Darling-Swayze-Walter
By Don Taylor

Image by Kate Honish from Pixabay

It is always difficult to follow a person’s records when their name is recorded differently over the years.  James’ surname was recorded as “Waters,” “Walter,” and “Walters” over the many years. I have settled on Walter because it appears to be the surname he was buried with. James was a Patriot, serving in a Virginia artillery detachment during the Revolutionary War.

Howell/Darling – Ancestor #102

List of Grandparents

• • Grandfather: Robert Harry Darling(1907-1969)
  • Great-grandfather: Rufus Harry Darling(1857-1917)
  • 2^nd Great-grandmother: Elizabeth Jane Swayze Wiseman Darling (1818-1881)
  • 3^rd Great-grandmother: Catherine Ann Dent Walter(abt 1790-1868)
  • 4^th Great-grandfather: James Walter (1752-1838)

James Walter (aka Walters, aka Water) (1752-1838)

James Walter was born on either 16 or 17 Feb 1752^.[i]in the Province of Maryland (now state of Maryland). He was the first child of John Walter and Ann Parker. He had five siblings, namely: William, Rebecca Conyers, Richard, Lawrence, and James.

Military service

Image courtesy of the Kentucky Secretary of State.

James was a Sergeant in the Revolutionary War. It appears that he joined up about 1777 in Virginia. On 02 Apr 1782 he was assigned to an Artillery detachment commanded by Capt-Lt Lewis Booker. He was known as the “Forage Master.” After the war, he received a warrant for 400 acres of Bounty Land, in what would become Kentucky, for his Revolutionary War Service to Virginia.

In 1793, when he was 40, he married Margaret Ann Swan of Virginia.

James and Margaret Ann (Swan) Walter had six (known) children.

1. 1. Nancy Anne Walter was born in 1788.
   2. Elkina Walter was born in 1789. she died in 1852.
   3. Catherine Ann Dent Walter was born on 15 Jun 1794 in. She married David Swayze on 30 Jan 1817 in Fairfield County, Ohio. She died on 16 Apr 1868 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, at the residence of her daughter, Elizabeth.
   4. James C Walter was born in 1800; he died in 1874.
   5. Elizabeth Walter was born before 05 Jan 1804[ii].
   6. John Walter was also born before 05 Jan 1804ⁱⁱ.

In 1804, James Walter executed a Deed of Trust transferring his property in Kentucky to Elijah Pollard of Frederick, Virginia, USA

James Walter died on 10 May 1838¹ in Lancaster, Fairfield County, Ohio, USA. He was buried at the Old Methodist Cemetery. Later, he was reinterred at the City Burial Plot, Lancaster, Fairfield County, Ohio.

Sources:

• Abstract of Graves of Revolutionary Patriots, Volume 4 – James Walter. Abstract of Graves of Revolutionary Patriots; Volume: 4; Serial: 11912.
• Daughters of the American Revolution – DAR “Descendants” Database, Member: Helen J. Roy – National # 455124 – Ancestor # A120153 – Accessed; 30 December 2016. https://services.dar.org/Public/DAR_Research/search/?Tab_ID=3.
• Daughters of the American Revolution – Supporting Documentation, DAR, A120153 M455124 – Pages 6-9 – Deed of Trust. Daughters of the American Revolution All Rights Reserved. Copy Services A120153 M455124.
• Find a Grave, James Walter – No Marker – Memorial 53989991. Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com – accessed 14 March 2020), memorial page for James Walter (1759–10 May 1838), Find A Grave Memorial no. 53989991, citing Old Lancaster City Graveyard (Defunct), Lancaster, Fairfield County, Ohio, USA ; Maintained by R & S (contributor 46634910).
• Kentucky Land Office – Revolutionary War Warrants, Kentucky Secretary of State, Warrant No. 1848 – James Waters. “Kentucky: Secretary of State – Land Office – RW Warrants”. 2020. Sos.Ky.Gov. Accessed March 19, 2020. https://apps.sos.ky.gov/land/military/revwar/Revdetail.asp?Type=w&warrant=1848.2.
• Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950, Ancestry, Catharine Swayze – 16 Apr 1868. #341 – Swayze Catharine A. Female Widowed – Age 73 yrs, 10 Mos. Died: Kalamazoo – Consumption – Virginia – J Walter – Maryland – D ate of Record: June 1 1869.
• Official Roster of the Soldiers of the American Revolutions Buried in the State of Ohio, (1929), Walter, James. Revolutionary Soldiers 1775-1783 – Page 385. (Archive.org).

————–  Disclaimer  ————–

Endnotes

[i] The date was calculated based upon his death date and his age at death. Because 1852 was a leap year and the birth took place before February 29^th, either date is possible depending on if the age at death had the days subtracted first or last.

[ii] Both Elizabeth and John are mentioned as James’ children in a “Deed of Trust” dated 5 Jan 1804.