Miles Walker, Civil War Veteran

In Block 5 of Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery is a monument in memory of Miles Walker and his wife, the former Nancy Williams. According to the 1870 U.S. Census for Erie County, Ohio, Miles Walker was born in Tennessee about 1830. His wife Nancy stated that she had been born in Alabama about 1832. Mr. and Mrs. Miles Walker were African Americans, and they were living on Hancock Street in Sandusky, Ohio in 1870. Miles Walker listed his occupation as laborer, and Nancy said that she was a housekeeper.

The Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1866, records Miles Walker’s enlistment date in Company E of the Third Ohio Volunteer Cavalry as October 14, 1863. His rank was recorded as “Cook.” Miles Walker mustered out with his company on August 4, 1865. After the Civil War, Miles Walker settled in Sandusky, Ohio. He married Nancy Williams on May 30, 1867. Miles Walker was included in the 1890 Veterans’ Schedules for Surviving Soldiers, Sailors and Widows who were residing in Erie County, Ohio in 1890. Notes taken by the census enumerator said that Miles Walker suffered from rheumatism.

On September 14, 1908, Miles Walker died in Sandusky, Ohio. He was buried at Oakland Cemetery next to his wife Nancy, who had passed away in 1896. Though Miles Walker was merely counted as a hash mark in the slave schedules of Tennessee in 1860, the name of Miles Walker was clearly inscribed on his tombstone, and has stood for more than one hundred years.