John A. Walters Papers, 1905-1959 | Eastern Kentucky University - Special Collections and Archives

By Susan Wheatley

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Collection Overview

Title: John A. Walters Papers, 1905-1959

Primary Creator: Walters, John A. (1877-1959)

Extent: 3.52 Cubic Feet

Date Acquired: 11/12/1996

Subjects: Kentucky River (Ky.)

Languages: English

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The John Adams Walters, Sr. papers consist of two collections that have been assembled into one. In the journals Walters had carefully recorded the daily water levels and weather activities, at Lock 10, near Boonesborough on the Kentucky River. The seventy five volumes cover the years 1905 to 1946. The journals and diaries reflect life styles and activities on the Kentucky River. Mr. Walters recorded the day and times various water crafts passed though Lock 10. The diaries for the most part record daily weather conditions, and family activities, travel to friends houses, the death of relatives and friends, and major river events.

Biographical Note

John Adams Walters, Sr. was born on January 25, 1877 in Estill County, Kentucky to William Henry and Martha Wilson Walters. Mr. Walters received an eighth grade education in the common schools of Estill County. On January 13, 1898 Adams married Jennie Mable Easter in Estill County. Out of the thirteen children they had ten lived to adulthood with twins Virgil and Myrtle dying in early infancy and Richard Carl Walter drowning in the Kentucky River in 1917 at age nine.

The Walters' family entire life was spent in and around the Kentucky River. Mr. Walters worked in log booms for 50 cents per day and rode log rafts down the Kentucky River. In 1900 the family moved to Ford Kentucky, where Mr. Walters worked at Burt and Brabb Lumber Company. In 1906 Adams was employed as a laborer at U.S. Lock 10 on the Kentucky River at Boonesborough. The next year he became lockmaster at Lock 10. In 1912 Walters was transferred to Lock 7 at High Bridge on the Kentucky as lockmaster. Two years later he was transferred back to Lock 10 and remained there as lockmaster until he retired in October 1941. His son J.A. Walters, Jr., briefly replaced his father, but soon left for service in World War II. John Adams Walters, Sr. was reinstated as lockmaster until his son returned from the war in 1946 to assume the lockmaster position. Walters, Sr., lived in the lockmaster house until 1952. He died on November 21, 1959 and was buried in the Richmond Cemetery.

Subject/Index Terms

Kentucky River (Ky.)

Administrative Information

Repository: Eastern Kentucky University - Special Collections and Archives

Acquisition Source: Major, Nancy & Dorothy Richards

Other Note: In the mid-1980s the family of Mr. Walters donated his original daily log books and journals to the Kentucky Historical Society. In November 1996 Mrs. Dorothy Richards, one of Mr. Walters' daughters, donated his original personal diaries covering the years 1936 to 1958 to the Eastern Kentucky Special Collections and Archives. The archives made several photocopies of the diaries for distribution to the Walters family and sent one copy to the Kentucky Historical Society. This collection also includes photocopies of the original daily log books that are housed at the Kentucky Historical Society.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Box:

[Box 1],
[Box 2],
[Box 3],
[Box 4],
[Box 5],
[Box 6],
[Box 7],
[Box 8],
[All]

Box 1

Barcode: 31234014058778

Folder 1: County Road Survey, 1905: Survey for County Road opposite Lock # 10 near Ford, Ky., 1905. Photocopy of a notebook that included survey plats and diagrams as well as measurements of each section on the road.
Folder 2: Lockmaster Time Books, 1907-1941: Boonesborough Lockmaster Time books for the years 1907-1941. These photocopied pages show names of men employed by the lockmaster and the hours they worked.
Folder 3: Lockmaster Log Books, 1905-1926: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, January 13, 1905- December 31, 1926. These photocopied volumes record the weather, river conditions and temperature and water level above and below the lock.
Folder 4: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, April 1, 1905 - July 27, 1905
Folder 5: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, November 11, 1905 - December 20, 1905
Folder 6: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, July 1, 1906 - November 30, 1906
Folder 7: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, November 31, 1906 -December 22, 1906
Folder 8: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, April 17, 1907 - July 31, 1907
Folder 9: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, August 1, 1907 - December 31, 1907
Folder 10: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, May 30, 1907 - August 31, 1908
Folder 11: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, January 1, 1908 - July 5, 1908
Folder 12: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, July 6, 1908 - December 31, 1908
Folder 13: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, January 7, 1909 - June 4, 1909
Folder 14: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, June 7, 1909 - September 30, 1909
Folder 15: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, September 22, 1909 - August 31, 1910
Folder 16: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, October 1, 1909 - February 28, 1910
Folder 17: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, March 1, 1910 - July 30, 1910
Folder 18: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, August 1, 1910 - February 23, 1911
Folder 19: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, February 24, 1911 - August 1, 1911
Folder 20: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, August 1, 1911 - February 1, 1912
Folder 21: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, February 1, 1912 - June 30, 1912
Folder 22: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, July 1, 1912 - December 31, 1912
Folder 23: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, January 1, 1922 - June 18, 1922
Folder 24: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, July 10, 1922 - October 27, 1922
Folder 25: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, November 1, 1922 - April 11, 1923
Folder 26: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, April 11, 1923 - August 31, 1923
Folder 27: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, September 1, 1923 - January 31, 1924
Folder 28: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, February 1, 1924 - July 31, 1924
Folder 29: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, December 26, 1924 - August 21, 1925
Folder 30: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, January 1, 1925 - June 30, 1925
Folder 31: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, July 1, 1925 - December 31, 1925
Folder 32: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, January 1, 1926 - June 30, 1926
Folder 33: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, July 1, 1926 - December 31, 1926

Box 2

Barcode: 31234014058760

Folder 1: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, January 1, 1927 - July 31, 1927
Folder 2: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, August 1, 1927 - Febuary 1, 1928
Folder 3: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, Febuary 1, 1928 - July 31, 1928
Folder 4: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, August 1, 1928 - Decermber 31, 1928
Folder 5: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, January 1, 1929 - June 30, 1929
Folder 6: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, July 1, 1929 - Decermber 30, 1929
Folder 7: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, June 29, 1930 - January 22, 1930
Folder 8: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, July 1, 1930 - Decermber 31, 1930
Folder 9: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, January 1, 1931 - July 1, 1931
Folder 10: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, July 1, 1931 - Decermber 31, 1931
Folder 11: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, January 1, 1932 - July 31, 1932
Folder 12: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, August 1, 1932 - Febuary 28, 1933
Folder 13: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, March 1, 1933 - September 30, 1933
Folder 14: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, October 1, 1933 - April 30, 1934
Folder 15: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, May 1, 1934 - October 31, 1934
Folder 16: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, November 1, 1934 - April 30, 1935
Folder 17: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, May 1, 1935 - September 30, 1935
Folder 18: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, October 1, 1935 - March 31, 1936
Folder 19: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, April 1, 1936 - September 30, 1936
Folder 20: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, October 1, 1936 - May 30, 1937
Folder 21: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, June 1, 1937 - November 30, 1937
Folder 22: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, Decermber 1, 1937 - June 30, 1938
Folder 23: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, July 1, 1938 - July 15, 1938
Folder 24: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, July 1, 1938 - January 31, 1939
Folder 25: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, Febuary 1, 1939 - August 31, 1939
Folder 26: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, September 1, 1939 - March 31, 1940
Folder 27: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, April 1, 1940 - October 31, 1940
Folder 28: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, November 1, 1940 - May 31, 1941
Folder 29: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, June 1, 1941 - Decermber 31, 1941
Folder 30: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, January 1, 1942 - January 5, 1943
Folder 31: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, August 1, 1942 - January 28, 1943
Folder 32: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, Febuary 1, 1943 - August 31, 1943
Folder 33: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, September 1, 1943 - May 1, 1944
Folder 34: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, May 1, 1944 .- Decermber 31, 1944
Folder 35: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, January 1, 1945 - January 10, 1946
Folder 36: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, August 1, 1945 - January 31, 1946
Folder 37: Boonesborough Lockmaster Log books, Febuary 1, 1946 - September 1, 1946

Box 3

Barcode: 31234014058752

Folder 1: Daily Journal, 1936
Folder 2: Daily Journal, 1937
Folder 3: Daily Journal, 1938
Folder 4: Daily Journal, 1939
Folder 5: Daily Journal, 1940
Folder 6: Daily Journal, 1941
Folder 7: Daily Journal, 1942
Folder 8: Daily Journal, 1943
Folder 9: Daily Journal, 1944
Folder 10: Daily Journal, 1945
Folder 11: Daily Journal, 1945
Folder 12: Daily Journal, 1946

Box 4

Barcode: 31234014058745

Folder 1: Daily Journal, 1947
Folder 2: Daily Journal, 1948
Folder 3: Daily Journal, 1949
Folder 4: Daily Journal, 1950
Folder 5: Daily Journal, 1951
Folder 6: Daily Journal, 1952
Folder 7: Daily Journal, 1953
Folder 8: Daily Journal, 1954
Folder 9: Daily Journal, 1955
Folder 10: Daily Journal, 1956
Folder 11: Daily Journal, 1957
Folder 12: Daily Journal, 1958

Box 5

Barcode: 31234014058729

Folder 1: Daily Journal (Photocopies), 1936
Folder 2: Daily Journal (Photocopies), 1937
Folder 3: Daily Journal (Photocopies), 1938
Folder 4: Daily Journal (Photocopies), 1939
Folder 5: Daily Journal (Photocopies), 1940
Folder 6: Daily Journal (Photocopies), 1941
Folder 7: Daily Journal (Photocopies), 1942

Box 6

Barcode: 31234014058737

Folder 1: Daily Journal (Photocopies), 1943
Folder 2: Daily Journal (Photocopies), 1944
Folder 3: Daily Journal (Photocopies), 1945
Folder 4: Daily Journal (Photocopies), 1946
Folder 5: Daily Journal (Photocopies), 1947

Box 7

Barcode: 31234014058711

Folder 1: Daily Journal (Photocopies), 1948
Folder 2: Daily Journal (Photocopies), 1949
Folder 3: Daily Journal (Photocopies), 1950
Folder 4: Daily Journal (Photocopies), 1951
Folder 5: Daily Journal (Photocopies), 1952

Box 8

Barcode: 31234014058703

Folder 1: Daily Journal (Photocopies), 1953
Folder 2: Daily Journal (Photocopies), 1954
Folder 3: Daily Journal (Photocopies), 1955
Folder 4: Daily Journal (Photocopies), 1956
Folder 5: Daily Journal (Photocopies), 1957
Folder 6: Daily Journal (Photocopies), 1958

Browse by Box:

[Box 1],
[Box 2],
[Box 3],
[Box 4],
[Box 5],
[Box 6],
[Box 7],
[Box 8],
[All]