James Walker was a lifelong resident of Marcellus. In his early years he worked at the plaster mill in Marcellus Falls owned by his father, Warren Smith Walker. He met Minnie May Harris at the orphanage in Canandaigua that his sisters, Anna and Laura, ran. He was a master carpenter and a blacksmith and was offered a job as the head cabinet maker at the lumber yard in Marcellus but preferred to work on his own. When the Auburn-Syracuse trolley line was built, he was called upon to help erect the small trolley stations which came prefabricated.
When he was in his 70's, he built a house on 17 acres of land that he owned on Howlett Hill Road (living in a tent while the house was going up). He maintained a large garden and developed a method of cooking and drying beans so that he could store them indefinitely and easily cook them when needed. He had a cast iron kitchen stove which heated the house and beside the stairway was the Phillip Smith clock made in Marcellus Falls about 1840. From his bedroom, he ran strings to control the lights inside and outside the house. His workshop was in a small building just west of the house and contained the large wooden tool chest that he had made as well as a small wood stove. Some distance east of the house was a chicken house and the spring where he drew his water. He would keep a large area around his house cleared in the summer by cutting it with a scythe. His grandchildren thought that he looked like Santa Claus because of his white hair and beard.
Submitted by Hollis A. Abbott (grandson).
Syracuse Herald-Journal, Tuesday, January 17, 1950:
"James Walker Dead at 89;
Funeral to be Thursday
Services will take place in Marcellus on Thursday for James Walker, 89, a life resident of the Marcellus area, who died yesterday in a Jordan nursing home.
The Rev. Ralph Miller will officiate at rites at 2 P.M. in the Uttley & Norris funeral home, with burial in Highland Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 7 to 9 P.M. today and tomorrow.
In his earlier years Mr. Walker operated a plaster mill at Marcellus Falls, later working as a carpenter in Marcellus.
In recent years he lived in a home built by himself near the Tuscarora Golf Club, serving as his own gardner, cook and handy man.
Survivors are three daughters, Mrs. Harold Downs of Phoenix, Ariz; Mrs. George Hannett of Clyde, and Mrs. Howard Harvey of Phoenix Ariz.; two sons, Warren W. of Marcellus and Harris H. of Baldwin, Long Island; a niece, a nephew, and seven grandchildren."
When he was in his 70's, he built a house on 17 acres of land that he owned on Howlett Hill Road (living in a tent while the house was going up). He maintained a large garden and developed a method of cooking and drying beans so that he could store them indefinitely and easily cook them when needed. He had a cast iron kitchen stove which heated the house and beside the stairway was the Phillip Smith clock made in Marcellus Falls about 1840. From his bedroom, he ran strings to control the lights inside and outside the house. His workshop was in a small building just west of the house and contained the large wooden tool chest that he had made as well as a small wood stove. Some distance east of the house was a chicken house and the spring where he drew his water. He would keep a large area around his house cleared in the summer by cutting it with a scythe. His grandchildren thought that he looked like Santa Claus because of his white hair and beard.
Submitted by Hollis A. Abbott (grandson).
Syracuse Herald-Journal, Tuesday, January 17, 1950:
"James Walker Dead at 89;
Funeral to be Thursday
Services will take place in Marcellus on Thursday for James Walker, 89, a life resident of the Marcellus area, who died yesterday in a Jordan nursing home.
The Rev. Ralph Miller will officiate at rites at 2 P.M. in the Uttley & Norris funeral home, with burial in Highland Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 7 to 9 P.M. today and tomorrow.
In his earlier years Mr. Walker operated a plaster mill at Marcellus Falls, later working as a carpenter in Marcellus.
In recent years he lived in a home built by himself near the Tuscarora Golf Club, serving as his own gardner, cook and handy man.
Survivors are three daughters, Mrs. Harold Downs of Phoenix, Ariz; Mrs. George Hannett of Clyde, and Mrs. Howard Harvey of Phoenix Ariz.; two sons, Warren W. of Marcellus and Harris H. of Baldwin, Long Island; a niece, a nephew, and seven grandchildren."
James Walker was a lifelong resident of Marcellus. In his early years he worked at the plaster mill in Marcellus Falls owned by his father, Warren Smith Walker. He met Minnie May Harris at the orphanage in Canandaigua that his sisters, Anna and Laura, ran. He was a master carpenter and a blacksmith and was offered a job as the head cabinet maker at the lumber yard in Marcellus but preferred to work on his own. When the Auburn-Syracuse trolley line was built, he was called upon to help erect the small trolley stations which came prefabricated.
When he was in his 70's, he built a house on 17 acres of land that he owned on Howlett Hill Road (living in a tent while the house was going up). He maintained a large garden and developed a method of cooking and drying beans so that he could store them indefinitely and easily cook them when needed. He had a cast iron kitchen stove which heated the house and beside the stairway was the Phillip Smith clock made in Marcellus Falls about 1840. From his bedroom, he ran strings to control the lights inside and outside the house. His workshop was in a small building just west of the house and contained the large wooden tool chest that he had made as well as a small wood stove. Some distance east of the house was a chicken house and the spring where he drew his water. He would keep a large area around his house cleared in the summer by cutting it with a scythe. His grandchildren thought that he looked like Santa Claus because of his white hair and beard.
Submitted by Hollis A. Abbott (grandson).
Syracuse Herald-Journal, Tuesday, January 17, 1950:
"James Walker Dead at 89;
Funeral to be Thursday
Services will take place in Marcellus on Thursday for James Walker, 89, a life resident of the Marcellus area, who died yesterday in a Jordan nursing home.
The Rev. Ralph Miller will officiate at rites at 2 P.M. in the Uttley & Norris funeral home, with burial in Highland Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 7 to 9 P.M. today and tomorrow.
In his earlier years Mr. Walker operated a plaster mill at Marcellus Falls, later working as a carpenter in Marcellus.
In recent years he lived in a home built by himself near the Tuscarora Golf Club, serving as his own gardner, cook and handy man.
Survivors are three daughters, Mrs. Harold Downs of Phoenix, Ariz; Mrs. George Hannett of Clyde, and Mrs. Howard Harvey of Phoenix Ariz.; two sons, Warren W. of Marcellus and Harris H. of Baldwin, Long Island; a niece, a nephew, and seven grandchildren."
When he was in his 70's, he built a house on 17 acres of land that he owned on Howlett Hill Road (living in a tent while the house was going up). He maintained a large garden and developed a method of cooking and drying beans so that he could store them indefinitely and easily cook them when needed. He had a cast iron kitchen stove which heated the house and beside the stairway was the Phillip Smith clock made in Marcellus Falls about 1840. From his bedroom, he ran strings to control the lights inside and outside the house. His workshop was in a small building just west of the house and contained the large wooden tool chest that he had made as well as a small wood stove. Some distance east of the house was a chicken house and the spring where he drew his water. He would keep a large area around his house cleared in the summer by cutting it with a scythe. His grandchildren thought that he looked like Santa Claus because of his white hair and beard.
Submitted by Hollis A. Abbott (grandson).
Syracuse Herald-Journal, Tuesday, January 17, 1950:
"James Walker Dead at 89;
Funeral to be Thursday
Services will take place in Marcellus on Thursday for James Walker, 89, a life resident of the Marcellus area, who died yesterday in a Jordan nursing home.
The Rev. Ralph Miller will officiate at rites at 2 P.M. in the Uttley & Norris funeral home, with burial in Highland Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 7 to 9 P.M. today and tomorrow.
In his earlier years Mr. Walker operated a plaster mill at Marcellus Falls, later working as a carpenter in Marcellus.
In recent years he lived in a home built by himself near the Tuscarora Golf Club, serving as his own gardner, cook and handy man.
Survivors are three daughters, Mrs. Harold Downs of Phoenix, Ariz; Mrs. George Hannett of Clyde, and Mrs. Howard Harvey of Phoenix Ariz.; two sons, Warren W. of Marcellus and Harris H. of Baldwin, Long Island; a niece, a nephew, and seven grandchildren."
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