Rosa Kershaw Walker

Rosa Kershaw Walker (née, Kershaw; after first marriage, Turnbull; after second marriage, Walker; literary initials, R. K. Walker; 1840s – May 7, 1909) was an American author, journalist, and newspaper editor of the long nineteenth century. She was one of the best-known literary women in St. Louis, Missouri,[1] and a pioneer woman journalist of that city.[2]

Rosa Kershaw Walker
"A Woman of the Century"
"A Woman of the Century"
BornRosa (or, Rose) Sarah Kershaw
1840s
Mississippi, U.S.
DiedMay 7, 1909
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Resting placeBellefontaine Cemetery
Pen nameR. K. Walker
Occupation
  • author
  • journalist
  • editor
LanguageEnglish
Notable worksAmericans of gentle birth and their ancestors : a genealogical encyclopedia
Spouse
  • Charles Frederick Turnbull
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1861; died 1870)​
  • Howard Walker
Children3

Early life and education

Rosa (or, Rose) Sarah Kershaw[3] was born in Mississippi in the 1840s.[lower-alpha 1] Her father was a wealthy and aristocratic Mississippi planter.[2]

Descended from an old Charleston, South Carolina family, she was reared in a cultured and refined home. The Civil War, however, stripped her family of its fortune.[4] She had at least two siblings, a brother, George, and a sister.[1]

In her youth, she studied at home, near Pass Christian, Mississippi, and later, attended a seminary in New York City. After leaving school, she traveled three years in Europe, receiving part of her instruction there,[2] including learning several modern languages.[4]

Career

On June 20, 1861, at Washington County, Mississippi, she married Charles Frederick Turnbull (1840–1870),[6] a cotton planter of Mississippi,[3][1] They had three children:[6]

  • Dr Louis Allan Turnbull (1865–1920)
  • Mary (or, Marie) Rubine Turnbull (1866–1917)
  • Rosa Turnbull (1868–?)

Left a widow with three young children, she utilized her liberal education and her literary talent to make a career in journalism in St. Louis.[2][4]

Her second husband was Howard Walker of St. Louis.[1][5]

Walker first began her literary work on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, with which paper she remained over a year.[2] She then joined the staff of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. While writing the society section for the Globe-Democrat, she owned and edited Fashion and Fancy, a magazine whose topics included fashion, society, and a potpourri of matters of interest to women. This journal, while attractive in appearance and subject matter, had a short life (1889–91).[7][4][2]

She contributed a series of sketches to Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. While she was in Europe, in 1876, she corresponded for a number of newspapers, and her European letters were widely copied.[4]

Americans of gentle birth and their ancestors (1903)

In 1903, with Hannah D. Pittman, she published Americans of gentle birth and their ancestors : a genealogical encyclopedia (St. Louis, Mo., Buxton and Skinner).[8]

When her failing health forced her to give up the work at the Globe-Democrat, she was succeeded by her daughter, Marie Turnbull Bauduy.[1]

Personal life

Walker lived in St. Louis for 30 years,[1] where she was a leader in society and was interested in various charities.[4] She was a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.[9]

In her later life, her health was failing for several years. She went to Macon, Georgia to spend the winter with her brother, George P. Kershaw, but her condition did not improve and she returned to St. Louis on May 3, 1909, accompanied by her daughter, Marie Bauduy. Rosa Kershaw Walker died at her home in St. Louis, May 7, 1909, after more than a year of illness, due to nervous breakdown. There were two surviving children: Marie Bauduy and Louis A. Turnbull.[1] Burial was at Bellefontaine Cemetery.[10]

Selected works
  • Americans of gentle birth and their ancestors : a genealogical encyclopedia, volume 1, embracing many authenticated lineages and biographical sketches of the founders of the Colonies and their descendants found in all parts of the United States. By Mrs. H D Pittman; Mrs. R K Walker (Saint Louis, MO : Buxton & Skinner, 1903). (Text)

Notes
  1. According to Walker's obituary in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (May 7, 1909), Walker was born in Charleston, South Carolina; no year is given.[1] According to Willard & Livermore's biography (1893), Walker was born on a plantation in Mississippi in 1847.[4] According to the familysearch.org website, Walker was born in Mississippi in 1845, and four sources are provided. While all four of these sources record the place of birth as Mississippi, only one ("United States Census, 1880") gives the year of birth as 1845. The three other sources give other dates: September 1846 ("United States Census, 1900"), 1835 ("United States Census, 1870"), 1844 ("United States Census, 1850").[5]

References
  1. "MRS. ROSA KERSHAW-WALKER WILL BE BURIED SUNDAY". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 7 May 1909. p. 2. Retrieved 24 May 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. "WOMEN WRITERS OF ST. LOUIS. Representative Journalists and Editorial Workers". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 26 May 1895. p. 33. Retrieved 24 May 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. "Turnbull Clan Genealogy Collection – Person Page 1,084". library.turnbullclan.com. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  4. Willard, Frances Elizabeth; Livermore, Mary Ashton Rice (1893). "WALKER, Mrs. Rose Kershaw". A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life (Public domain ed.). Charles Wells Moulton. p. 741. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. "Rosa Sarah Kershaw 1845 – May 1909 • LX3C-L6V". ident.familysearch.org. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  6. "Charles Fredrick Turnbull 1840 – 27 July 1870 • MYYK-D1X". ident.familysearch.org. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  7. Okker, Patricia (1 June 2008). Our Sister Editors: Sarah J. Hale and the Tradition of Nineteenth-century American Women Editors. University of Georgia Press. p. 216. ISBN 978-0-8203-3249-9. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  8. Walker, Rosa Kershaw; Pittman, H. D. (Hannah Daviess) (1903). Americans of gentle birth and their ancestors : a genealogical encyclopedia ... embracing many authenticated lineages and biographical sketches of the founders of the colonies and their descendants found in all parts of the United States. Saint Louis, MO : Buxton & Skinner. Retrieved 24 May 2022. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  9. "THEIR SIXTH ANNUAL BALL". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. 20 November 1896. p. 5. Retrieved 24 May 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  10. "WALKER". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 8 May 1909. p. 8. Retrieved 24 May 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
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