Political activity doesn’t necessarily curry favor, especially in early Omaha. In the time after he was the mayor of Florence, one civic leader found that Nebraska officials were still gunning for his economic wellbeing. This is a biography of Edwin H. Walker.

Arriving in nearby Omaha in 1863, Edwin H. Walker (1846-1923) was married Elizabeth “Bessie” Walker (1850-1921) while working for a saddlery and harness company in downtown. Bessie and he had at least six kids, Emma, Lizzie, Tom, Mae, Jessie and Warren.

Moving to Fort Laramie, Wyoming for a year in 1872, he came back to Nebraska and settled in Florence, where he was a real estate salesman. Walker served as the mayor of Florence in the 1870s. Joining the Omaha volunteer fire department, he was later chief of the Florence Fire Department for a few years. He became a farmer of grapes in 1898.

In 1919, state liquor agents seized more than 5,000 gallons of wine in 105 barrels valued at from the Walker estate because of the state’s early adoption of Prohibition. The Walker family claimed innocence and that they hadn’t manufactured any new wine since before the Prohibition began in 1917, and that the stores they had were kept for area churches only.

His wife died in 1920, and Mr. Walker died three years later. Funeral services were held at the Florence Presbyterian Church and he was buried at Forest Lawn.

Today, there are no monuments or memorials to Walker in Florence or beyond.

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MY ARTICLES ABOUT THE HISTORY OF FLORENCE
Basics: History | Banks | Newspapers | Churches | Mayors
Public Places: Florence Main Street | Florence High School | The Mormon Tree | Mormon Bridge | Florence Boulevard | River Drive | J.J. Pershing Drive and Monument | Potter’s Field
Businesses: Florence Mill | Zestos | Florence Home | Florence Bank | Florence Mill | Florence Ferry | Florence Water Works | Florence Depot
Houses: Parker Mansion | Brandeis Country Home | Lantry-Thompson Mansion | Mitchell House | Hunt Mansion
Other Historic Places: Cutler’s Park | Winter Quarters | Vennelyst Park | Florence Building
People: James M. Parker | James Comey Mitchell | Florence Kilborn | Jacob Weber Sr.
Neighborhoods: Winter Quarters | Florence Field | Wyman Heights | High Point
Mormon History Locations: Mormon Pioneer Memorial Bridge | Site of the Mormon Tree | Cutler’s Park | Brigham Young House | Mormon Mill
Other: Directory of Florence Historic Places