Biography

Thomas was the son of ma­son and brick­lay­er Jo­seph Saun­ders Wal­ter and De­bor­ah Wood, and hus­band of Ma­ry Ann Eli­za­beth Han­cocks.

He was the fourth Ar­chi­tect of the Ca­pi­tol (in Wash­ing­ton, DC) and re­spon­si­ble for add­ing the north (Sen­ate) and south (House) wings and the cen­tral dome that pre­dom­in­ate the cur­rent ap­pear­ance of the U. S. Ca­pi­tol build­ing.

Walter was one of the found­ers, and se­cond pre­si­dent, of the Am­eri­can In­sti­tute of Ar­chi­tects.