This manuscript collection contains many personal and some business letters and diaries of William Walker and family. The family originated in Vermont; however, in the 1830s, William's father Aaron and some of his twelve children moved to the Janesville area in Rock County, Wisconsin. There are some letters and diaries concerned with the part of the family which settled in Rock County. However, the major part of the papers is concerned with William, who was a Congregational missionary at Gabon in French Equatorial Africa.
The earliest letters from members of the family date to 1801. One of these is fragmentary and both are probably important only as records of the family. One long letter is from Albert, then in Rock County, and describes the conditions in that area at the time. There are several letters from three of the brothers describing troop movements during the Civil War and capture by the rebels. Two of these letters are typewritten copies.
The rest of the letters are either to or from William. Letters from him to members of the family describe ocean travel, conditions in Africa, missionary work, and some historic accounts. The later letters to him are mostly concerned with business and personal affairs.
There are also several papers written by William which appear to be prepared speeches. The clippings included with the collection indicated that he made many speeches on his work in Africa upon his return to this country. These papers are on Mpongwe (the language group he worked with) Laws or Customs, on the Mpongwe Language (he was one of the missionaries appointed to develop a writing system for this language and to translate the Bible into it), and on the history of French Equatorial Africa in the form of a description of an expedition made by Lieutenant de Brazza for France. These papers were not found in any published form. Further information on Walker and his work can be found in the Missionary Herald where many of his letters to the missionary society have been published.
The earliest of the diaries in the collection is an account of the trip from Maine to Rock County, Wisconsin. The trip went through the Great Lakes by ship, then over and through Wisconsin, including the Four Lakes area, into Rock County.
The rest of the diaries are those kept by William in Africa and after his return to Milton, Wisconsin. These diaries cover the years 1842 to 1896. The diary for 1846 is incomplete; apparently some of it was lost as the collection was moved about. There are no diaries for the years 1862, 1874, 1884, 1888, 1893, or 1894.
The most interesting diaries are the early accounts of Walker's work in Africa. The later diaries are for the most part notations on the weather and marriages at which he officiated.
