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Toaping Castle Chapter
Daughters of the American Revolution
Hyattsville, Maryland


The Origin of the Name "Toaping Castle"

When a DAR chapter is organized, a name is chosen pertaining to something historic within the area of where the chapter is formed. Toaping Castle was the name of the Isaac Walker family home, which was located on Greenbelt Road across from the entrance to Greenbelt Park. Both Isaac and his son, Nathan, served in the Revolutionary War.

Isaac Walker was a loyal Jacobite, and tradition has it that he was a survivor of the Battle of Culloden Field in Scotland. This battle was fought April 26, 1746, and it forever crushed any hopes that the Jacobite cause had of returning to the throne a descendant of the exiled Stuart King James II, who had abdicated the throne of England by request and fled into exile in France. This was done because of his ties to the Roman Catholic faith, which had angered Protestant England to the point of Revolution. Parliament had decreed that no Roman Catholic would ever again wear the Crown of England.

After the battle, Isaac Walker escaped to France with his wife and young son. He feared for his own life and that of his family. His wife was a member of the same Stuart clan as the deposed succession. With a price on his head, he escaped by tobacco boat to America where he hid for several years. After the Jacobites had been pardoned, his wife and son arrived at the Port of Alexandria. He sought a land grant and named the estate Toaping Castle after the home he had to leave behind in Scotland. He built a log cabin to begin with, but as his family increased, additions were added on and it eventually became a large Colonial home. The house deteriorated, was vandalized, and fell into such decay, it was eventually demolished. The land was cleared for what is now the Golden Triangle Business Park. There was a burial plot set aside within walking distance of the Walker homestead. Some years ago, a stone block, with one slanted side, was placed in the cemetery by the descendants. A bronze marker was attached to this by a District of Columbia DAR chapter, among whose members were several Walker descendants. On the slanted side of the monument, the bronze plaque reads:

Lieut. Isaac Walker

Pvt. Nathan Walker
