John Walker Lankford, Confed. Soldier, b. Jul 1833, NC (s/o ?), of Greene, Hawkins Counties, TN, m. Caroline Dryman, d. aft. 11 Jun 1900.

RELATIONSHIP/GRAVE FOUND/PHOTOS. I do not know how/if this John Walker Lankford is related to my ancestor, Walker Lankford (m. Mary/Polly Warren). My Legacy ID No. 70991, John Walker Lankford, is a great-grandfather of Gerry Haggard, whose information was forwarded to shb, 18 Oct 2007, by John Robert or “Whetstone Bob” Langford. (See “BURIAL” tab, below, for this correspondence).

JOHN WALKER LANKFORD’S ANCESTRY/SON. E-letter from Gerry Haggard to Bob Langford, forwarded to shb, 4 Nov 2007: “On 11/4/07, Gerry Haggard [e-address in John Walker Lankford’s blind file–shb] wrote: “The Mormon records give a Benjamin Lankford as the father of John Lankford, father of John Walker Lankford, father of my grandfather John W. Lankford. Census rolls say Hon Walker was born in Rutherford county in 1833.
He married a Nelissa Gosnell. His Confederate grave is in the Providence Cemetery, in Greene County, Tennessee.” –shb 4 Nov 2007

BIG IF: Insertion of Walker as a son of the Benjamin who married Temperance is an assumption, based on the following query, that needs additional verification: Claiborne County, Tennessee Queries: “As posted by Gerry Haggard, ghaggar@prodigy.net, 29 Aug 2000: “LANKFORD – Benjamin Lankford came to Claiborne County [Tenn.] from Rutherford County, NC. If he is my gggrandfather, he had a son named Walker Lankford, who was born in 1833 [a birth date that fits nicely into the birth structure I have for children of this Benjamin Lankford–shb]. Can anyone tell me about Benjamin? –shb 13 Apr 2005 [Note: I have since unlinked John Walker as a son of Benjamin (see “MERGE” note, below). –shb 20 Feb 2008

MERGE. It dawned on me, 20 Feb 2008, that the “Walker K. Lankford” I had just entered in my database was the same person as “John W. Lankford,” entered separately (dates, including with children are a close enough match), so I am making the merge of my ID 70991 and No. 62047, keeping the lower number. Another search of my database leads me to merge 62047 with 72144, John Walker, the Confederate soldier, whose wife “Caroline Dryman” applied for a pension. again keeping the lowest ID number. The only problem with this merge is that the Confederate soldier’s father’s name is “John,” which ruins my hope that Benjamin was John Walker’s father (unless his name was John Benjamin, that is). For now I am unlinking John Walker as a son of Benjamin (my ID 61959), who married Temperance (62046). –shb 20 Feb 2008

1870–A “WALKER LANKFORD” IS AGE THIRTY-FIVE, IN THE 1870 CENSUS OF PEDDLER TOWNSHIP, AMHERST COUNTY, VIRGINIA. This Walker lives near Pleasant and Susan B. Lankford and Robert A. Lankford, thought to be Pleasant’s son. The age seems a match to this Walker Lankford, my Legacy ID 62047, but for now I am entering this Walker, b. abt. 1835, separately. –shb 18 Feb 2008

1880 CENSUS–“JOHN W. [for “Walker”?–shb] LANKFORD” IS AGE FORTY-SIX, BORN IN NORTH CAROLINA. HE LIVES WITH WIFE, “CAROLINE,” AGE FORTY, BORN IN TENNESSEE, AND FIVE CHILDREN, ALL BORN IN TENNESSEE, IN DISTRICT ELEVEN, GREENE COUNTY, TENNESSEE. Query from Richard Wilcox, as posted at RootsWeb, about “John Walker Lankford,” of Greene County, Tennessee (accessed 10 May 2007, by shb), got a response from “Richard,” that simply offers this information:

“1880 District 11 Greene Co., TN

John W. Lankford 46 NC
Caroline Lankford 40 TN
William Lankford 20 TN
Sarah Lankford 16 TN
John Lankford 12 TN
Henry Lankford 9 TN
Mary Lankford 1 TN” –shb 10 May 2007

1900 CENSUS–“WALKER K. LANKFORD” [AS INDEXED BY HERITAGEQUEST–SHB] IS AGE SIXTY-SIX, BORN JULY 1833, IN NORTH CAROLINA, BOTH PARENTS BORN IN NORTH CAROLINA. HE LIVES WITH WIFE OF FORTY-SIX YEARS, “CARLENE” OR “CAROLINE,” WHO HAS MOTHERED SIX CHILDREN, FIVE SURVIVING, AND WAS BORN IN TENNESSEE, BOTH PARENTS BORN IN TENNESSEE. DAUGHTER “MOLLIE [MARY],” AGE TWENTY-ONE AND SINGLE, BORN IN TENNESSEE, LIVES WITH THEM, IN TOWNSHIP 15, CIVIL DISTRICT, HAWKINS COUNTY, TENNESSEE. NEXT DOOR LIVES PROBABLE SON, “WILLIAM G. LANKFORD,” AGE THIRTY-NINE, WIFE NANCY, AND THEIR CHILDREN; ON THE OTHER SIDE OF WILLIAM LIVES ANOTHER PROBABLE SON, “JOHN LANKFORD,” AGE THIRTY-THREE. HeritageQuest on-line census image, accessed 20 Feb 2008, by shb, from home, via Provo, Utah Public Library:

Township 15, Civil District, Hawkins County, Tennessee
Series T623, Roll 157, Page 220
Taken 11 June 1900

90/91 Strong, James R., age 36, wife Nancy E., and family.

91/92 Lankford, Walker K. Head WM Jul 1833 66 M46 North Carolina North Carolina NC
, Carlene Wife WF Jul 1844 55 M46 Tennessee Tennessee TN
, Mollie Dau WF ? 1878 21 S Tennessee North Carolina TN

92/93 Lankford, William G. Head WM Jun 1860 39 M17 Tennessee North Carolina TN
, Nancy Wife WF Nov 1865 34 M17 Tennessee Tennessee TN
, George Son WM May 1889 11 S Tennessee Tennessee TN
, Frederick [?] ” WM Jun 1890 9 S Tennessee Tennessee TN
, Haley Dau WF Jun 1893 7 S Tennessee Tennessee TN
, Nola Dau WF May 1896 4 S Tennessee Tennessee TN
, Tildon Dau WF Mar 1899 1 S Tennessee Tennessee TN

93/94 Lankford, John Head WM Oct 1866 33 M1 Tennessee North Carolina TN
, Mary J. Wife WF Oct 1881 18 M1 0/0 Tennessee Tennessee TN

94/95 Garner, James, age 26, Martha, 21, and daughter.

95/96 West, John A., age 48, wife Rachel, 42, and family. –shb 20 Feb 2008

BURIAL/A CONFEDERATE SOLDIER/PHOTOS. John Robert or “Bob” Langford wrote Gerry Haggard, 17 Oct 2007, as follows, with this response, below [photos of these graves since forwarded by Bob Langford, as attached to John Walker Lankford’s media file–shb]:

“Hi Gerry!

“I finally made it to the Romeo community today and found Walker Langford’s grave.

“Actually it was 4 miles north of Romeo in the County Line Community of Hawkins County, Tennessee. Directions as follows:

“From I-81 in Greene County, drive North on Hwy 70 approx. 5 miles until you come to the
Greene-Hawkins County line. There will be a church straddling the county line. Drive past
that church for about 1/8 mile and you will come to the Marion Robinette Memorial
Primitive Baptist Church on your left. You will see the cemetery and another sign that says
‘Providence Cemetery County Line Community’. Walker’s grave is to the right of the
church and the white storage building, at the top of the hill, under the tall Cedar tree in the photo.

“This is an old cemetery with many graves marked only with a flat field stone with no inscription.

“There was a row of slave graves with small granite markers that say Afro-American..
no names or dates. First time I’ve see that. Walker’s marker is very small..only about 12 inches square, and it only has his name, no dates. I found no other Langford graves.

“I don’t remember who’s line this Walker belongs to, so I’m sending a copy of this to the Langford List and asking Tree Mother to pass it on.

“Whetstone Bob” –shb 18 Oct 2007 [Gerry’s reply, 17 Oct 2007]:

“This is my ggrandfather’s grave. His name was John Walker Lankford. I have a copy of his Confederate discharge papers. Before my ggrandmother, Caroline Dryman Lankford, could get her pension, she had to prove that John wl was “Walker Lankford,” as the Confederate records indicated. She got statements form neighbors and army friends. His son John married Mary Ann West in Hawkins County, and they became my grandparents. If anyone thinks this is their line, also, I have more info that I could send. I also have copies of the land records, when land was sold after the death of John Walker.” –shb 18 Oct 2007