On This Day: Christiana man elected vp of Law & Order Society

Lancaster Daily Intelligencer

13 January 1890

The Law and Order Society elected its annual officers On This Day in 1890. Elected president was Ezra Reist, of Manheim borough. D S Bursk, of Lancaster, was elected one of two vice presidents. Miss Ellen Wright was elected secretary and Luther S Kauffman was elected treasurer. The one that caught my attention was the other vice president. Brinton Walter, of Christiana, was elected to the position of the other vice president.

I lived many years in Sadsbury Township, just outside Christiana Borough. There is a road known locally as Walter’s Hill. I think it’s actually called High Street – maybe. The name Walter was just always synonymous with Walter & Jackson, a lumber company.

The 1890 City Directory lists many Walters throughout Lancaster County, including Brinton in Christiana. His occupation is listed as “grain, coal, etc.” That same year, another directory – Williams; Lancaster County Directory – lists him under Coal and Lumber Dealers. However, the website of Walter & Jackson, Inc. shows the business was founded by a B.F. Walter in 1872. I am not sure this Brinton is the same person as B.F.

Brinton was born in January 1837, the son of George H Walter and Hannah Brown. The 1860 census shows dad George is a farmer and Brinton is a school teacher at the time. In 1863, made to register for the Civil War Draft Registration (which does not mean he actually served), he lists his occupation as farmer.

1870 US Census shows Brinton as Justice of Peace

He was married three times. He married his first wife, Mary Louisa Barnard (1838-1873), on 9 September 1868, having announced their intention at the Sadsbury Monthly Meeting. They had no children. The 1870 Census shows he is now a Justice of the Peace. The couple lives in Smyrna, Sadsbury Township.

Now a widow, he married Ellen S Davis (1841-1883) in 1877. Within a year, their daughter Georgia was born in Sadsbury Township. In 1883, they had another daughter, Katie E. She was born in January. Ellen died that July. Young Katie died in August.

Two years later, he married a third time. This time he took Louisa D Davis (1846-1935) as his wife. They had no children.

Brinton Walter died on 8 October 1918, at 81 years. His regular occupation is listed as "retired coal and lumber dealer."

He died of heart failure and had trouble, according to his death certificate, in his right lung. He is buried at the Sadsbury Friends Burial Ground.

Source

Lancaster Daily Intel. Lancaster, PA. 13 January 1890.

On This Day is a prompt to further explore historical events.

                

© Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2016