History of the Walker Homestead

of Springwater NY

By the Walker Family

This farmstead scene was photographed in 1890 - the people are William Walker and his wife, Allie, who is holding their infant daughter, Mildred. The girl with the white bib on her dress is Cora, born 1881, and the boy with hat under his arm is Erwin, born 1877.

The horses are obviously considered an important possession as the family posed in front of their house which was built in 1886, by Charles Snyder, uncle of Allie (nee Snyder).

The woman on viewer’s left and the other children cannot be identified, except that she my have been a lady employed in the household at the time.

The house remained in its original state until 1918 when Erwin and his wife added to the structure a kitchen, porch and second-story bedroom wing. Erwin had taken possession of the farm around 1899 at the time of his marriage to Maude Smart. William and Allie with their two children moved to East Naples Street in Wayland where he died in 1900. Allie lived until 194_.

The 1918 addition was made to accommodate the family which had grown to one daughter and seven sons (an eight son, Erwin the second, was born in 1922).

Tragedy struck in 1923 when Erwin died and again in 1924 when Gladys, the only daughter, also passed away. Depression years with poor crops and prices were a devastating period for the widow and her young family.

The seventh son, Burl, took over managing the farm around 1942 and purchased the holdings in 1944, the year he married; Maude continued to live on the farm until 1951 when she died. Burl and Marion (Warner m. 4-14-44) with their three sons: Richard, Donald and Mark are the third family to occupy the farmstead - the house, which remains almost unchanged since the 1918 addition, has been occupied by Walkers since its construction.