John Walker was born in England on 10 December 1741 and moved to Brunswick County, North Carolina in 1761.  A coroner, planter, and merchant, Walker enslaved people and consequently served on the local freeholders court. During the War of Regulation, Walker was a hospital steward and captain of the artillery. Prior to the Battle of Alamance, he was captured by the Regulators along with Lieutenant John Baptist Ashe and was freed after the battle. Walker later served a colonel as part of the North Carolinian troops that served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. He died in Wilmington, North Carolina in September 1813.