Virginia F. Lindsey ⁷⁴

   Another name for Virginia was Jenny.

Virginia, probably named after the state in which she was born, came to Iroquois County, Illinois with her parents just a year or so after her birth in Mason County.

Other than the fact that she was left without a father at the age of ten, little is known of Virginia's childhood.

In 1856, at the age of 23, she married Francis T. Walker and the couple moved to Champaign, Illinois where Mr. Walker had established a furniture store six months prior. His acute business skills brought the family financial success. Household servants and property values give evidence of the family's accumulated wealth.

It is said by family that Virginia had no desire to have any children of her own and went to great lengths to prevent such an occurrence, but she was very much a part of the lives of her nieces and nephews. Both Blanche and Mabel, daughters of her brother Benjamin, lived with the Walkers while they attended the University of Illinois in Champaign. In the 1880 Champaign census, Benjamin's son, Ira Mason, is found residing in the household. He is listed as "adopted son". Ira Mason is also listed on the 1880 Onarga census in the household of his father. At the time of the 1880 census, he would have been 13 years old. According to the Past and Present of Iroquois County, Ira Mason attended Champaign High School. Virginia traveled to Onarga often to visit her brother and his household of children.

When Virginia died, she left all of her estate to her husband and appointed Benjamin as administrator of her last will and testament. She ordered all her property to be sold and the cash dispersed equally amongst all her nieces and nephews, including the two daughters of her youngest sister Adaline living in Kansas. Adaline's daughters eventually quit claimed their right of inheritance to their cousins in 1906. Virginia made a special case for her niece Alice Lois who was not to receive payment until she reached the age of forty. Virginia said of her niece, "With her present disposition, she seems unable to care for and manage such funds."

It is likely that Virginia was old fashioned and believed a woman's place was in the home, much like her brother Benjamin. Perhaps she saw the value of education but believed a woman's intelligence was to be used to support her husband and his political and business affairs. Alice had a strong will and defied this stereotype. At the time of the writing of Virginia's will, Alice was graduated from medical school. It was a rare thing for a woman to be involved in such a profession at the turn of the century. When Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell studied medicine, women who met her on the street would draw their skirts aside lest they brush against such a creature. Alice once talked of a favorite Aunt, but I am not sure to which Aunt she referred.

According to Virginia's last will and testament, her personal estate was valued at approximately $26,000 in 1899, which does not include the value of the real estate. In addition to her Champaign property, she owned 40 acres of property valued at $2,000 in Onarga, which she inherited from her mother at the time of her decease in 1883.

Virginia is buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Champaign and shares a large Masonic monument with her husband. The death date on the monument is incorrect.

  Events

• She worked as a housekeeper.

• She appeared on the census in 1850 in Onarga, Iroquois County, Illinois. She lived in the household of Lemuel Boyd.

• She appeared on the census in 1860 in Champaign, Champaign County, Illinois.

• She appeared on the census in 1870 in Champaign, Champaign County, Illinois.

• She appeared on the census in 1880 in Champaign, Champaign County, Illinois.

• She had a residence at W. Church Street in 1899 in Champaign, Champaign County, Illinois.

• She was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Urbana, Champaign County, Illinois.

Virginia married Francis Theodore Walker, son of Whitfield Walker and Martha Hall, 30 June 1856 in Onarga, Iroquois County, Illinois ^335,336.^,337 (Francis Theodore Walker was born 3 September 1827 in Whiting, Addison County, Vermont,³⁴¹ died 10 November 1905 in Champaign, Champaign County, Illinois ^342,343 and was buried 13 November 1905 in Urbana, Champaign County, Illinois at Mount Hope Cemetery ³⁴⁴.) The cause of his death was kidney failure.