Walter fathered 13 children, 10 of whom were living at the outbreak of the Civil War. According to the 1860 US Census, Walter’s F Street residence in Washington was home of the Architect, his wife, daughters Ida, Olivia and Agnes, and their youngest son, Richard Gardiner. Listed in the Walter household were three female domestic servants: 33 year-old Ellen Fletcher, described as mulatto, and Elizabeth and Caroline Butler, both described as black. Also residing with the Walters in Washington was 35 year-old John B. Keith, an enslaved black man. All four of these servants moved to Germantown with the Walters in May 1861 and stayed with the family at least through December of that year. Like so many families at this time the Walters were divided by the war. Sons Horace and Robert and son-in-law Martin Harmstead joined the Union Army, but Walter’s namesake, Thomas, joined the Confederate Army in Virginia. In an angry 1862 letter to his “traitor” son, the architect recounted how his own views of the war and slavery had taken a 180-degree turn following the outbreak of hostilities.
All portraits on this page are from: The Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP).  Thomas U. Walter, Genealogical Sketches and Investigations relating to ancestry and family connections, embracing biographical and historical notes and records, 1871.
THOMAS USTICK WALTER Architect of the Capitol	AMANDA GARDINER WALTER Mrs. Thomas U. Walter

RICHARD GARDINER WALTER Son of T. U. W.

ROBERT H. WALTER Captain, 65th Infantry Regiment, Indiana Son of T. U. W.		HORACE WALTER First Lieutenant, First Nebraska Cavalry Son of T. U. W.

MARTIN E. HARMSTEAD Chaplain, 5th Cavalry Regiment, Pennsylvania Son-in-law of T. U. W.		THOMAS WALTER Private, 16th Infantry Regiment, Virginia Son of T. U. W.

ELLEN FLETCHER Age 33 (1860) Free Mulatto Servant	ELIZABETH BUTLER Age 38 (1860) Free Black Servant
CAROLINE BUTLER Age 27 (1860) Free Black Servant	JOHN B. KEITH Age 35 (1860) Enslaved Black Servant

1860 U. S. Federal Census United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Eighth Census of the United States, 1860. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1860. M653_103, Page 155.

1860 Slave Schedule United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Eighth Census of the United States, 1860. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1860. M653.
	T. U. Walter to Dr. W. P. Johnston asking for a receipt for the $730 he paid for John Keith in November 1858 and indicating his intention to ultimately free Keith. February 21, 1859 Washington DC  Feb. 21, 1859 Dr. W.P. Johnston Dear Sir: On the 23rd of Nov. last I sent you a check for $730 in payment for my man Jno. B. Keith, and I have never received any evidence that the man belongs to me—I want the usual legal title—I don’t care what it is, so that it is what every body else has when they purchase slaves---I want a title that would enable me to recover him should he run away—as yet I have nothing—not even a receipt for the money. John is behaving very well. I have made a provisional bargain with him respecting his ultimate freedom, and I want a proper legal document that I may endorse the understanding on the back of it—I don’t like the thing remaining so long open. Very Sincerely Yrs Tho. U. Walter Walter Collection, The Athenaeum of Philadelphia

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