John Walton died in 1772, just prior to the Revolution.  He and his wife, Mary  Sims, had at least 12 children.  Those 12 children ventured out in two basic  directions.

The older set of sons and daughters (intermarried with Bakers and Edwards)  pioneered Kentucky and Tennessee. They were the children of Rev Simeon Walton,  Jesse Walton, and George Walton and Mary Walton.  These three brothers  were "Separate Baptists" and in 1768 petitioned to worship in their own church,  established in George Walton's home. Those brothers were denied the right to  worship as dissenters in their own home.  That is what separation of Church and  State was all about ... and what those men wound up fighting for! That set  branched out ever westward to Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.

The younger bunch of John's children set their sights on Georgia and pioneered  Georgia as soon as those lands were opened up in the 1770's and  1780's.  The Georgia Waltons in subsequent generations pioneered Alabama (after  the Creek War) and Florida, intermarrying with some of the first residents of  Florida.

You cannot study Walton family history without studying the history of the  United States.  The Walton role in the shaping of the South and West is  fascinating.  Read up on it, it is great fun!

My latest quest has been to find the maiden name of Robert Walton Jr's mother,  Elizabeth.  She was first married to John Burgamy, who was hanged by the  British in 1781.  Her second husband was Barnard Heard, an older man that was  recently widowed.  He was the brother of the first Governor of Georgia, Stephen  Heard.  Barnard Heard died a few years after their marriage and by about 1785,  Elizabeth was married to Robert Walton (son of John Walton & Mary Sims).

My guess is that Elizabeth may have been a Harris.  There were some Burgamy's  married into the Harris family in Hanover County, VA.  They were Hugenots that  fled France and went to England, settling in the Colonies.  The Harris's were  also intermarried with the Walton's in several generations, specifically,  Robert's sister Mizapina was married to a Robert Harris.

I believe that when I weed through those Harris connections to Burgamy and  Walton, I might find an Elizabeth that fits the bill.  If anyone has any ideas  or information, please email me.