Benjamin Walker (New York)
Captain Benjamin Walker was a soldier in the American Revolutionary War and later served as a U.S. Representative from New York.
'', by John Trumbull, shows Walker standing directly behind Washington
He was born in London, England, where he attended the Blue-Coat School. After immigrating to the United States, he settled in New York City. During the American Revolutionary War, he was an aide-de-camp to General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben and subsequently as a member of the staff of General George Washington. On December 23, 1783, he was with Washington when he resigned his commission as commander-in-chief.
Together with a fellow aide-de-camp, William North, he was formally adopted by Steuben, and made his heir. Some historians believe that these 'extraordinary intense emotional relationships' were romantic, and given Steuben's reported earlier behaviour, it has been suggested it would have been out-of-character for him if they were not. It has also been posited that while Walker held the Baron in high esteem, and had no scruples about exploiting his attraction for him, he had no intention of reciprocating. However, without more substantive evidence turning up, the exact nature of the relationships is impossible to define conclusively.
From March 21, 1791 until February 20, 1798, Walker served as a captain and as naval officer of customs at the port of New York. He was moved to Fort Schuyler, now Utica, in New York State, in 1797. He also worked as an agent of the great landed estate of the Earl of Bath.
Walker was elected as a Federalist to the Seventh Congress. After his tenure, he declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1802.
Walker died in Utica, New York, on January 13, 1818. He was first interred in the Old Village Burying Ground on Water Street but was exhumed and reinterred in Forest Hill Cemetery, Utica on June 17, 1875.
Walker Street in Manhattan was named in his honor.
