Athalia: Child of Happiness

There are so many thoughts and emotions at the loss of my grandmother yesterday.  There is so much to share to honor the extraordinary life and continued presence in our lives of this beautiful spirit.  As an historian and archivist, I am able to take a longer view, back before the living memory of anyone in the family, so while I will undoubtedly share my own experiences and memories of Athalia Ogden Barker in the days and months ahead, let us start with her name.

Her mother, Margaret Stearns Olmsted, wrote a genealogical memoir for her descendants near the end of her life in 1952.  In it she shares the origins of "Athalia" in our family, a name that continues with my Great Aunt, two cousins, and three 1st cousins once removed.

On a June day in 1837 when the petals of the apple trees all had dropped and rose vines bloomed on the old house a baby girl was born. - not such an event perhaps as she was the 10th baby to be born to Sarah and William Walker and the seventh little sister but important to us for they named her Athalia. The Biblical name is of Hebrew origin and means in the ancient language "Child of Happiness."  All the other Walker children have recognizable family names from one side of the family or another - sometimes in combination - but this little girl was given the name of a friend of her Mother's ; Athalia Lucilla Tiernan of Baltimore. 

For many years we knew only the name of this friend who visited 'in the Valley', but one day in the late '80s at Narragansett Pier where we were spending a summer holiday Mr. John Shier an old gentleman from Baltimore spoke to my mother who was wearing a pin forming the name 'Thalia''.  He said; "I am interested in that pin of yours, is it your name?"  And when Mother answered 'Yes' he said; "I have only known that name once before, it belonged to a gentle Quaker lady I was taken to visit when a child.  Her name was Athalia Lucilla Tiernan.'  Mother's reply surprised them both for she said; "The Aunt whose name I bear was named for her.'

Athalia Lucilla Tiernan Walker was pretty and gay and much loved by her brothers and sisters.  I have heard many of them speak of her.  They all called her 'little Thalia', the diminutive being a term of endearment.  She died when she was 21 - a great sorrow to them all.  5 of the sisters and brothers gave the name to their children and that name lives on and is often heard to-day not only in the Valley but wherever there are Walker descendants.

One of those sisters was Margaret Currie Walker, who married John Owen Stearns in 1842.  She gave the  name to her eldest daughter, Mary Athalia Stearns, the mother of the writer of the passage above who wore the pin to Narragansett Pier.  My grandmother Athalia Ogden wears it in this photograph from the late 1920s or very early 1930s, and I suspect if it remains in the family it has been passed along to my Aunt Happy, whose first name is also Athalia, or perhaps by now to her daughter Leila (another namesake).  If ever there were someone who embodied the name "Child of Happiness", it was my grandmother Athalia.

Comments

[Tim Abbott]

That is the way it is pronounced. Thanks for considering it for your daughter. Tim

[Kumako]

How do you pronounce Athalia? It looks to me like uh-THAY-lee-uh. If so, it's very pretty and I would certainly consider naming a daughter this.

[Tim Abbott]

Dear Athalia; And you have made my morning! I'll revisit my archives tonight to provide you with proper lines of descent, but we share William and Sarah (Pennypacker) Walker as our direct ancestors. I have photographs of both, scanned at home, which I will forward. This means we also have the Currie line through Margaret (Currie) Walker mother of William. In the archives of my blog, you can find some posts that relate to the Walker branches under the heading Olmsted Genealogy.

Margaret Currie Walker was my GGG Grandmother, and child of William and Sarah. She married John Owen Stearns.

Their daughter Mary Athalia Stearns married William Nisbet Olmsted.

Their daughter Margaret Stearns Olmsted married Archibald Gracie Ogden.

Their daughter Athalia Stearns Ogden married Robert Howard Barker

Their daughter (my mother) Elizabeth "Betsy" Gracie Barker married Donald Blanchard Abbott

[Athalia Howell]

In setting up my facebook page and looking for an appropriate image to use as my picture I found this blog...WOW. The hand colored photograph featured in this blog is hanging in my front hall. I too am named after Athalia LT Walker.

My GGG Grandparents were William and Sarah Walker...their 6th child was Mathias Pennypacker Walker who married Eliza Rambo (GG Grandparents).
Their oldest child..a daugher was my great grandmother..Anna Brodis Walker..who married James McFarland.
One of their 3 daughters was my grandmother...Emma McFarland who married my grandfather Sam Platt.
My dad was Richard E Platt of STL Mo.

I was always told I was named after my dad's favorite aunt..Aunt Thal. Aunt Thal was the 3rd child of Mathis PennyPacker Walker. She married Sam Kendal.

I confused by your connection (my siser Tacy and I discussed this prior ot the email and we might have messed the genology up).

We show William/Sara Walker had a 3rd child named Margaret Currie who married John Sterns.

However we also show (in our direct line) that William/Sara had our decent Mathias Pennypacker...who married Sara Rambo..thier 1st child was our great grandmther Anna Broadis..but thier 2nd child ws John O Sterns....

Not sure what line you came down.

You are so lucky to know so many Athalia's...I know none..that are living...I would love to have a Name connection...actaully I really like this connection.

My dad..now deceased shared many wonderful memories of summer in the Valley with ALL of his family...sound like you might live in the area.

You have made my evening...thank you...

A

[Lauren]

I stumbled upon this blog by accident. My name is Lauren Athalia. I am the 4th generation Athalia in my family. I thought you might like to know the story of how my great grandmother was named Athalia. She was born July 4th, 1900 and her parents could not come up with a suitable name. So they called her "Baby". One day while Baby and her mother where home alone a hunter came by for a drink of water on a hot day. He saw my great grandmother and asked my great-great grandmother her name. And she said she didn’t have one yet. He asked if she would consider calling her Athalia after his late wife. If she did so he promised he would make it worth her while and he pressed a silver dollar into Baby's hand. She promised to write him once she talked it over with her husband, my great-great grandfather. They did name my great grandmother Athalia but my great-great grandmother was not allowed to write the gentleman from the north because it was improper for a married woman. A few years later she read in the paper that the man died and because he had no heir he left his millions of dollars to the state of Pennsylvania. All I know is that he was a doctor from Pennsylvania and he had no children. I've always wondered about the original Athalia and what might have happened if the rich Dr. knew his wife's name did live on. I wonder if there is any connection between our families.
- Lauren Athalia