East  Providence
250th Celebration

Captain Richard Walker was born on March 10, 1758 to Enos and Patience (Peck) Walker. On June 26, 1783 he married Abigail Estabrooks, daughter of John and Abigail (Abell) Estabrooks. Together they had two children: Esther and Abigail. Their daughter Abigail was born on June 9, 1786 and mom Abigail passed away 3 days later. On October 29, 1787, Richard married Sarah Ormsbee, daughter of Abraham and Sibel (Cummings). Together they had two children: Lewis and Sarah.

 

Richard Walker served in the American Revolutionary War. According to his extensive US Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty records, on  July 1, 1775 he  enlisted, as a substitute for his father Enos, in the Massachusetts State Militia as a private in Captain John Perry’s Company in Colonel Timothy Walker’s Regiment and General Heath’s Brigade. This timeframe coincides with the Siege of Boston, which began after the Battles of Lexington and Concord. It was an eleven month operation, beginning in late April, 1775 where colonial militia surrounded British forces in Boston, ending with a decisive American victory and British evacuation in March of 1776. Richard’s company marched from Rehoboth to Roxbury, near Boston, and he remained there until his discharge on January 1, 1776.

 

On that same day, Richard enlisted in the Continental Army. He served as a private under Captain Andrew Peter and Colonel Joseph Read in the Massachusetts 13th Continental Regiment. His unit participated in the pivotal Battle of Trenton in New Jersey on December 26, 1776. It was part of the forces that crossed the Delaware River. Richard served until December 31, 1776.

 

In February of 1777, Richard enlisted in the Rhode Island Militia for one month. He served in Colonel Amos Atwell’s Regiment. The unit marched from Rehoboth to Pawtucket, RI. 

 

From May 1, 1777 to October 1, 1777, Richard served as a private aboard a 22-gun ship that traveled from Boston to the English Channel and then on to France. He was then discharged after his six- month term came to an end. 

 

He reenlisted in the Massachusetts State Militia as a private from August 1, 1778 to October 16, 1778. He served in Captain Peleg Peck’s Company in Colonel Thomas Carpenter’s Regiment. They marched from Swansea to Tiverton, Rhode Island, and then on to Greenwich. In August 1778, the Revolutionary War featured the Rhode Island Campaign, marking the first major joint operation between American and French forces to retake British-occupied Newport. During the  campaign, a portion of the troops were stationed at Warwick Neck on the eastern shore of Narragansett Bay. This positioning was part of the larger American effort to lay siege to and oust the British from Newport, which ultimately culminated in the Battle of Rhode Island (also known as the Battle of Quaker Hill) in Portsmouth, Rhode Island on August 29, 1778. 

 

And lastly, Richard reenlisted in August of 1780 and served for nine days in Captain Nathaniel Ide’s Company in Colonel Thomas Carpenter’s Regiment. The unit marched from Rehoboth to Tiverton and was stationed at the Quaker Meeting House. In August 1780, Tiverton, Rhode Island, served as a vital support and logistics base for the Patriot cause, even as major combat operations shifted to the Southern theater. While the famous Battle of Rhode Island took place two years earlier in August 1778, Tiverton remained a strategic hub for supplying and protecting the region in 1780.

 

After the war, Richard returned to his homestead in Rehoboth, which was renamed Seekonk in 1812. His house is still standing at 17 Centre St. in Rumford, RI. According to the Memorial of the Walkers Old Plymouth Colony, while at the Battle of Trenton, Richard aided in removing an injured Colonel Monroe, later President Monroe, from the battlefield. When the President made his visit to New England in 1817, Captain Walker was introduced to him and “received the warm expression of the President’s gratitude.”

 

Richard died on February 24, 1841 in Seekonk, MA at the age of 83. He is buried in Newman Cemetery in Rumford, RI. His gravesite is marked with a slate stone engraved with the words “An Honest Man.” In the spring of 2025, TNT Gravestone Solutions was hired by the city of East Providence to repair and reset 112 gravestones with priority given to Revolutionary War soldiers’ stones. Richard’s gravestone was deemed too fragile to repair. 

 

Captain Richard Walker is remembered for his service in the fight for American independence. His contribution helped secure freedom for future generations.