The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-02-15
GEN. LEROY P. WALKER
HANDSOME OIL PAINTING OF DSTINGUISHED ALABANIAN.
Director Owen of the Department of Archives and History Receives Prized Addition to Picture
 Gallery.

The State Department of Archives and History received yesterday from New York a very handsome oil painting Of he late General Leroy Pope Walker. It has been presented to. the Department by Dr. Leroy Pope Walker of New York, a son of the eminent Alabamian.
 The painting is heavily framed in gold and bears a splendid brass name plate. It is highly prized by Director Owen of .he Department and will be hung in his
 Leroy Pope walker was one of the most distinguished native-born sons of Alabama. Great as . lawyer. as a lead CT of men. in the Confederate civil and military service, his memory is revered in the State he honored by his brilliant career.
 He was born near Huntsville, July s. 1877. while Alabama was yet . part of John Williams Walker, native of yir- ginia, after some years in Ebert Coun- ty. Georgia, in lSl0, located in the then frontier County of Madison. to which his fathsr,in-iaw. ,ass LeToy Page a had Ss come the lawyer of force and character. and was the President of the first Constitutional Convention of Alabama. which convened at Huntsville in lsl9. It Is a noteworthy that his son. Leroy Pope Walker. was the President of the Alabama Constitu- lional Convention of 1875; and his grand son, Judge Richard Wilde walker. was a prominent member of the Convention of iso1. It should also be stated that John W. Walker was one of the first Senators from Alabama. elected in 1919.
 The education of Leroy Pape Walker was most thorough. He lee entered the Uni 1S5, without graduation. He read law under Judge A. F. Hopkins. and was early admitted to the bar. Prior to 1855 he practiced his profession at Canton, lee hoIl nl Ala. In 1S43 and 1S4f he represented Law renee County in the lower House. He represented Lauderdale County in the lower House in 1s47, iS49 and in 1S5a. He was speaker of the session of 1S47. In iSiS he was presidential eiector. He was a judge of the circuit court 1S50-5l
 Removing to Huntsville in 1855. he prac- ticed law in partnership with the late Judge R. c. Brickell and Septimus D. Cabaniss. He was of the delegates from Alabama to tho Charleston C,onven- ton in 1860. When Alabama seeded. he was sent as commissioner to the State of Tennessee to urge before its Legisla- ture the importance of cooperation.
 When President Jefferson Davis came to make up his cabinet, he selected MT. Walker for the position of Secretary of War The first message sent by MT. Da- wis to the Provisional Congress is dated February 2l, 1881, and contained the names of Robert Toombs for Secretary of State, c. G. Memminger for Secre- tary or the Treasury. and Leroy Pope Walker for Secretary of War. Of his public service in this connection. Hon. Willis Brewer says: ''The task of orga- nizing and equipping armies almost with out materials and with resources limited to the patriotic ardor of the people, was a herculean one. His labors were inces- sant. and when he resigned in the au- tumn of 1861 his health was shattered. The precise motive for his retirement from the cabinet is not known. and will probably not be from his lips; but the belief is general that the self confidence of Mir. Davis first exhibited itself in the too much respect for the responsibility and dignity of his position to permit 1t to be subordinated to a mere cierkship." "
 After leaving the cabinet, he was. on September 17. 1861. appointed Brigadier- General, and placed in command of Mo bile, but on March 31. 1882. he resigned. The following wear he was appointed judge of military court, and served until the close of the war.
 After the war General Walker practiced | his profession with great success 1T Huntsville. As stated he was President | over the Constitutional Convention oI | Alabama in 1875. He was a man of strix. | ing personality. His oratoricai powers ! were considerable. As a presiding officer he IS said never to, have had an equal | in Alabama.
 His first wife was from Mississippi, and his second wife, well known in M1ntgom- cry, was a daughter of Hon. William D. Pickett His son. Dr. Leroy Pope Walk CT. IS leading physician residing at No 25 East Twenty-fourth Street, New York City.
 General Walker died at Huntsville, Au- gust 9, 1884