Harvey Colonel

Background

Harvey Washington Walter was born in Fairfield, Ohio on May 21, 1819.

Career

He served as the President of the Mississippi Central Railroad. He succumbed to the yellow fever after turning it into a hospital for patients in 1878. Walter moved to Holly Springs, Mississippi, where he practised the Law.

He also served as the President of the Mississippi Central Railroad.

During the Civil War, Colonel Walter served as a Judge Advocate under General Bragg in the Confederate States Army. When Confederate General Earl Van Dorn liberated Holly Springs, Walter forbid him to enter the house until Julia Grant has gone out.

To thank him, the Union Army did not ransack the house. Julia Dent Grant"s version of this story, as published in her memoirs, differs slightly.

She goes on to say that Van Dorn"s men wanted to take her belongings, but were refused access to the Walter"s house, but they did burn her coach and take the horses.

Van Dorn"s intention was not to liberate the town but to destroy materiel that may have been of benefit to the Union troops and then withdraw. In 1878, Walter turned his mansion into a hospital for patients suffering from the yellow fever. All four died of the disease within a week of each other

Walter died of yellow fever in 1878.

He was buried at the Hillcrest Cemetery in Holly Springs, Mississippi.

Achievements

• His mansion, Walter Place, was inherited by his widow until it was acquired by his son-in-law, Oscar Johnson, Senior, the co-founder of the International Shoe Company and husband of daughter Irene, in 1889.