• Born in a slave cabin in Gloucester County on June 16, 1862 to Thomas C. Walker Sr. of Roaring Springs Plantation; Steven Fields was slave master.
• His mother lived on Spring Hill Plantation with Captain Baytop as slave master.
• He was reared for a period of time by the son of his mother’s former slave master and his wife who named him Thomas after his father and Calhoun for Senator General Calhoun of South Carolina.
• At the age of 10 he had to start working to care for his family of 8.
• He had unsuccessful attempts at attending community Negro schools as he could neither read nor write at the age of 12 or 13.
• His life changed when he met General Armstrong of Hampton, chief official at the Freedman’s Bureau, who told him of a school for Negroes which had opened in Hampton a short time before.
• George Taylor, a teacher sent by General Armstrong, taught Walker to put letters together to form simple words.
• He expressed interest in going to school in Hampton to Anderson Byrd, a second teacher sent to Gloucester by General Armstrong.
• Byrd promised that he would see that Walker would get there.  He put in an application for him.  His mother approved but his father forbade it.  Thomas and his mother secretly save $2.25 over a period of several months in preparation of him going to Hampton.
• In 1880 at 18 years of age he set out at 8 a.m. to walk 14 miles from Gloucester Court House to Gloucester Point to catch the old steamer Banks, which was due to depart at 1 p.m. for Hampton and Norfolk.
• His father after having a change of heart, caught up with him at Gloucester Point and carried him the rest of the way by horse pulled wagon.  Walker was on his way to school with his friend Jerry Gregory.
• After paying for his fare, some cheese, and a horse cake on the ferry, he had $.92 for his education.
• After 3 or 4 days of mainly reporting for meals, General Armstrong sent for the new boys (11 of them) and informed them that they would have to pass an entrance exam.  Walker knew he could not pass it but he took it any way.
• After taking the exam they were told that they would have to go home; there was no class low enough for them to start in.
• As they were packing in preparation for leaving, Walker suggested telling General Armstrong that they came there to get an education and they had no intention of leaving.  They returned to the routine of reporting for meals for several more days.  General Armstrong called them into his office and told them that they could go to school at night with Mr. Booker T. Washington as their teacher, until which time they were ready for day school, and they would have to work during the day.  This was the beginning of the Work Study Program.
• On June 16, 1883, walker received his diploma and returned to Gloucester and served his community for the rest of his life.
• He received the Honorary Doctorate at Virginia Union University.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Received license to practice law.  Was the first Negro lawyer in Virginia.
• Served on Notification Committee which informed Witlow Reid, a Vice-Presidential candidate, of his nomination.  Mr. Walker was Virginia’s representative.
• Member of Rosenwald Building Agents, who’s objective was to build schools which would furnish quality educations for Southern Negroes.
• Assisted President McKinley in laying cornerstone of United States Government Building in Chicago.
• Appointed by President McKinley as Collector of Customs for Port of Tappahannock. First Negro to hold position in Virginia.
• Offered the position of Counsel General to Island of Guadeloupe, but declined, by President Theodore Roosevelt.
• Of the 594 farms operated by Negroes, 574 were owned by the Negroes themselves.
• Gloucester Intermediate School was previously named Thomas C. Walker School.  The land for the former site of Gloucester Intermediate School and the present day T. C. Walker Elementary School was donated by the Honorable Mr. Walker.
• Received a National Hampton Institute Alumni Service Award.

Additional Historical Information