THEODORIC L. WALKER, LT, USN

Theodoric Walker '47

Date of birth: 1830

Age: ~27

Loss

Theodoric died of fever on March 17, 1858 while at sea aboard the sloop Dale, in the Africa Squadron. He was buried in Porto Praya, Cape Verde Islands (now called Praia, Cape Verde). (Details on his loss from newspaper clippings found by Kathy Franz.) Theodoric and Dale were a part of the anti-slave patrol.

Other Information

Theodoric was one of thirteen children; his father was a "successful merchant in Baltimore" and later the family lived in Washington, D.C. Theodoric's cousin Theodoric Lee, Jr., mentioned below, is also listed in this document; he was an officer until his resignation in 1857.

Theodoric was born in Maryland and appointed to the Naval Academy from Tennessee on September 10, 1841.

From researcher Kathy Franz:

In January 1858, Dale officers Theodoric and Lieutenant Andrew Boyd Cummings brought in the bark William G. Lewis, a suspected slaver captured on the Congo River. Another suspected slaver Windward was due in shortly. In February, the commander of the Dale rescued two Americans being held on frivolous charges by saying he would bomb the town of Benguela, Angola, if they were not freed.
Theodoric’s oldest brother William McCreery Walker was a Captain in the Navy who died in 1869. Their grandfather Theodoric Lee was the uncle of General Robert E. Lee.

Theodoric is buried in Praia, Cape Verde.

Career

From the Naval History and Heritage Command:

Midshipman, 10 September, 1841. Passed Midshipman, 10 August, 1847. Master, 26 July, 1855. Lieutenant, 14 September, 1855. Died 17 March, 1858.

From "My voyage in the United States frigate 'Congress'":

Theodoric Lee Walker, a midshipman on the "Raritan," came to see us and remained to dinner. He and Theodoric Lee on the "Congress" are cousins, and we were acquainted with their mothers in Washington. He sailed in the "Columbia," which was carrying Mr. Everett to China, and when Mr. Everett returned to the United States, he was transferred to the "Raritan."

Navy Directories & Officer Registers

The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.

The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.

The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.