Richmonder Maggie L. Walker worked diligently all her life to overcome the obstacles of poverty, race and gender handed her at birth in 1867.

At the time of her death in 1934, she was a successful bank chairman widely known for her inspired leadership of the Independent Order of St. Luke, an African-American insurance and humanitarian society.

But Walker's success had not made her life easier. "Eternal vigilance is the price of success," she said in a 1901 speech to the Order of St. Luke. In 1915, she saw firsthand the wisdom of her words.

Early in the evening of June 20, 1915, Walker's Jackson Ward neighbors heard a shot ring out from her large home in the 100 block of East Leigh Street. Within minutes, a crowd gathered in front of the house and news traveled through the neighborhood that Walker's husband of almost three decades, Armstead Walker, had been shot and killed by the couple's older son, Russell.

"The killing was accidental, according to statements made by members of the family," the next day's Richmond Times-Dispatch said. The night before the shooting, 25-year-old Russell Walker had heard noises on the roof and alerted his parents that a would-be burglar was trying to gain entry. Police were called, but they found no intruder and left.

Father and son decided to borrow a gun the next day. At sunset, they again heard noises on the roof and went to investigate. Russell Walker took the gun. "Both went to the roof, but found nothing," said the report. "The son is said to have come down to the second floor by the front way, while the father is said to have descended by means of a rear flight of stairs." Russell Walker reached the second floor with gun in hand and saw a figure standing in darkness outside the screen door, behind a sun shade on the second-floor rear porch. Not realizing his father had left the roof, he fired. The shot entered Armstead Walker's left temple. He died instantly.

After taking statements from family members, detectives at the scene told The Times-Dispatch they had "noted several discrepancies" and were launching a full investigation. Russell Walker was arrested. Within days, The Times-Dispatch reported that detectives were investigating "rumors to the effect that Walker and his son quarreled shortly before the shooting."

A coroner's inquest completed July 2 was inconclusive. But at a July 14 hearing in Richmond Police Court, the coroner testified that the nature of the fatal wound and the shooting scene clearly suggested an accidental shooting. The judge dismissed the case.

The ordeal was not over, however. After the hearing, the detective heading the investigation told The Times-Dispatch he thought he had enough evidence to bring a murder charge before a grand jury. Interviewed by Wendell P. Dabney for "Maggie L. Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke," a book published in 1927, Maggie Walker said she was shocked. "Russell was again arrested," she said. "It was, of course, the work of enemies."

When the case came to trial in Hustings Court in November 1915, the prosecution attempted to prove that strained relations had existed between father and son. B.F. Turner, the family friend who loaned the gun to Armstead Walker, swore he heard Russell Walker threaten his father.

But the slain man's brother and minister testified that father and son had enjoyed a warm relationship. During her testimony, Maggie Walker "asserted money had been spent to arouse sentiment against her and her son," according to The Times-Dispatch.

The Nov. 16, 1915, Times-Dispatch reported the trial ended in a "not guilty" verdict. Tears were seen in the eyes of several jurors as the verdict was delivered.

While Maggie Walker persevered, "Russell was never the same," wrote Dabney. He died eight years later. A brief obituary in the Nov. 24, 1923, Times-Dispatch offered few details: "Died, suddenly, Friday, Nov. 23, Russell E.T. Walker, son of Mrs. Maggie L. Walker."