1888, ] 325 { Wilson. 
On June 11, 1851, Mr. Walter was appointed architect of the exten- 
sion to the United States Capitol, at Washington, by Millard Fillmore, 
President. His plans for the work were adopted, and he was directed to 
proceed with their execution. The new dome to the building, which was 
not at first intended, was afterwards included in his commission. 
This work was really the crowning achievement of Mr. Walter’s life, 
and he was well worthy of the appointment. No man in the profession, 
at that day, was more deserving of it ; and his studies and training pecu- 
liarly fitted him for the type of architecture which the problem demanded. 
Standing in view of that building to-day, enlightened with all the ad- 
vancement in architecture that has taken place in this country, with such 
immense strides, during the past fifteen years, the most exacting .critic 
must acknowledge that it is anoble and commanding pile, with its incom- 
parable dome crowning the mass, and adding dignity and repose to the 
whole. 
Mr. Walter held this appointment for fourteen years, and, during. the 
same time, planned and executed, for the Government, the extension of 
the General Post Office, and the east and west wings of the Patent Office. 
He also designed the new Treasury building, the Marine barracks at 
Brooklyn, N. Y., and at Pensacola, Florida, and the Government Hospital 
for the Insane, at Washington. : 
In 1852, after the old Congressional Library was destroyed by fire,: Mr. 
Walter was engaged to prepare designs for its reconstruction, which he 
afterwards executed. The work comprised many new features in archi- 
tectural practice, and was, in its construction, ‘fire-proof throughout, 
On the completion of his work on the Capitol building, in 1865, Mr. 
Walter resigned from his position and returned to Philadelphia, retiring 
from the active practice of his profession, and intending to devote his time, 
for the balance of his life, to scientific and literary pursuits, and to the 
advancement of art. In addition to the works already mentioned, he had 
designed and executed numerous public buildings in his native city and 
throughout the country ; besides which, he had had an extensive private 
practice. : 
But Providence does not always dispose of things as man proposes. 
Unfortunate investments reduced the'savings of years so seriouslythat, 
in 1873, Mr. Walter was compelled to dispose of his comfortable German- 
town home, to take a smaller and cheaper house in the city, and, at‘the 
age of nearly seventy years, to recommence the practice of his profession. 
To illustrate the character of the man, it may be said here, that he .en- 
tered the service of the writer (who was then an officer of the Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad Company), as an assistant by courtesy, although really 
with the duties of a draftsman, occupying a position far below: his 
capacity, it being the only available opportunity for immediate regular 
employment ; and with Christian cheerfulness and resignation he attended 
to the daily work devolving upon him for more than a year, until the 
architect of the City Hall was enabled to offer him a position more in-ac- 
cordance with his professional standing. 
