Bucknell University Sheary Project: Biography of Augustus Green Walls

Born on September 14, 1837, Augustus Green Walls was the third child of John and Margaret Adlum Green Walls. He grew up in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, where his father owned a mercantile business and was a prominent political and civic leader in the community.

After attending the Naval Academy at Annapolis, A. G. Walls earned his Bachelor's degree at the University of Burlington in Vermont. In 1860 he graduated from the Medical School of the University of Pennsylvania, then studied medicine under Doctors Thomas H. Wilson, and Francis C. Harrison in Lewisburg. Dr. A. G. Walls first practiced in the West until he enlisted in the army on August 21, 1863, serving for six months as Surgeon of the 181st Regiment, 20th Calvary, of the Pennsylvania Volunteers under the command of Colonel Welsh. Dr. Walls then re-enlisted for three years as Regimental Surgeon.

Dr. Walls accompanied General William T. Sherman on his "March to the Sea," in September, 1864. Walls was honorably discharged on June 20, 1865, at the close of the war. He remained a life-long supporter of Sherman, always defending the much criticized campaign which he believed shortened the war. Following his discharge, he established a practice in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, where he built a reputation as one of the best surgeons in the West Branch Valley.

Walls died suddenly on June 14, 1890, at the Continental Hotel in Philadelphia from a heart attack. He left a widow, Margaret Billmeyer, but no children. Dr. Augustus G. Walls was mourned by the people of both Lewisburg and Lock Haven. Hundreds of Lock Haven residents traveled the long distance to honor their beloved doctor when Lewisburg buried its native son.

Sources Consulted

Genealogical Listing. Typescript, n.d. Walls folder, Box 8. Slifer-: Walls Collection. Special Collections/ University Archives, The Ellen Clarke Bertrand Library, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pa.

Kalp, Lois. A Town on the Susquehanna, 1769-1975: With An: Epilogue, 1975-1980. Lewisburg, Pa.: By the author; Colonial Printing, 1980.

________. "Walls Memoir: Dedicated to the Memory of Anna: Frick Slifer Walls and Eli Slifer Walls, and to William Cameron Walls for Whom this Memoir was Written." Typescript, 1904. Walls folder, Box 7. Slifer-Walls Collection. Special Collections/University Archives, The Ellen Clarke Bertrand Library, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pa.

Snyder, Charles McCool. Union County, Pennsylvania: A: Bicentennial History. Contributions by John W. Downie, Elizabeth L. Hitchcock, and Lois S. Kalp. Lewisburg, Pa.: By Charles M. Snyder, and Union County Bicentennial Commission; Colonial Print House, c1976.

Newspaper clippings. Walls folder, Box 8. Slifer-Walls: Collection. Special Collections/University Archives, The Ellen Clarke Bertrand Library, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pa.