J. Brisben Walker Dies at 83
Title
J. Brisben Walker Dies at 83
Text
J. Brisben Walker Dies at Age of 83
Gained Note as Newspaper Editor and Publisher of Cosmopolitan Magazine.
He Served in the Chinese Army
Left Penniless by the Panic of 1873, later Made a Fortune by Introducing Alfalfa in Colorado.
John Brisben Walker, former editor, publisher, manufacturer and soldier died yesterday at his home, 202 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, after an illness of two years which became serious two weeks ago. Mr. Walker was 83 years old. Death was caused by complications attendant upon his advanced age. His wife, Mrs. Calderhead Walker, was with him when he died.
Mr. Walker was born in the Monogahela River Valley in Pennsylvania Sept. 10, 1847. His grandfathers, Major John Walker and General Solomon G. Krepps, were the original commissioners for the improvement of Western Rivers. In his boyhood Mr. Walker attended a classical school in Washington and later entered Georgetown College, which afterward he received the degree of Ph.D.
In 1865 young walker was appointed cadet at West Point. When Anson Burlingame,returned to this country in 1868. Walker was seized with the overwhelming desire to visit the Far East. He accordingly resigned his cadetship and went to China with J. Ross Browne, the new Minister to China. Through the influence of Mr. Burlingame, Walker entered the Chinese Army, where he served for two years.
Returning to the United States in 1870, Mr. Walker engaged successfully in the manufacture of iron in the Kanawha Valley in West Virginia. In 1872 he was nominated for Congress on the Republican ticket in a strong Democratic district and was defeated. He was building a large blast furnace when the panic of 1873 came. He had believed himself worth $500,000, but by the time the economic disturbance was over he found himself practically penniless.
His Entry Into Journalism.
His entry into journalism came through Murat Halstead, noted Ohio editor, who employed him to write a series of articles for The Cincinnati Commercial-Gazette on minerals and manufactures of the United States. Shortly afterward Mr. Halstead received a letter from the management of the Pittsburgh Telegraph asking if he could recommend a managing editor who was not afraid to say what he thought. He endorsed Mr. Walker, who held the post three months and then became editor of The Washington Daily Chronicle. As an editor he displayed courage and tenacity of opinion.
After three years of journalism Mr. Walker, at the request of the Secretary of Agriculture, made a report on the arid lands of the West, with reference to their possible redemption through irrigation. This was in 1879. The West attracted him and he went to Denver, where he purchased 1,600 acres on the outskirts of the city. He gradually cultivated 1,200 acres and introduced alfalfa, the giant perfumed clover that has been the foundation of many fortunes since then.
The enterprise was named the Berkly Farm and soon became known throughout the West as the largest most perfectly conducted alfalfa ranch in Colorado. The alfalfa crop reached 3,600 tons a year. The farm cost Mr. Walker $60,000 originally and he sold it for $372,000.
The New York Times
John Brisben Walker.
In the meantime he was hard at work buying up bottom lands along the Platte River. His friends laughed and insisted that the land was worthless because the current river could not be controlled. Mr. Walker said nothing but obtained 500 lots adjoining the Union Depot in Denver. He then built a short wall of refuse from furnaces that formed a perfect barrier to the river. The land cast Mr. Walker about $100,000 and shortly afterward the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad was report to have offered him $1,000,000 for it. He sold at a large profit.
Buys Cosmopolitan Magazine.
He came to New York in 1889 and bought Cosmopolitan Magazine. Through his efforts it became a striking publication and circulation rates and advertising soon soared. Arthur Sherburne Hardy, Professor of Mathematics at Dartmouth College, was made associate editor and William Dean Howells became his literary adviser. Among his achievements was the publication of a hitherto unprinted manuscript by Guy de Maupassant. The magazine was eventually sold to William Randolph Hearst, who controls the corporation by which it is now published.
Mr. Walker was of the the earliest of American automobile enthusiast, and in 1899 he organized the Mobile Company of America and built a factory at Philipse Manor, N. Y. Even after his retirement he continued his interest in motoring and in good roads. He presided at the first National Good Roads Convention held in this county and was the first president of the Automobile Manufacturers' Association. He was a strong advocate of a system of durable dirt roads, which he pointed out could be built at a fraction of the cost of those constructed of cement.
Mr. Walker invented a machine for removing water from clay so as to prevent freezing in Winter and offered to construct roads twenty feet in width at the cost of $1,600 a mile. He organized the Transcontinental Service Company, Brooklyn, to carry on the work of road construction by his method.
During the World War Mr. Walker, in 1915, became chairman of the National Convention of Friends of Peace and Justice at Chicago. The organization was made up of German-American societies.
Had Faith in Aviation.
Mr. Walker's faith in aviation was manifested shortly after the historic flight of Orville Wright and the late Wilbur Wright at Kitty Hawk, N.C., on December 17, 1903, by giving a dinner in New York to the late Dr. Samuel Langley, pioneer aeronautics student. At the dinner Mr. Walker predicted that aviation would be the safest means of transportation in twenty-five years and commercially available in a year.
Mr. Walker married three times. wife, whos survives, as does his first, was Miss Iris Calderhead.
Mr. Walker had twelve children, nine whom survive. Eight were born of his first wife; those surviving are John Brisben Walker Jr., Justin C. Walker, and Gerald Walker, all of Denver; James Randolph Walker, of this city and Mrs. Frank Walker of this city and Mrs. Frank E. Sweetser of Cold Spring Harbor, L.I. and Brookline, Mass. Three sons, David, Wilfred, and Harold Walker, also born of this first marriage died.
By his second wife Mr. Walker had four children, who survive. They are John R. Walker of Denver, Herbert Lee Walker of Bakersfield, Cal., Miss Ethel Richmond Walker and Mrs. George D. Richmond, both of San Francisco. He is also survived by a sister, living in Denver, and by eleven grandchildren.
The funeral services and burial will be private.
Gained Note as Newspaper Editor and Publisher of Cosmopolitan Magazine.
He Served in the Chinese Army
Left Penniless by the Panic of 1873, later Made a Fortune by Introducing Alfalfa in Colorado.
John Brisben Walker, former editor, publisher, manufacturer and soldier died yesterday at his home, 202 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, after an illness of two years which became serious two weeks ago. Mr. Walker was 83 years old. Death was caused by complications attendant upon his advanced age. His wife, Mrs. Calderhead Walker, was with him when he died.
Mr. Walker was born in the Monogahela River Valley in Pennsylvania Sept. 10, 1847. His grandfathers, Major John Walker and General Solomon G. Krepps, were the original commissioners for the improvement of Western Rivers. In his boyhood Mr. Walker attended a classical school in Washington and later entered Georgetown College, which afterward he received the degree of Ph.D.
In 1865 young walker was appointed cadet at West Point. When Anson Burlingame,returned to this country in 1868. Walker was seized with the overwhelming desire to visit the Far East. He accordingly resigned his cadetship and went to China with J. Ross Browne, the new Minister to China. Through the influence of Mr. Burlingame, Walker entered the Chinese Army, where he served for two years.
Returning to the United States in 1870, Mr. Walker engaged successfully in the manufacture of iron in the Kanawha Valley in West Virginia. In 1872 he was nominated for Congress on the Republican ticket in a strong Democratic district and was defeated. He was building a large blast furnace when the panic of 1873 came. He had believed himself worth $500,000, but by the time the economic disturbance was over he found himself practically penniless.
His Entry Into Journalism.
His entry into journalism came through Murat Halstead, noted Ohio editor, who employed him to write a series of articles for The Cincinnati Commercial-Gazette on minerals and manufactures of the United States. Shortly afterward Mr. Halstead received a letter from the management of the Pittsburgh Telegraph asking if he could recommend a managing editor who was not afraid to say what he thought. He endorsed Mr. Walker, who held the post three months and then became editor of The Washington Daily Chronicle. As an editor he displayed courage and tenacity of opinion.
After three years of journalism Mr. Walker, at the request of the Secretary of Agriculture, made a report on the arid lands of the West, with reference to their possible redemption through irrigation. This was in 1879. The West attracted him and he went to Denver, where he purchased 1,600 acres on the outskirts of the city. He gradually cultivated 1,200 acres and introduced alfalfa, the giant perfumed clover that has been the foundation of many fortunes since then.
The enterprise was named the Berkly Farm and soon became known throughout the West as the largest most perfectly conducted alfalfa ranch in Colorado. The alfalfa crop reached 3,600 tons a year. The farm cost Mr. Walker $60,000 originally and he sold it for $372,000.
The New York Times
John Brisben Walker.
In the meantime he was hard at work buying up bottom lands along the Platte River. His friends laughed and insisted that the land was worthless because the current river could not be controlled. Mr. Walker said nothing but obtained 500 lots adjoining the Union Depot in Denver. He then built a short wall of refuse from furnaces that formed a perfect barrier to the river. The land cast Mr. Walker about $100,000 and shortly afterward the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad was report to have offered him $1,000,000 for it. He sold at a large profit.
Buys Cosmopolitan Magazine.
He came to New York in 1889 and bought Cosmopolitan Magazine. Through his efforts it became a striking publication and circulation rates and advertising soon soared. Arthur Sherburne Hardy, Professor of Mathematics at Dartmouth College, was made associate editor and William Dean Howells became his literary adviser. Among his achievements was the publication of a hitherto unprinted manuscript by Guy de Maupassant. The magazine was eventually sold to William Randolph Hearst, who controls the corporation by which it is now published.
Mr. Walker was of the the earliest of American automobile enthusiast, and in 1899 he organized the Mobile Company of America and built a factory at Philipse Manor, N. Y. Even after his retirement he continued his interest in motoring and in good roads. He presided at the first National Good Roads Convention held in this county and was the first president of the Automobile Manufacturers' Association. He was a strong advocate of a system of durable dirt roads, which he pointed out could be built at a fraction of the cost of those constructed of cement.
Mr. Walker invented a machine for removing water from clay so as to prevent freezing in Winter and offered to construct roads twenty feet in width at the cost of $1,600 a mile. He organized the Transcontinental Service Company, Brooklyn, to carry on the work of road construction by his method.
During the World War Mr. Walker, in 1915, became chairman of the National Convention of Friends of Peace and Justice at Chicago. The organization was made up of German-American societies.
Had Faith in Aviation.
Mr. Walker's faith in aviation was manifested shortly after the historic flight of Orville Wright and the late Wilbur Wright at Kitty Hawk, N.C., on December 17, 1903, by giving a dinner in New York to the late Dr. Samuel Langley, pioneer aeronautics student. At the dinner Mr. Walker predicted that aviation would be the safest means of transportation in twenty-five years and commercially available in a year.
Mr. Walker married three times. wife, whos survives, as does his first, was Miss Iris Calderhead.
Mr. Walker had twelve children, nine whom survive. Eight were born of his first wife; those surviving are John Brisben Walker Jr., Justin C. Walker, and Gerald Walker, all of Denver; James Randolph Walker, of this city and Mrs. Frank Walker of this city and Mrs. Frank E. Sweetser of Cold Spring Harbor, L.I. and Brookline, Mass. Three sons, David, Wilfred, and Harold Walker, also born of this first marriage died.
By his second wife Mr. Walker had four children, who survive. They are John R. Walker of Denver, Herbert Lee Walker of Bakersfield, Cal., Miss Ethel Richmond Walker and Mrs. George D. Richmond, both of San Francisco. He is also survived by a sister, living in Denver, and by eleven grandchildren.
The funeral services and burial will be private.
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Citation
“J. Brisben Walker Dies at 83,” Our Family Archive, accessed April 28, 2024, https://ourfamily.omeka.net/items/show/45.