Walker, Augustus

Walker, Augustus a Congregational missionary, was born in Medway, Mass., Oct. 30, 1822. He was converted at the age of twelve; followed mercantile pursuits in Charleston, S. C., and Baltimore, Md.; prepared for college at Leicester Academy, and graduated at Yale in 1846. In 1852 he graduated at Andover Theological Seminary, was married and ordained, and in the following year sailed for Smyrna, Turkey-Diarbekir, on the Tigris, being the field designated for him. Here he labored hard and successfully the remainder of his life, except from 1864 to 1865, when he visited his native land. He was welcomed with much joy by his friends and the natives upon his return to Diarbekir. But his work was nearly done. His exhausted and overworked body was stricken with the cholera, and, in spite of all that could be done, he died, Sept. 13, 1866. Mr. Walker did a noble and enduring work on the banks of the Tigris, and his death was felt severely both in Turkey and America. "He fell where the standard-bearer wishes to fall, at his post, doing manfully, earnestly, even beyond his strength, the work given him to do." See Cong. Quar. 1867, p. 202 sq.