Wade & Webb Family History

Westley D Walden1819–1863

Autauga · Nixburg United Methodist Church Cemetery · Marietta

Westley D. Walden was born in Autauga County, Alabama, in 1819 and married twice in Coosa County: first Eliza Robbins, who died in 1853, and then Eliza Moore. The tree remembers him as a Confederate captain who died at Marietta, Georgia, in 1863, but in 1933 a family wedding notice in Brooklyn called him "General Walden".

On this page
  1. Family Record
  2. Life
  3. Documents (4)
  4. Places
  5. Timeline
  6. Open questions
  7. Searches made
  8. Notes

Birth

  1. 1 Aug 1819 Autauga, Alabama 1

Marriages

  1. 5 Dec 1848 Eliza Robbins, at Coosa, Alabama 5
  2. 7 Dec 1848 Eliza Robbins, at Coosa, Alabama 5
  3. 17 Dec 1848 Eliza Robbins, at Coosa, Alabama 4, 5
  4. 8 Jun 1855 Elizabeth Moore, at Coosa, Alabama 8

Death and burial

  1. 1863 Burial: Nixburg United Methodist Church Cemetery, Nixburg, Coosa, Alabama
  2. 10 Oct 1863 Death: Marietta, Cobb, Georgia 14

Family

Parents
Charles Sparks Walden 1772–1833
Sarah Walker 1783–1854
Marriage 1, 5 Dec 1848
Eliza Robbins 1828–1853
Children
William Walker Walden 1850–1920
Marriage 2, 8 Jun 1855
Elizabeth Moore 1836–1874
Children
Alabama Walden 1856–?
George Westley Walden 1860–1929
Laura Walden 1858–1942

Line of descent Webb line

  1. Westley D Walden
  2. William Walker Walden, son
  3. Lila Walden, daughter
  4. Hilda Webb, daughter
  5. William Albert Webb Wade, son

2nd great-grandfather of Webb Wade, from whom this history is traced. Why Webb Wade?

Life

Westley D. Walden was born on 1 August 1819 in Autauga County, Alabama, according to the FamilySearch tree, which gives the date without a source and names his parents as Charles Sparks Walden (1772–1833) and Sarah Walker (1783–1854).1 He was among the younger of the nine children the tree gives the couple, and the first whose birth it places in Alabama rather than Georgia.2 His father died in Autauga County on 8 November 1833, and an Alabama estate file for Charles Walden is dated 1834.3 The records call him by several forms of his name: West D. Walden in his marriage records, Westley Walden in the census of 1850, W. D. Walden in 1860 and in the Civil War index, and West or Wesley in his children's death records; the tree adds "Westley D Doc" among his names, without a source.4

Two marriages in Coosa County

On 17 December 1848 West D. Walden married Eliza Robbins in Coosa County, Alabama, the date given by each of the county marriage indexes attached to the couple.5 The tree records three dates for this marriage, 5, 7 and 17 December 1848, and only the last is supported by the attached records.5 Inference The two earlier dates may be those of a licence or a marriage bond, the surety a groom gave before a licence was issued, but none of the indexes in hand shows either.5 The census of 1850 found Westley Walden in Coosa County with Eliza and their infant son, Walker; the boy, William Walker Walden, had been born on 16 March 1850 at Newbury, Coosa County.6 Eliza died on 2 August 1853 in Coosa County.7

On 8 June 1855 West D. Walden married Eliza Moore, also in Coosa County; the tree names her Elizabeth Moore.8 The tree records three children of this marriage: Alabama (born 1856), Laura (1858–1942) and George Westley (1860–1929).9 In 1860 the census listed W. D. Walden in the 2nd Subdivision of Coosa County, with Eliza and with Walker, the son of his first marriage.10

The Civil War

The tree, without a document attached to the fact, records him as captain of Company B, 60th Alabama Infantry, Confederate States Army, a regiment it also identifies as the 2nd Battalion of Hilliard's Legion, with service in Virginia in 1862.11 The United States Civil War Soldiers Index lists a W. D. Walden, and links to his entries in the Alabama Civil War muster rolls and the Confederate compiled service records, the files the War Department later assembled from a soldier's muster rolls and other papers, are attached from Ancestry; their contents have not been transcribed for this biography.12 His entry in the Find a Grave index, an index to the volunteer-built memorial website, names him "Capt Westley D. Walden".13

He died on 10 October 1863 at Marietta, Cobb County, Georgia, and was buried in the Nixburg United Methodist Church Cemetery at Nixburg, Coosa County, the tree says.14 Neither the tree nor the records attached to it say how he died.14 Inference His rank, his regiment and the place of his death all rest on the tree and on records not yet read; the compiled service record should confirm them.15

The "General Walden" story

In August 1933 the Brooklyn Daily Eagle's notice of the wedding of his great-granddaughter Hilda Webb to Frank E. Wade described her as "a great-granddaughter of General Walden, noted Confederate general of Walden Ridge fame."16 The records in hand make him a captain, not a general, and the research notes find no Confederate general of the name; Walden's Ridge in Tennessee takes its name from Elisha Walden, an eighteenth-century long hunter.17 Inference The notice probably repeats a family story that had grown in the telling; it is recorded here as a family tradition, not as a fact.17

His children

His children's death records name him: W. D. Walden as the father of William Walker Walden, who died in Alabama in 1920; West Walden as the father of George Walden, who died in Texas on 26 November 1929; and Wesley Walden as the father of Laura Walden Wilson, who died in California on 25 February 1942.18

Documents

  1. 1872 Alabama, Her History: Fifty-Ninth Alabama, Capt. W. D. Walden of Coosa killed at Chickamauga Willis Brewer, Alabama: Her History, Resources, War Record, and Public Men, from 1540 to 1872 (Montgomery, Alabama: Barrett & Brown, 1872) · book
  2. 9 August 1933 Wade—Webb (wedding) The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, New York) · clipping
  3. 1942 History of Coosa County: the Robbins family (Kate Grayson's letter and H. R. Robbins's sketch) George E. Brewer, "History of Coosa County, Alabama," The Alabama Historical Quarterly, vol. 4, no. 2 (Montgomery, Alabama, Summer 1942) · book
  4. 1942 History of Coosa County: W. D. Walden, merchant, legislator and captain George E. Brewer, "History of Coosa County, Alabama," The Alabama Historical Quarterly, vol. 4, nos. 1–2 (Montgomery, Alabama, Spring and Summer 1942) · book

Places

  1. 1819Autauga
  2. 1848–1860Coosa
  3. 1863Nixburg United Methodist Church Cemetery
  4. 1863Marietta

Timeline

  1. 1 Aug 1819BirthAutauga, Alabama
  2. 5 Dec 1848Marriage, Eliza RobbinsCoosa, Alabama
  3. 7 Dec 1848Marriage, Eliza RobbinsCoosa, Alabama
  4. 17 Dec 1848Marriage, Eliza RobbinsCoosa, Alabama
  5. 1850ResidenceCoosa, Alabama
  6. 8 Jun 1855Marriage, Elizabeth MooreCoosa, Alabama
  7. 1860Residence2nd Subdivision, Coosa, Alabama
  8. 1862Military service: Captain Company B 60th Alabama Infantry CSA/AKA Hillard's Legion 2nd BattalionVirginia
  9. 1863BurialNixburg United Methodist Church Cemetery, Nixburg, Coosa, Alabama
  10. 10 Oct 1863DeathMarietta, Cobb, Georgia

Open questions

Was he a general? (family legend)

Hilda Webb's 1933 wedding notice (1933-08-09) calls her "a great-granddaughter of General Walden, noted Confederate general of Walden Ridge fame." The tree has Westley D. Walden as a captain (Co. B, 60th Alabama Infantry / Hilliard's Legion), died 1863 at Marietta, Ga. No Confederate general named Walden is known, and Walden's Ridge (Tenn.) is named for an 18th-century hunter. Look at: his compiled service record (Fold3/NARA) and the Alabama Department of Archives and History. The legend itself belongs in his biography, labelled as a family story.

Regiment and place of death (raised 2026-11-09)

Brewer's Coosa history (p. 233), Brewer's Alabama (1872, p. 672) and Memorial Record (1893) all say Captain W. D. Walden of Coosa, of the battalion that became the 59th Alabama, was killed at Chickamauga (Coosa history: "just as he mounted the enemy's works, in a gallant charge of the regiment at Snodgrass Hill"). The tree has Company B, 60th Alabama, and death at Marietta, Georgia, on 10 October 1863. His compiled service record should settle both (mortal wound at Chickamauga and death in a Marietta hospital would reconcile them; inference). On the "General" legend: every printed source calls him captain.

Searches made

  1. 2026-11-08Bulk review of Matt's OneDrive genealogy folder (Phase 3): all documents transcribed and compared with the tree1 document(s) name this person; see Documents above. Conflicts and new facts are in each document record and in research/sources/document-review-2026-11-08.md
  2. 2026-11-09Find a Grave search: Westley Walden, b. 1819 ±3, d. 1863 ±3: 0 resultsno matches
  3. 2026-11-09Internet Archive: "Westley Walden", Alabamano matches
  4. 2026-11-09Internet Archive: "Walden", inside histcoosacobrew9 pages; first: [History of Coosa County, 1942, p. 83](https://archive.org/details/histcoosacobrew/page/n83/mode/1up?q=Walden); [History of Coosa County, 1942, p. 107](https://archive.org/details/histcoosacobrew/page/n107/mode/1up?q=Walden); [History of Coosa County, 1942, p. 171](https://archive.org/details/histcoosacobrew/page/n171/mode/1up?q=Walden); 0 with the given name (Westley)
  5. 2026-11-09Internet Archive: "Walden", inside memorialrecordof00tayl2 pages; first: [Memorial record of Alabama. A concise account of the state's political, military, professional and industrial progress, together with the personal memoirs of many of its people, 1893, p. 123](https://archive.org/details/memorialrecordof00tayl/page/n123/mode/1up?q=Walden); [Memorial record of Alabama. A concise account of the state's political, military, professional and industrial progress, together with the personal memoirs of many of its people, 1893, p. 159](https://archive.org/details/memorialrecordof00tayl/page/n159/mode/1up?q=Walden); 0 with the given name (Westley)
  6. 2026-11-09Internet Archive: "Walden", inside northernalabamah00birm5 pages; first: [Northern Alabama, historical and biographical.., 1888, p. 136](https://archive.org/details/northernalabamah00birm/page/n136/mode/1up?q=Walden); [Northern Alabama, historical and biographical.., 1888, p. 136](https://archive.org/details/northernalabamah00birm/page/n136/mode/1up?q=Walden); [Northern Alabama, historical and biographical.., 1888, p. 136](https://archive.org/details/northernalabamah00birm/page/n136/mode/1up?q=Walden); 0 with the given name (Westley)
  7. 2026-11-09Internet Archive: "Walden", inside historyofalabama01owen2 pages; first: [History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, 1921, p. 143](https://archive.org/details/historyofalabama01owen/page/n143/mode/1up?q=Walden); [History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, 1921, p. 416](https://archive.org/details/historyofalabama01owen/page/n416/mode/1up?q=Walden); 0 with the given name (Westley)
  8. 2026-11-09Internet Archive: "Walden", inside alabamaherhistor00brew5 pages; first: [Alabama, her history, resources, war record, and public men : from 1540 to 1872, 1872, p. 179](https://archive.org/details/alabamaherhistor00brew/page/n179/mode/1up?q=Walden); [Alabama, her history, resources, war record, and public men : from 1540 to 1872, 1872, p. 497](https://archive.org/details/alabamaherhistor00brew/page/n497/mode/1up?q=Walden); [Alabama, her history, resources, war record, and public men : from 1540 to 1872, 1872, p. 497](https://archive.org/details/alabamaherhistor00brew/page/n497/mode/1up?q=Walden); 0 with the given name (Westley)
  9. 2026-11-09Internet Archive assessment: "Westley Walden", AlabamaNo hits (he appears in print as W. D. or Wesley D. Walden).
  10. 2026-11-09Internet Archive assessment: "Walden" inside *History of Coosa County* (9 pages, all read)Match (high): p. 233 sketch: member of the House 1859, merchant at Nixburg then Rockford, first wife a daughter of Solomon Robbins (son Walker), second wife Eliza Moore of Rockford (three children), raised a company in June 1862 for Hilliard's Legion, "afterward in the 59th Ala. Regt.," "killed at the Battle of Chickamauga, just as he mounted the enemy's works … at Snodgrass Hill." Also p. 148 (Captain, Company K, 59th Alabama), pp. 109, 115, 175. [W. D. Walden record](../documents/1942-coosa-history-w-d-walden.md).
  11. 2026-11-09Internet Archive assessment: "Walden" inside Brewer's *Alabama* (1872), p. 672Match (high): 59th Alabama captains, "Coosa. — W. D. Walden; killed at Chicamauga. R. H. Gulledge." [Brewer 1872 record](../documents/1872-brewer-alabama-59th-regiment-walden.md). *Memorial Record* (1893) vol. 1, scan n123, repeats "Capt. W. D. Walden at Chickamauga"; Owen (1921) vol. 1, scan n416, lists "W. D. Walden" among Coosa's House members, 1861 first called session (both matches, noted in the Brewer record, no separate records).
  12. 2026-11-09Internet Archive assessment: Kate Grayson's Robbins letter, Coosa history p. 252Match (high): Eliza Robbins "Married W. D. Walden, a merchant of Nixburg, who was once elected to the State Legislature. He was Captain of a Company during the civil war, and was killed at the Battle of Chickamauga." [Robbins family record](../documents/1942-coosa-history-robbins-family.md).
  13. 2026-11-09Internet Archive hits assessed: 6 searchesFour documents match (two records written for him, one shared with the Robbins family). All call him captain; all say killed at Chickamauga, against the tree's death at Marietta on 10 October 1863 and its "60th Alabama, Company B".
  14. 2026-11-09DPLA: "Westley Walden"no matches
  15. 2026-11-09DPLA hits assessed: 1 searchNo hits; nothing to assess.

Notes

  1. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KCR9-YLT: birth 1 Aug 1819, Autauga, Alabama, no source; parents Charles Sparks Walden and Sarah Walker back to the text
  2. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile L83Y-7R8 (their page): children Thomas W. (1805, Greene, Georgia), Nancy (1805, Georgia), George S. (1814, Georgia), John Butler (1816, Jasper, Georgia), Elizabeth (1818, Georgia), Westley D. (1819, Autauga, Alabama), Sarah (about 1820, Alabama), Martha Lynn and Charles S. back to the text
  3. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile K2FG-GXD (their page): death 8 Nov 1833, Autauga, Alabama "Alabama, Estate Files, 1830-1976", FamilySearch, Charles Walden, 1834. Record: Charles Walden, Alabama, Estate Files, 1834 back to the text
  4. "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992", FamilySearch, West D. Walden and Eliza Robbins, 17 Dec 1848. Record: West D. Walden and Eliza Robbins "United States, Census, 1850", FamilySearch, Westley Walden, 1850. Record: Westley Walden, 1850 "United States, Census, 1860", FamilySearch, W D Walden, 1860. Record: W D Walden, 1860 "United States, Civil War Soldiers Index, 1861-1865", FamilySearch, W.d. Walden, from 1861 to 1865. Record: W.d. Walden, Civil War Soldiers Index "Texas, Deaths, 1890-1977", FamilySearch, West Walden in entry for George Walden, 26 November 1929. Record: West Walden in entry for George Walden "California, Deaths and Burials, 1776-2000", FamilySearch, Wesley Walden in entry for Laura Walden Wilson, 25 Feb 1942. Record: Wesley Walden in entry for Laura Walden Wilson FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KCR9-YLT: other names Westley D Doc Walden, W D Walden back to the text
  5. "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992", FamilySearch, West D. Walden and Eliza Robbins, 17 Dec 1848. Record: West D. Walden and Eliza Robbins, Alabama County Marriages, 17 Dec 1848 "Alabama, Marriages, 1816-1957", FamilySearch, West D. Walden, 17 Dec 1848. Record: West D. Walden, Alabama, Marriages, 17 Dec 1848 "Alabama, Marriages, 1816-1957", database, FamilySearch, West D. Walden, 1848. Record: West D. Walden, 1848 "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992", FamilySearch, West D. Walden and Eliza Robbins, 17 Dec 1848. Record: Eliza Robbins, 17 Dec 1848 FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KCR9-YLT: marriage events 5 Dec 1848, 7 Dec 1848 and 17 Dec 1848, Coosa, Alabama back to the text
  6. "United States, Census, 1850", FamilySearch, Westley Walden, 1850. Record: Westley Walden, 1850 census "United States, Census, 1850", FamilySearch, Eliza Walden in entry for Westley Walden, 1850. Record: Eliza Walden in entry for Westley Walden, 1850 "United States, Census, 1850", FamilySearch, Walker Walden in entry for Westley Walden, 1850. Record: Walker Walden in entry for Westley Walden, 1850 FamilySearch Family Tree, profile LY38-58X (their page): birth 16 Mar 1850, Newbury, Coosa, Alabama back to the text
  7. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile LH37-HSX (their page): death 2 Aug 1853, Coosa, Alabama back to the text
  8. "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992", FamilySearch, West D. Walden and Eliza Moore, 08 Jun 1855. Record: West D. Walden and Eliza Moore, Alabama County Marriages, 08 Jun 1855 "Alabama, Marriages, 1816-1957", FamilySearch, West D. Walden, 8 Jun 1855. Record: West D. Walden, 8 Jun 1855 "Alabama, Marriages, 1816-1957", database, FamilySearch, West D. Walden, 1855. Record: West D. Walden, 1855 "Alabama, Marriages, 1816-1957", database, FamilySearch, West D. Walden, 1855. Record: West D. Walden, 1855 FamilySearch Family Tree, profile LZ6S-ZJW (their page): Elizabeth Moore, also Eliza Moore back to the text
  9. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KCR9-YLT: children with Elizabeth Moore: Alabama (1856), Laura (1858–1942), George Westley (1860–1929) back to the text
  10. "United States, Census, 1860", FamilySearch, W D Walden, 1860. Record: W D Walden, 1860 census "United States, Census, 1860", FamilySearch, Eliza Walden in entry for W D Walden, 1860. Record: Eliza Walden in entry for W D Walden, 1860 "United States, Census, 1860", FamilySearch, Walker Walden in entry for W D Walden, 1860. Record: Walker Walden in entry for W D Walden, 1860 FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KCR9-YLT: residence 1860, 2nd Subdivision, Coosa, Alabama back to the text
  11. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KCR9-YLT: military service 1862, Virginia: Captain Company B 60th Alabama Infantry CSA/AKA Hillard's Legion 2nd Battalion back to the text
  12. "United States, Civil War Soldiers Index, 1861-1865", FamilySearch, W.d. Walden, from 1861 to 1865. Record: W.d. Walden, United States, Civil War Soldiers Index, 1861-1865 ancestry Record: Alabama Civil War Muster Rolls 1861-1865, Ancestry ancestry Record: Alabama Civil War Muster Rolls 1861-1865 #2, Ancestry ancestry Record: Alabama Civil War Soldiers 1860-1865, Ancestry ancestry Record: Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records 1861-1865, Ancestry back to the text
  13. "Find a Grave Index", FamilySearch, Capt Westley D. Walden. Record: Capt Westley D. Walden, Find a Grave Index back to the text
  14. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KCR9-YLT: death 10 Oct 1863, Marietta, Cobb, Georgia; burial Nixburg United Methodist Church Cemetery, Nixburg, Coosa, Alabama; no cause recorded back to the text
  15. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KCR9-YLT: military service and death Research log, searches made: look at: his compiled service record (Fold3/NARA) and the Alabama Department of Archives and History back to the text
  16. Wade—Webb (wedding), The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, New York): a great-granddaughter of General Walden, noted Confederate general of Walden Ridge fame back to the text
  17. Wade—Webb (wedding), The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, New York): notes: no Confederate general named Walden is known; Walden's Ridge, Tennessee, takes its name from Elisha Walden, an 18th-century long hunter Research log, searches made: Was he a general? (family legend) back to the text
  18. "Alabama, Deaths, 1908-1974", FamilySearch, W. D. Walden in entry for William Walker Walden, 1920. Record: W. D. Walden in entry for William Walker Walden, Alabama, Deaths, 1920 "Texas, Deaths, 1890-1977", FamilySearch, West Walden in entry for George Walden, 26 November 1929. Record: West Walden in entry for George Walden, Texas, Deaths, 26 November 1929 "California, Death Index, 1940-1997", FamilySearch, Walden in entry for Laura Wilson, 25 Feb 1942. Record: Walden in entry for Laura Wilson, California Death Index, 25 Feb 1942 "California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994", FamilySearch, Wesley Walden in entry for Laura Wilson, 25 February 1942. Record: Wesley Walden in entry for Laura Wilson, 25 February 1942 "California, Deaths and Burials, 1776-2000", FamilySearch, Wesley Walden in entry for Laura Walden Wilson, 25 Feb 1942. Record: Wesley Walden in entry for Laura Walden Wilson, 25 Feb 1942 back to the text
Every FamilySearch record attached to Westley D Walden (21)
  1. 17 Dec 1848West D. Walden, "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992"
  2. 17 Dec 1848West D. Walden, "Alabama, Marriages, 1816-1957"
  3. 1848West D. Walden, "Alabama, Marriages, 1816-1957"
  4. 1850Westley Walden, "United States, Census, 1850"
  5. 08 Jun 1855West D. Walden, "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992"
  6. 1855West D. Walden, "Alabama, Marriages, 1816-1957"
  7. 8 Jun 1855West D. Walden, "Alabama, Marriages, 1816-1957"
  8. 1855West D. Walden, "Alabama, Marriages, 1816-1957"
  9. 1860W D Walden, "United States, Census, 1860"
  10. from 1861 to 1865W.d. Walden, "United States, Civil War Soldiers Index, 1861-1865"
  11. 1920W. D. Walden, "Alabama, Deaths, 1908-1974"
  12. 26 November 1929West Walden, "Texas, Deaths, 1890-1977"
  13. 25 Feb 1942Walden, "California, Death Index, 1940-1997"
  14. 25 February 1942Wesley Walden, "California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994"
  15. 25 Feb 1942Wesley Walden, "California, Deaths and Burials, 1776-2000"
  16. Alabama Civil War Muster Rolls 1861-1865
  17. Alabama Civil War Muster Rolls 1861-1865 #2
  18. Alabama Civil War Soldiers 1860-1865
  19. Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records 1861-1865
  20. Westley D. Walden, "Find A Grave Index"
  21. 17 Dec 1848Eliza Robbins, "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992"