Walton, C. A.

Cedar Anthony (C.A.) Walton was born in Wilcox, Texas. He received a Bachelor in Science from Prairie View in 1926 and came to Dallas in 1927 for a position as Negro Agricultural Agent for Dallas County. C.A. Walton married Ruth Grimstead in 1932. Ruth Grimstead was born in Louisiana in 1905 and raised in Beaumont, Texas. She graduated from Wiley College in 1926 with a degree in music. After their marriage, she would become an arithmetic teacher for DISD at B.F. Darrell Elementary School, where she taught for 30 years. Together they had a son, Cedar Walton Jr., later known as a talented jazz recording artist. C.A. Walton served 23 years as a Dallas County agricultural agent, but in 1950 he resigned to accept a State Department position to advise the Liberian government on agricultural issues. He returned form Liberia in 1954 and retired in 1958. Upon his return, he became very active in the Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce, serving as their executive secretary. C.A. Walton also was active in the Moorland Branch of the YMCA, the Small Business Administration, a member of Phi Beta Sigma, the Progressive Voters League and Knights of Pythias. He died October 5, 1983 in Dallas. His wife Ruth Walton died in November of 2002.