William K. Wallace....the proverbial brick wall

Question

I am researching William K. Wallace; b.1834 d.1917 m. Sara Medline Elam b. 29 Jul 1848 d. 28 Feb 1935.  They were married 12 Sep 1868 in Annie, Union, Ill.  On all the census where he appears, William says that he was born in Washington County, WI.  We cannot find him anywhere in WI.  He also states that his father was born in Scotland; his mother in Maryland....but we don't know their names.  Anyone who is researching this particular Wallace line?  Any insight is greatly appreciated.

Comments

Something peculiar. The form says Wisconsin infantry.

William K Wallace

 in the U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934

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Name:	William K Wallace [William W Williams]
Gender:	Male
Place Filed:	Texas, USA
Relation to Head:	Soldier
Spouse:	Sarah M Wallace

Source Citation

The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; NAI Title: General Index to Civil War and Later Pension Files, ca. 1949 - ca. 1949; NAI Number: 563268; Record Group Title: Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 1773 - 2007; Record Group Number: 15; Series Title: U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934; Series Number: T288; Roll: 495

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Thanks, Eddie....we have this record, which gave us some clues about his mother's maiden name - Williams. We believe William enlisted under an alias.  He was wounded, captured, and released, and went to Tennessee and re-enlisted, being mustered out at war's end.

thanks again!

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I am researching the same name...I have a letter (I am guessing) from my grandfather's sister-in-law) that talks about my William K. William volunteering under the alias William W. Williams from the State of Wisconsin...he fought in 3 major battles; one being in Vickburg.

He was with the 8th infantry co. K....he had signed up under his maternal grandfather's name....but in this letter, the woman he married, they spell her name Sarah and she was born in Warren County, Tenn. Her parent's were William and Elizabeth Elam. Does this help at all?

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Hi, Donna

Thanks for your insight.  This perhaps might be the same individual (there's another William K. Wallace from Vermont that is not this fellow...folks tend to get them mixed up). Sarah's mother and father match with my records. Would it be possible to get a copy of the letter you mentioned?

Answer 1

I don't  know if this is the correct person but it may be worth more research.

 Federal Census

Ancestry Record

1850 United States Federal Census

Name	William K Wallace
Age	16
Birth Year	abt 1834
Birthplace	Vermont
Home in 1850	Newbury, Orange, Vermont, USA
Gender	Male
Family Number	187
Household Members	Name Age James Wallace 55 Rebecca Wallace 55 William K Wallace 16

Comments

Thanks, Patricia!  This William is the conundrum that we are facing....is this guy the same one I'm researching?  It would be nice if were true, since the paternal line gets us back several generations.  sigh...all part of genealogy, right?

 

thanks again

Davis

Answer 2

Assuming WISCONSIN as place of birth is correct, there were only two households in the 1840 census for Wallace/Wallis. Both had sons about five years old.

 

Name	Home in 1840 (City, County, State)	Number of Slaves	Total Number of All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves	View Image
View Record	John Wallis	Eastern Division, Iowa, Wisconsin Territory		10
View Record	Noah Wallis	Eastern Division, Iowa, Wisconsin Territory		4

1–2 of 2

 

 

 

Comments

This may be a close relative - uncle maybe ?

 

William Wallace

 in the 1850 United States Federal Census

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• View blank form

Name:	William Wallace
Age:	52
Birth Year:	abt 1798
Birthplace:	Scotland
Home in 1850:	Arena, Iowa, Wisconsin, USA
Gender:	Male
Family Number:	23
Household Members:	Name Age William Wallace 52 Elizabeth Wallace 23 Mary Wallace 2 William Wallace 0

Source Citation

Year: 1850; Census Place: Arena, Iowa, Wisconsin; Roll: M432_999; Page: 414B; Image: 436

 

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? ? ?

John Wallis

 in the U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current

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Name:	John Wallis
Birth Date:	Apr 1791
Birth Place:	Cornwall, England
Death Date:	19 Sep 1858
Death Place:	Mineral Point, Iowa County, Wisconsin, United States of America
Cemetery:	Old Mineral Point Cemetery
Burial or Cremation Place:	Mineral Point, Iowa County, Wisconsin, United States of America
Has Bio?:	Y
Spouse:	Elizabeth Kendall Wallis
Children:	Elizabeth Kendall Carpenter  Thomas Kendall Wallis  William Kendall Wallis
URL:	https://www.findagrave.com/mem...

Source Information

Ancestry.com. U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

 

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Thanks Eddie....you've given us a decent lead....perhaps we now know William's middle name!  All we've ever seen is a "K"...

 

Davis