Strange and the family moved to Texas in 1844 where the four Walton boys stayed only one year before going back to Mississippi, where Walton received a share of his late father’s estate. Mr. Strange died in 1848 and Mary in 1849.
When he was seventeen, Walton was appointed Deputy District Clerk and in about two years saved enough money to go to the University of Virginia
, where he studied law. He did not graduate before returning to Carroll County. In Carrollton, Will began to read law, studying with the firm of William Cothran and James Z. George
. In the fall of 1852, he was granted his license and given permission to practice law by a special enabling act of the legislature since he was not yet 21. After his licensing, Walton, and his only surviving brother George, decided to sell their father’s land and move to Austin, Texas.
While in Carrollton, Walton met and grew to love seventeen year old Lettie Watkins whose parents, Dr. Thomas A. Watkins and Sarah Epes Fitzgerald Watkins, had a plantation nearby. Will asked Lettie to marry him and go with him to Texas but her parents withheld their permission. Despondent, young Walton started on his way out of Mississippi but, after a day or two, came back to Carrollton to ask again, resulting in a secret engagement.
, later governor of Texas, offered him a partnership that continued until Mr. Hamilton was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1858. Walton received a letter from Lettie early in the winter telling him to come for her, that she would marry him with or without her father’s consent. He arrived in Carrollton on the 6th of February, 1854 and he and Lettie were married on the 9th.
With the start of the Civil War, the courts in Texas ceased operation and Walton took work as Governor Francis Lubbock’s
private secretary. He and Lettie had, by this time, a family of three young sons, Newton Samuel Walton born in 1855, Early Watkins Walton born in 1857 and George Longstreet Walton born in 1860. On March 2, 1862, believing he had a duty to fight for his country, Walton enlisted in the Confederate Army. Walton’s company, Co. B of the 21st TX Cavalry Regiment, also known as the Texas Lancers, elected him 1st Lieutenant.
The 21st Texas Cavalry saw action in the Trans-Mississippi Theater. As a lieutenant, Walton led scouting raids in the vicinity of Helena, Arkansas
. In the spring of 1863, he commanded Maj. Gen. John S. Marmaduke's
vanguard in the Battle of Cape Girardeau
. Walton was later promoted to major and attached to the staff of Lt. Gen. Theophilus Hunter Holmes
, commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department, and stationed at Little Rock, Arkansas
. After the Battle of Helena
and the Confederate evacuation of Little Rock, Walton took part in the Red River Campaign
, leading a company in the battles of Pleasant Hill
and Yellow Bayou
. Walton's last assignment was with Brig. Gen. Alexander Watkins Terrell in southern Louisiana
. Walton left the army without leave when he learned his wife was severely ill, following the birth of their daughter, Sarah, on October 24, 1864. He was never punished, because of the breakup of the Confederacy
. In the final months of his life, Maj. Walton completed a manuscript of his experiences during the Civil War. He called it The Epitome of my Life.
When Major Walton returned to Austin, he found his wife had made a miraculous recovery. Walton sent his family to live with his in-laws in Mississippi, amidst fears of Union occupation during Reconstruction. He took odd jobs as a clerk to pay the bills, as ex-Confederates were not then allowed to practice law. Early in 1866, Walton and W.P. DeNormandie, who was absent from the South during the War and thus allowed to practice, formed a partnership, specializing in land claims. Business in Austin for lawyers was scarce in 1865 and in addition to his other work, Walton wrote Austin news for the Houston Telegraph newspaper including the proceedings of the 1866 Texas Constitutional Convention.
, later Governor, a better chance against the Republican
candidate. He instead ran for Attorney General after the original Democratic candidate withdrew. Walton won the election by a sizable majority. Among his other duties, Walton traveled to Washington, DC to argue before the Supreme Court. He was given leave, by a joint resolution of the state legislature, to retrieve his family from Mississippi on the way home.
In 1867, the Reconstruction Acts, which were passed over President Andrew Johnson’s
veto, effectively shut down the governments of most of the southern states and removed Confederate veterans from elected office. The Democratic administration of James W. Throckmorton
, of which Walton was a part, was replaced with a Republican government under Elisha M. Pease
and Texas came under military occupation.
Walton served as the chairman of the state Democratic executive committee from 1866 to 1872, during Reconstruction and the unpopular tenure of Republican Governor Edmund J. Davis
. Walton help to form a coalition of conservative and moderate elements to combat the electoral power of the Radical Republicans and retake control of the state government. This came to pass with the election of Richard Coke
in 1873.
Walton intended to run for Attorney General again in the 1876 elections. At the Texas Democratic Convention, in January of that year, he had a very large following and his nomination seemed assured, but when he learned that his opponent, Hannibal H. Boone, was a crippled Confederate veteran in need of a steady income to support his large family, Walton withdrew from the race. In a letter to his son, Walton wrote “the scene was the wildest you ever saw. There were 1500 men present in the house. They threw up their hats, laughed, cried, caught me in their arms, hugged me and at one time, I was really afraid they would kill me in their furious enthusiasm over my act.......it was a grand scene.”
. Walton participated in Thompson's defense when, in 1882, while Austin City Marshal, Thompson killed San Antonio theater owner Jack Harris. Walton later wrote Thompson's biography, The Life and Adventures of Ben Thompson.
Walton retired in 1907 after three bouts of severe illness. He spent his days entertaining visitors on the front porch of his Austin home. Mrs. Walton died on June 23, 1914 and her husband followed on July 1, 1915. They were both buried in the Walton family plot at Austin’s old Oakwood Cemetery. Resolutions from the Travis County Bar Association ordered that his portrait, “which adorns the District Courtroom, be draped in mourning.” The portrait of William Walton still hangs today in a courtroom in the Travis County
courthouse.
Frank Johnson, the author of Texas and Texans, called Major Walton the Nestor
of the Austin Bar and, in commenting on his ability as a lawyer, quoted David B. Culberson
, “As a trial lawyer I had rather go against any lawyer in the state than ‘Buck’ Walton’.” Johnson said in addition that, “Major Walton’s specialties in the law were land and murder cases, and without specifying cases of either sort it is enough to say that at the time of his retirement from the bar he was credited with more cases of the kind than any lawyer in Texas.” Throughout his long and active career, Walton was renowned for his speaking ability, both in the courtroom and on the campaign trail, speaking for his chosen candidates and chosen causes. H.M. Garwood, once regent of the University of Texas and president of the Texas State Bar Association in a speech entitled “Oratory, a Classic Tradition” listed Major Walton as one of Texas’ greatest lawyers. “Walton was universally learned, constantly engaged in the trial of great criminal cases, ...turned with ease to the intricacies of the federal equity docket or the exposition of the Spanish law in old land grant cases.”
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
. During the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Walton was a Major in the Confederate Army
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
. After the War, he was elected Attorney General of the state and also headed the state Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
. At the time of his death, Walton was one of the most respected lawyers in Texas.
Early life
William Martin “Buck” Walton, the son of Samuel Walker Walton and Mary Wilkerson Lowe Walton, was born near Canton, MississippiCanton, Mississippi
Canton is a city in Madison County, Mississippi. The population was 12,911 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Madison County, and situated in the northern part of the metropolitan area surrounding the state capital, Jackson....
on January 17, 1832. Walton had three brothers (George, Philip and Jesse) and a sister, Mary. "Buck" was a nickname given to Walton by his brother, George, and was used throughout his life. In 1834, the Walton family moved to Carroll County, newly created from Indian lands in the Choctaw Session.
Choctaw Trail of Tears
The Choctaw Trail of Tears was the relocation of the Choctaw Nation from their country referred to now as the Deep South to lands west of the Mississippi River in Indian Territory in the 1830s...
When Walton was just seven years old, Samuel Walker Walton died. His widow Mary remarried to Benjamin C. Strange. Benjamin and Mary Strange and the family moved to Texas in 1844 where the four Walton boys stayed only one year before going back to Mississippi, where Walton received a share of his late father’s estate. Mr. Strange died in 1848 and Mary in 1849.
When he was seventeen, Walton was appointed Deputy District Clerk and in about two years saved enough money to go to the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
, where he studied law. He did not graduate before returning to Carroll County. In Carrollton, Will began to read law, studying with the firm of William Cothran and James Z. George
James Z. George
James Zachariah George was an American military officer, lawyer, writer, and politician. He was known as Mississippi's "Great Commoner."...
. In the fall of 1852, he was granted his license and given permission to practice law by a special enabling act of the legislature since he was not yet 21. After his licensing, Walton, and his only surviving brother George, decided to sell their father’s land and move to Austin, Texas.
While in Carrollton, Walton met and grew to love seventeen year old Lettie Watkins whose parents, Dr. Thomas A. Watkins and Sarah Epes Fitzgerald Watkins, had a plantation nearby. Will asked Lettie to marry him and go with him to Texas but her parents withheld their permission. Despondent, young Walton started on his way out of Mississippi but, after a day or two, came back to Carrollton to ask again, resulting in a secret engagement.
Move to Texas and Civil War
William M. Walton arrived in Austin on February 19, 1853, just a month past his twenty-first birthday. He immediately took the job of Deputy Clerk in the District Clerk’s office to familiarize himself with the practice of law in Texas. In July 1853, Andrew J. HamiltonAndrew J. Hamilton
Andrew Jackson Hamilton was a United States politician during the third quarter of the 19th century. He was a lawyer, state representative, military governor of Texas, as well as the 11th Governor of Texas during Reconstruction.-Early life:Hamilton was born in Huntsville, Alabama on January 28, 1815...
, later governor of Texas, offered him a partnership that continued until Mr. Hamilton was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1858. Walton received a letter from Lettie early in the winter telling him to come for her, that she would marry him with or without her father’s consent. He arrived in Carrollton on the 6th of February, 1854 and he and Lettie were married on the 9th.
With the start of the Civil War, the courts in Texas ceased operation and Walton took work as Governor Francis Lubbock’s
Francis Lubbock
Francis Richard Lubbock was the ninth Governor of Texas and was in office during the American Civil War. He was the brother of Thomas Saltus Lubbock, for whom the City of Lubbock is named....
private secretary. He and Lettie had, by this time, a family of three young sons, Newton Samuel Walton born in 1855, Early Watkins Walton born in 1857 and George Longstreet Walton born in 1860. On March 2, 1862, believing he had a duty to fight for his country, Walton enlisted in the Confederate Army. Walton’s company, Co. B of the 21st TX Cavalry Regiment, also known as the Texas Lancers, elected him 1st Lieutenant.
The 21st Texas Cavalry saw action in the Trans-Mississippi Theater. As a lieutenant, Walton led scouting raids in the vicinity of Helena, Arkansas
Helena, Arkansas
Helena is the eastern portion of Helena-West Helena, Arkansas, a city in Phillips County, Arkansas. As of the 2000 census, this portion of the city population was 6,323. Helena was the county seat of Phillips County until January 1, 2006, when it merged its government and city limits with...
. In the spring of 1863, he commanded Maj. Gen. John S. Marmaduke's
John S. Marmaduke
John Sappington Marmaduke was a career military man and a West Point graduate. He is known for his service as a Confederate Major general during the American Civil War...
vanguard in the Battle of Cape Girardeau
Battle of Cape Girardeau
The Battle of Cape Girardeau was a military demonstration of the American Civil War, occurring on April 26, 1863 in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The conflict was part of the pursuit of US Brigadier General John McNeil through Southeast Missouri by Confederate Brigadier General John S. Marmaduke...
. Walton was later promoted to major and attached to the staff of Lt. Gen. Theophilus Hunter Holmes
Theophilus H. Holmes
Theophilus Hunter Holmes was a career United States Army officer and a Confederate Lieutenant General in the American Civil War.-Early life and career:...
, commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department, and stationed at Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
. After the Battle of Helena
Battle of Helena
The Battle of Helena was a land battle of the American Civil War fought on July 4, 1863, at Helena, Arkansas. Overshadowed by the battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg, the Battle of Helena secured eastern Arkansas for the Union.- Union forces :...
and the Confederate evacuation of Little Rock, Walton took part in the Red River Campaign
Red River Campaign
The Red River Campaign or Red River Expedition consisted of a series of battles fought along the Red River in Louisiana during the American Civil War from March 10 to May 22, 1864. The campaign was a Union initiative, fought between approximately 30,000 Union troops under the command of Maj. Gen....
, leading a company in the battles of Pleasant Hill
Battle of Pleasant Hill
The Battle of Pleasant Hill was fought on April 9, 1864, during the Red River Campaign of the American Civil War, near Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, between Union forces led by Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks and Confederate forces, led by Maj. Gen...
and Yellow Bayou
Battle of Yellow Bayou
The Battle of Yellow Bayou took place on May 18, 1864 between Union and Confederate forces. After learning of Confederate forces in Yellow Bayou, Brig. Gen. Joseph A. Mower was ordered to halt their advance. Union forces subsequently attacked the Confederates and drove them back to their main line...
. Walton's last assignment was with Brig. Gen. Alexander Watkins Terrell in southern Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. Walton left the army without leave when he learned his wife was severely ill, following the birth of their daughter, Sarah, on October 24, 1864. He was never punished, because of the breakup of the Confederacy
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
. In the final months of his life, Maj. Walton completed a manuscript of his experiences during the Civil War. He called it The Epitome of my Life.
When Major Walton returned to Austin, he found his wife had made a miraculous recovery. Walton sent his family to live with his in-laws in Mississippi, amidst fears of Union occupation during Reconstruction. He took odd jobs as a clerk to pay the bills, as ex-Confederates were not then allowed to practice law. Early in 1866, Walton and W.P. DeNormandie, who was absent from the South during the War and thus allowed to practice, formed a partnership, specializing in land claims. Business in Austin for lawyers was scarce in 1865 and in addition to his other work, Walton wrote Austin news for the Houston Telegraph newspaper including the proceedings of the 1866 Texas Constitutional Convention.
Political career
In 1866, Walton entered his name for District Judge of the 2nd Judicial District. However, in the middle of May, the party committee asked him to withdraw his name to give the other conservative candidate, John IrelandJohn Ireland (politician)
John Ireland was the 18th Governor of Texas from 1883 to 1887. During Ireland's term, the University of Texas was established, and construction on the Texas State Capitol began...
, later Governor, a better chance against the Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
candidate. He instead ran for Attorney General after the original Democratic candidate withdrew. Walton won the election by a sizable majority. Among his other duties, Walton traveled to Washington, DC to argue before the Supreme Court. He was given leave, by a joint resolution of the state legislature, to retrieve his family from Mississippi on the way home.
In 1867, the Reconstruction Acts, which were passed over President Andrew Johnson’s
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States . As Vice-President of the United States in 1865, he succeeded Abraham Lincoln following the latter's assassination. Johnson then presided over the initial and contentious Reconstruction era of the United States following the American...
veto, effectively shut down the governments of most of the southern states and removed Confederate veterans from elected office. The Democratic administration of James W. Throckmorton
James W. Throckmorton
James Webb Throckmorton was an American politician who served as the 12th Governor of Texas from 1866 to 1867 during the early days of Reconstruction...
, of which Walton was a part, was replaced with a Republican government under Elisha M. Pease
Elisha M. Pease
Elisha Marshall Pease was a U.S. politician from the 1830s through the 1870s. He served as the fifth and 13th Governor of Texas .A native of Enfield, Connecticut, Pease moved to Mexican Texas in 1835...
and Texas came under military occupation.
Walton served as the chairman of the state Democratic executive committee from 1866 to 1872, during Reconstruction and the unpopular tenure of Republican Governor Edmund J. Davis
Edmund J. Davis
Edmund Jackson Davis was an American lawyer, soldier, and politician. He was a Southern Unionist and served as a Union general in the American Civil War, besides serving one term as the 14th Governor of Texas.-Early years:...
. Walton help to form a coalition of conservative and moderate elements to combat the electoral power of the Radical Republicans and retake control of the state government. This came to pass with the election of Richard Coke
Richard Coke
Richard Coke was an American lawyer, farmer, and statesman from Waco, Texas. He was the 15th governor of Texas from 1874 to 1876 and represented Texas in the U.S. Senate from 1877 to 1895. His uncle was Congressman Richard Coke, Jr..Coke was born in Williamsburg, Virginia, to John and Eliza Coke...
in 1873.
Walton intended to run for Attorney General again in the 1876 elections. At the Texas Democratic Convention, in January of that year, he had a very large following and his nomination seemed assured, but when he learned that his opponent, Hannibal H. Boone, was a crippled Confederate veteran in need of a steady income to support his large family, Walton withdrew from the race. In a letter to his son, Walton wrote “the scene was the wildest you ever saw. There were 1500 men present in the house. They threw up their hats, laughed, cried, caught me in their arms, hugged me and at one time, I was really afraid they would kill me in their furious enthusiasm over my act.......it was a grand scene.”
Later life
After Walton’s law license was reinstated, he formed a partnership with John A. Green in 1870. Robert J. Hill joined the firm and the name became Walton, Green and Hill. In 1882, Major Green moved to San Antonio to practice with his son. Newton Walton entered the partnership and the firm name became Walton, Hill and Walton. When Newton died in 1894, the name was Walton and Hill and then returned to W.M. Walton with Mr. Hill’s death in 1899. Arguably, Walton's most famous client was Wild West gunman Ben ThompsonBen Thompson
Ben Thompson was a gunman, gambler, and sometime lawman of the Old West. He was a contemporary of Wyatt Earp, Buffalo Bill Cody, Doc Holliday, John Wesley Hardin and James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickock, some of whom considered him a trusted friend, others an enemy.Ben Thompson had a colorful career,...
. Walton participated in Thompson's defense when, in 1882, while Austin City Marshal, Thompson killed San Antonio theater owner Jack Harris. Walton later wrote Thompson's biography, The Life and Adventures of Ben Thompson.
Walton retired in 1907 after three bouts of severe illness. He spent his days entertaining visitors on the front porch of his Austin home. Mrs. Walton died on June 23, 1914 and her husband followed on July 1, 1915. They were both buried in the Walton family plot at Austin’s old Oakwood Cemetery. Resolutions from the Travis County Bar Association ordered that his portrait, “which adorns the District Courtroom, be draped in mourning.” The portrait of William Walton still hangs today in a courtroom in the Travis County
Travis County, Texas
As of 2009, the U.S. census estimates there were 1,026,158 people, 320,766 households, and 183,798 families residing in the county. The population density was 821 people per square mile . There were 335,881 housing units at an average density of 340 per square mile...
courthouse.
Frank Johnson, the author of Texas and Texans, called Major Walton the Nestor
Nestor (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Nestor of Gerenia was the son of Neleus and Chloris and the King of Pylos. He became king after Heracles killed Neleus and all of Nestor's siblings...
of the Austin Bar and, in commenting on his ability as a lawyer, quoted David B. Culberson
David B. Culberson
David Browning Culberson was a Confederate soldier, a Democratic U.S. Representative from Texas and Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.-Early years:...
, “As a trial lawyer I had rather go against any lawyer in the state than ‘Buck’ Walton’.” Johnson said in addition that, “Major Walton’s specialties in the law were land and murder cases, and without specifying cases of either sort it is enough to say that at the time of his retirement from the bar he was credited with more cases of the kind than any lawyer in Texas.” Throughout his long and active career, Walton was renowned for his speaking ability, both in the courtroom and on the campaign trail, speaking for his chosen candidates and chosen causes. H.M. Garwood, once regent of the University of Texas and president of the Texas State Bar Association in a speech entitled “Oratory, a Classic Tradition” listed Major Walton as one of Texas’ greatest lawyers. “Walton was universally learned, constantly engaged in the trial of great criminal cases, ...turned with ease to the intricacies of the federal equity docket or the exposition of the Spanish law in old land grant cases.”