Sacramento County
Biographies
JOSEPH
EDWARD WALKER
The city of Sacramento numbers among its prosperous and enterprising citizens
Joseph Edward Walker, whose place of business, located at Nos. 1018-20-22 Fifth street, is one of the most flourishing places in the city today.
He is the son of John L. Walker, a native of New York City, who early moved to Calumet, Mich., where Joseph E. was born. John L. Walker was for
seventeen years a timber contractor for the Calumet & Hecla
Copper Company, at Calumet, Mich. whither he had removed, and at the end of that period he
went to Neihart, Mont., where he was the timber contractor for different coal
companies in the state. He is now living retired in Sacramento, his wife having died in Montana. Before her marriage she was Agnes Mosher, whose
birth occurred in Montreal,
and to her union with John L. Walker there was born a family of eight children,
of whom Joseph E. was the fifth in order of birth.
On November 25, 1883, Joseph Edward Walker was born in Calumet, Mich., where he removed with his parents to Neihart, Mont. After completing the course in the public schools he
learned the trade of baker in Neihart, going from
there to Arizona, where he followed the trade of baker and cook, and for one year was with the Greene Consolidated
Copper Company, at Cananea, Mex., in this
capacity. From there he went to Los Angeles about 1902, holding positions with several of the leading
hotels and cafes there. Next he was chef in Eureka, Cal., until the rush to Goldfield, Nev., when he decided to remove thither, and opened a
restaurant in the new camp. Such was his success there that he later ran
two businesses of this kind, also having restaurants at Manhattan, Ely and Wonder. It was in 1908 that he finally
located in Sacramento as his permanent place of residence, and starting the
restaurant which he called the Gift Edge Cafe in the old Newburgh mill
on Fifth street, he built up a most prosperous business, selling it out a
year later at a good profit. This place has been remodeled into a
business place from the old mill place, but it remained for Mr. Walker to use
his energy and excellent taste in fitting it for a cafe, such as he finally
owned. After selling this place he opened the Bon Ton Cafe on K street, which proved a profitable undertaking, and a year later
he sold it for $12,000, this in itself indicating the exceptional ability Mr.
Walker had for conducting and building up a business of this sort. Since
New Year's Day, 1912, he has conducted the Walker's Cafe, having remodeled the
building on Fifth street, where it is located, and by placing new fixtures and
giving it the finishing touches which only an experienced hand like Mr.
Walker's could accomplish, he enjoys most satisfactory returns. It is now
the largest cafe in the city, giving proof of his close application to the
details of the work and his unusually clever executive ability. He has
profited by his more than ten years' experience in this line of work in many
progressive cities in the country, and was quick to see the opportunity of a
fruitful field for his labors in the city of Sacramento.
Mr. Walker's first marriage occurred in Eureka, Cal., when he married Miss Kittie
McGrath, a native of Eureka. Her death occurred twenty months after her marriage
in Goldfield, Nev. In July, 1908, he married in Ely, Nev., Miss Carrie Rindahl, born in Michigan, and to this union has been born one child, Naomi.
Mrs. Walker is a popular member of the Ladies of the Macabees,
while her husband unites with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and also
the Order of Eagles. A staunch Republican in political principle, he is
actively interested in all civic movements for the advancement of the general
welfare, and as the successful and progressive proprietor of his most profitable
business fills the place of a patriotic citizen.
Transcribed by Sally Kaleta.
Source: Willis,
William L., History of Sacramento
County, California, Pages 594-595. Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1913.
© 2005 Sally Kaleta.