John Williams Walker Fearn (January 13, 1832 – April 7, 1899) was an American diplomat.

Early life

Fearn, born in

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is the List of municipalities in Alabama, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the List of United States cities by population, 100th-most populous ...

, was an 1851 graduate of

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. He was the nephew of

LeRoy Pope Walker LeRoy Pope Walker (February 7, 1817 – August 23, 1884) was the first Confederate States Secretary of War. Early life and career Walker was born near Huntsville, Alabama in 1817, the son of John Williams Walker and Matilda Pope, and a gran ...

, the first Secretary of War of the Confederacy. Following

, Fearn continued to study law and was admitted to the Mobile bar in 1853.

Career

He spent most of the 1850s on the staffs of the American embassies in Belgium and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, then joined the Confederate diplomatic corps when the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

broke out in 1861. While in Europe, he attended the lectures of the College de France in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. After serving on unsuccessful missions to Spain, France, Russia, and

, Fearn moved to New Orleans when the war was over to practice law. From 1885 to 1889, Fearn served as the American minister to Serbia, Romania, and Greece. He later served as chief of the

Department of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral re ...

for the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ...

in Chicago in 1893.

Personal life

Fearn married Frances Hewitt of

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

in 1865. They had four children including Mary Walker, Percy Le Roy, James Hewitt and Clarice Hewitt. Their daughter Mary Walker married Prince

Serge Wolkonsky Prince Serge Wolkonsky (also referred to as Sergei Mikhailovitch Volkonsky; ; 4 May 1860 – 25 October 1937) was an influential Russian theatrical worker, one of the first Russian proponents of eurhythmics, pupil and friend of Émile Jaques- ...

. John Walker Fearn died on April 7, 1899.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fearn, Walker 1832 births 1899 deaths Ambassadors of the United States to Greece Ambassadors of the United States to Romania Ambassadors of the United States to Serbia Yale University alumni Confederate States of America diplomats People from Huntsville, Alabama