Walter Hilton - Bishop Post, G.A.R.

Walter Hilton was a hometown boy, born and raised in Defiance, mainly Brunersburg, with his parents, Brice and Sophia Hilton.  His household was always full with boarding workers and domestic servants.  In 1850, when Walter was 5 and his brother, Ezra, was 3, the household also contained five other people, including the Donleys, Hugh and Henry, William Donty (Douty) and Mary Edings.
The same held true for 1860.  

Walter was out of school and defined as a laborer in 1860.  Born on February 12, 1845, he was 19 when he enlisted into Company D, 140th Illinois Volunteer Army on May 5, 1864.  All sources agreed on the enlistment in Illinois.  Had he gone there to work outside the home and then enlisted?  He served a little over five months, being discharged on October 27, 1864. His entry on the 1890 census of Defiance County noted no disabilities.

 
Walter came back from his short time after the war and moved back in with his parents: Brice, 62, and Sophia, 50.  In 1870, Brice had real estate worth $47,850 and a personal worth of $11,000, so he was doing quite well for himself.  Walter, 25, listed his occupation as bookkeeper - rather for his father or some one else is unknown. The family had expanded to add two more brothers, Lyman, 11, and John, 9. Three farm laborers lived with them and one domestic servant. 

Sometime between 1875 and 1880, Walter married Margaret Fox Moore, called Maggie.  No official record of the marriage could be located online or in the Defiance marriages.  By 1880, they were settled into their own home in Noble Township with their only child, Eva M. (Evelyn Moore Hilton), 3.  No occupation was listed for Walter at the time, but the newspapers indicated that he jumped right into the work of a merchant and a public servant.

Walter Hilton was a strong Republican and served on committees for the party.  He was County Treasurer for awhile and, in 1882, ran for Postmaster.  He also served as a collector for the canal and was a candidate for Recorder.  The Defiance County Republican and Express of July 18, 1890 noted,

"Walter Hilton is a merchant in this city and like all the rest of the Hiltons was never known to work for or to vote anything but the Republican ticket.  He has been associated with the leading Republican workers in the county for years and is well posted on political affairs."

He (and his father) also had a booming business at 316 Clinton Street where he sold clothing.  

Defiance Democrat, December 1, 1882

The doors of the store were
closed in January, 1894, and Mr Hilton's house went for auction in March, 1895.  Walter had creditors who wanted their money, and his business apparently was not doing well.  In addition, his wife was in poor health.  
So at some point between 1895 and 1899, he and his family moved to Washington, D.C.



 The Defiance Express reported on March 2, 1899, that someone from Defiance had visited the Hiltons in Washington, D. C. 

"Walter Hilton was also visited.  He is looking well, and has a position in the paymaster's department of the Second Auditor of the Treasury.  All the payroll of the 6th regiment and Co. M pass through Mr. Hilton's hands.  Mrs. Hilton and daughter, Eva, are pleasantly located at a cozy home withing a few blocks of the Treasury Department, and Mr. Hilton says he enjoys his new home very much.  Mrs. Hilton's health was quite poor at the time she left Defiance, is much improved."

In 1900, the Hiltons lived at 1234 North Carolina Avenue in Washington, D.C.  Walter's job was government, while Margaret, 52, and Evelyn (Eva), 22, did not work.  Their boarder, Beulah Boggs, 19, worked as a clerk in the railroad office.  

By 1910, Evelyn (Eva) had married Benjamin Boon, also a U.S. clerk.  Now Benjamin, 27, was the head of the family, and he and Evelyn had a son, Thomas S.  Walter, still a clerk at 65, and Margaret, lived with them on Park Street. 

Walter was 74 and Margaret was 72 when the census enumerator came around to Monroe Street, N.E. in Washington, D.C. in 1920.  They lived still with Benjamin and Evelyn and two children, Gordon, 9, and Corinne, 1.  Benjamin was an officer in the Salvation Army.

At some point after this census, Walter and Margaret moved to Tucson, Pima County, Arizona, and that was where Walter died on August 1, 1924.  His death certificate cites uremia or kidney failure as the cause of death.

In a "Do You Remember?" column in a Defiance newspaper of 1925 remembered Walter Hilton this way:

No obituary could be found for either Walter or Margaret, who passed away in 1928.  They were buried at the Evergreen Memorial Park cemetery in Tucson, Arizona.



 (This is part of a series on Civil War veterans of Defiance County who were part of the G.A.R., Bishop Post, that headquartered in the city.  Formed in 1879, the post was named after a local man, Captain William Bishop, Company D, 100th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Army who died as a result of wounds received in battle.  The veterans' photos are part of a composite photo of members that has survived.  If you have other information or corrections to add to the soldiers' stories, please add to the comments!)