1809 Bedroom

This bedroom was originally two small bedrooms and a hallway. Eloise said they removed the walls and made it into one large bedroom. This is Atwood Walker's boyhood bed.

The desk pictured below belonged to my father's side of the Walker family, and they always valued it as a prized possession. My dad was quite pleased when he inherited the desk. My mother thought it was the ugliest piece of furniture she had ever seen in her life. I was reading a Civil War book and thought it might be a field officer's desk. A friend told me to look for the secret compartment, because they always put a secret compartment in officer's desks. I asked my dad if I could look for the secret compartment. He said, "You don't need to look, I know exactly where it is." Everything fell right into place. It belonged to Benjamin Walker, William's brother and Volney's son. Benjamin was 2nd Lieutenant of the 34th Virginia Infantry. He had just written a letter (to his mother or sister) and sealed it when a Federal sniper shot him, killing him instantly. This desk was the last thing he touched when he was alive. There is no doubt in my mind that his parents treasured the last thing their child touched when he was living.

I think my mother would have liked this desk more had she known what it really was.