Walker Bates

When telling stories from over a hundred years ago—especially when these stories get verbally handed down without written anything—there may be, shall we say, embellishments. With that in mind, here is the story as I was told it, of Bainbridge Bates, my father’s father’s mother’s father. Rather than “Bainbridge” folks called him “Walker.”

He was born and grew up in Vermont in the mid-1800s. When Civil War broke out, he volunteered for the Army and they put him in the “14th Vermont” whatever that means. He walked to Pennsylvania, where he eventually fought and was injured in the Battle of Gettysburg, wherein he helped repel “Pickett’s Charge” near the “copse of trees.” What is a “copse” anyway? He says he briefly saw General Lee after the main battle crossing the river.

After spending a month in the hospital, he lost 40 pounds. He was fortunate that he was not wounded in the leg, as many folks left military hospitals with fewer legs than they entered with.

He never talked about this battle until he was over 60 years old. He said it was horrible, unimaginably horrible. It seems that many soldiers died at Gettysburg, but few died quickly.

When he recovered, he walked back to Vermont. On his way, he bought a single plate, one fork and a spoon at Tiffany’s in New York City as a gift. (I, too, would be thinking lightweight if I were to buy a gift while walking from Pennsylvania to Vermont).

After returning to Vermont at the age of 19, he farmed for three years and hated plowing all the rocks. He heard about homesteading in Iowa where the farming was easier. You guessed it—he walked to Iowa. There may have been an Ohio River boat ride in there somewhere. When he got there after many months, they were done with homesteading in Iowa, but they helpfully told him they were now homesteading in Nebraska. So, he walked to Nebraska and homesteaded there. Union veterans paid $5/acre. He eventually bought about 400 acres. My dad’s cousin Betty still owns most of that farm in Nehawka, Nebraska about 150 years later. Lorraine and I stayed on this farm on our honeymoon.

I wonder why they called him “Walker”?

In the photo: Walker Bates is sitting in front.