James Walter Wall
James Walter Wall, son of Garret Dorset Wall,
was born in 1820, and, like his father, served in the military,
attaining the rank of Colonel. He also shared his father's passion
for the political arena. A year after his father's death, the startup
Democratic party swept the local elections, and James, at 31, became
the first mayor of Burlington under the new City charter.
Well-respected in town, he was a very popular mayor.
Active in literature and journalism, the younger Wall corresponded
with prominent citizens throughout the eastern states. In 1861, he
became aware that some of his letters to friends in the southern
states, opposing the Civil War, were being censored by the postmaster
general, and wrote a letter protesting this censorship. He was
accused of treason and arrested at his home,
though not without a fight - he threw at least one constable across a
room before being restrained.
The citizens of Burlington were incensed, and local anti-war sentiments
were only galvanized by Wall's arrest. The mayor was returned to his
home a short time later, and was elected to the U.S. Senate the very
next year. He died in 1872, and is buried, like his father, at
St. Mary's Church.
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