Walker, Dr. Thomas, son of Thomas Walker, of King and Queen county, and Susanna Peachey, his wife, and great-grandson of Thomas Walker of Gloucester county, (q. v.), was born January 25, 1715. Educated at William and Mary College, and afterwards studied medicine. He was also an active merchant and surveyor of land, engaging in many enterprises. In 1748 he went on an expedition to Kentucky and kept a diary of his trip. In 1753 Colonel Joshua Fry recommended the discovery of a route to the Pacific coast, and Dr. Walker was to be the chief conductor of the enterprise. From 1752 to 1754 he was a representative in the house of burgesses for Louisa county, but resigned when appointed county surveyor. In 1754 he was appointed county surveyor. In 1754 he was appointed by Governor Dinwiddie commissary of stores for the troops on the frontier. He was at the surprise of Braddock, and was active throughout the war with France. From 1757 to 1761 he represented Hampshire county in the house of burgesses, after which time he changed his residence to the east, and represented Albemarle in the house of burgesses from 1761 to 1772. In 1768 he was commissioned to attend, with General Andrew Lewis, the conference with the Six Nations at Fort Stanwix, New York; and in 1774 he was commissioner to treat with the Indians after their defeat at Point Pleasant. Again in 1775 he presided over the conference held with the Indians at Pittsburgh. He represented Louisa county in the last house of burgesses, 1775-1776, and in the revolutionary conventions of 1775 and 1776, and was made a member of the committee of safety for the colony in 1775. In 1777 he was a member of the council of state, and in 1779 was chief of the commissioners on the part of Virginia to meet the commissioners from North Carolina to run the boundary line between the two states. During the war and for some years after it, he was a member of the house of delegates of Virginia. He was an intimate friend of Thomas Jefferson. He died at his residence "Castle Hill," in Albemarle county, November 9, 1794. He married twice, first in 1741, Mildred Thornton, widow of Nicholas Thornton. His son John was a senator of the United States and his son Francis, a member of the house of representatives.3082