Letter from Rev. James H. Brennan to James Pickens Walker Jr. re: funeral of James Pickens Walker Sr.
Book 2, Page 253 ·1960
Transcription
A typed letter on printed letterhead.
Printed header centered at the top:
Episcopal Church
CHURCH OF THE TRANSFIGURATION WEST MAIN STREET BUCKHANNON, W. VA.
At upper left:
The REV. JAMES H. BRENNAN
At upper right:
PHONE 1856
Typed body:
December 6, 1960
Mr. James Pickens Walker 4275 Garibaldi Ave. Jacksonville, Florida.
Dear Mr. Walker:
I am deeply sorry that we had to meet under such trying and unhappy circumstances, but I was, nevertheless, very grateful that I could be present and of some service. I called on your aunt last week, and we had a most enjoyable chat—I think we are going to be very good friends.
I send this note off to you merely to let you know that I am at your disposal if I can be of any further assistance. Anything you desire, such as flowers on the grave, etc., you need only inform me accordingly and it will be done.
With every good wish to your family, I am,
Faithfully,
[signed] James Brennan
The Rev. James H. Brennan
Pencilled annotation in a later hand across the lower portion of the page:
This letter is referring to the funeral of James Pickens Walker Sr. who died in Jacksonville Fla. November 19, 1960 and was buried in Philippi, West Virginia.
AI Notes
A typed letter on Episcopal Church / Church of the Transfiguration letterhead (Buckhannon, W. Va.), signed in blue ink by the Rev. James H. Brennan, addressed to Mr. James Pickens Walker at 4275 Garibaldi Ave., Jacksonville, FL (the Walker family’s Jacksonville address — the same address used in 1969 by Mrs. James Pickens Walker Jr. for the Colonial Dames Papers #220 application). A pencilled annotation in a later hand runs across the lower half of the sheet identifying this as a condolence letter following the death of James Pickens Walker Sr. on 19 Nov 1960. [The pencil annotation is in the same hand seen on other 1960s annotations elsewhere in this album (probably the compiler Amy Perry Walker or her daughter-in-law Mrs. James Pickens Walker Jr.). The recipient at the Garibaldi Avenue Jacksonville address is therefore the compiler’s son James Pickens Walker Jr. The reference to ‘your aunt’ visited the previous week in Buckhannon WV is a Walker-side relation; J.P. Walker Sr.'s burial in Philippi WV (the Barbour County seat ~25 miles from Buckhannon) confirms the Walker family’s West Virginia origins. The phone number on the letterhead is 1856 — a low local exchange number typical of 1960 small-town West Virginia.]
The recipient is the deceased’s son James Pickens Walker Jr. at the family’s Jacksonville home. The burial in Philippi, Barbour County WV, marks J. P. Walker Sr.'s return to the Walker family seat — he was born at Overfield, WV in 1883, the son of S. C. Walker and Emma Dee Pickens, and lived in Charleston, Savannah, and Jacksonville during a long railroad and business career before his death on 19 November 1960.