William Wallace (abt. 1780 - 1823)

Born about 1780 in York, South Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Descendants

Died Jan 1823 at about age 43 in Blount, Tennessee, United States

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Biography

Overview

William Wallace died in 1823 in Blount County, Tennesee, four months before his wife Mary Ann gave birth to their ninth child. Several years later, Mary Ann and her children moved to Randolph County, Missouri where they met the Jones family, which had been in the area for years, originally from Kentucky. Four of the Wallace children and the eldest grandson intermarried with the Jones family. Many members of these two families moved to Davis County in southern Iowa around 1845, when this land was newly opened for settlement. Later, after the Civil War, the families of three of William and Mary Ann's sons came to the area of Wichita in south central Kansas. The 1961 Wallace Family Genealogy, by Mrs. Glen E. Rush, focuses on these Kansas Wallace families.

Hidden Southern ancestry

In Kansas after the Civil War, it was not a good idea to let one's southern origins be known. "Bleeding Kansas" during the 1850s can be thought of as the warm-up act of the Civil War, as struggle between southern and northern settlers led to repeated bloodshed in Kansas and political polarization throughout the slowly dis-uniting States.^[1] During the war itself Kansans continued to bleed, as Kansas regiments suffered heavier casualties than those of any other state in the Union. And William Wallace was born in that most "Southern" of states, the instigator of both secession and the Civil War: South Carolina.

Accordingly, William Wallace's descendants in Kansas were inclined to lie about their family's Southern origin. In an 1888 biographical sketch of the son-in-law of William's son William, we find that William (Sr.) was born in "West Virginia" (instead of South Carolina) and the Jones family was said to be from Ohio (instead of Kentucky).^[2]

The earlier 1880 census record (Butler County, Kansas) for William's son Matthias states that William had been born in Scotland. Perhaps this was the seed of the elaborate fantasy concocted by Mathias's granddaughter Rena Marie (Hayes) Rush in the genealogy she wrote of William Wallace's descendants.^[3]

Fabricated account of William's origin

Writing under the name of "Mrs. Glen E. Rush," Rena (Hayes) Rush provided the following imaginative and completely false account of William Wallace's origin and emigration: William Wallace's father, also named William, was the son of Thomas and Lillias (Cunningham) Wallace. William (son of Thomas) married Jean Campbell Wallace in 1770. Their son William was born in 1787 in Ayr, Scotland, and the infant's mother died in childbirth. William the father re-married a woman named Ann Porterfield, who became the guardian of his three elder children in 1789 after he died of an injury suffered in an accident. The guardians of the infant William were the father's sister Mary and her husband John Womac of Dublin, Ireland:

At Dublin, the records in the office of the clerk of permits show that on May 2, 1804 a license or permit was granted to William Wallace to marry Miss M. A. Nesbitt.... The marriage permit of this young couple was signed by four people -- one of them being his guardian, John Womac.

The records also show that on May 2, 1804, John Womac signed over to William Wallace all of his inheritance.

Records at the immigration Bureau, Dublin, show that on June 9, 1804, William and Mary Wallace, husband and wife, Scotch emigrants of Dublin with many other English and Scotch emigrants set sail from Dublin on the English steamer "Prince Edward." All persons registered as they embarked. They had to have certificates from their minister showing that they were good citizens and that they had conformed with the rules of the church and also that it was their intention to establish a home in America.

The records at emigrant's office in Newport News, Virginia show that William Wallace, aged eighteen, took the oath of allegiance to the United States of America on June 27, 1804, the day of landing from the English steamship "Prince Edward."

It is said that this young couple, with many others, bought horses and took their bundles and started to the southwest. A supposition is that they might have been seeking their cousins in Virginia but went too far south, for we next hear of them near Knoxville, Tennessee. Fourteen miles east of Knoxville, Tennessee, their American home was established, and on this farm their nine children were born.^[4]

Setting the record straight

Mrs. Rush's book refers to non-existant baptism, marriage, probate, emigration and immigration records.^[5]

Countering this tissue of falsehoods is the following documentary evidence:

1. The 1900 census record of William's son Matthias (the same Matthias whose 1880 census record states that William was born in Scotland) shows that William was born in South Carolina. This is also shown in the 1880 census of William's daughter Elizabeth Jones, in Davis County, Iowa, and in the 1880 census for William's son John, in San Joaquin County, California. All three of these records were made outside Kansas.^[6]

2. The above-cited biographical history of Sedgwick County not only states that William was born in West Virginia (that is, the USA, not Scotland), it also states that Mary Ann came to America at the age of three with her parents. Clearly, she was not married in Ireland if she grew up in the United States.

3. The census records of William's children contradict Rush's statement that all of his children were born in Tennessee. Eldest child Joseph died before 1850, the first census year that included the state where people were born. For second child John, the 1860 and 1880 census records state that he was born in South Carolina. (Third child Jane died before 1850; no known children.) For fourth child Elizabeth and fifth child James, the 1850 census shows that they were born in North Carolina. The younger children were born in Tennessee.

4. According to the 1952 edition of Burke’s Landed Gentry, as with Mrs. Rush's 1961 Wallace genealogy, Thomas Wallace married Lilias Cunningham and had a son William, who married Jean Campbell. William and Jean had a son William, a Colonel in the 80th Regiment, who died unmarried at Scoor, East Indies, 11 May 1809. Mrs. Rush falsely identified William Wallace (d. 1823 in Tennessee), with this older Scottish military man who never married.

William's likely origin

The second son of William Wallace, named John Nesbitt Wallace, was born about 1809 in South Carolina. As William named his second son for his father-in-law, it seems reasonable to suppose that William's eldest son Joseph was named for his own father, as was customary in Scottish families.

A descendant of William Wallace's son, Matthias. has a y-DNA match Kit 918717, Matthias Turner Wallace, b. 1821 (TN) d. 1909 (OK) (36 out of 37) with a descendant of Lt. William Wallace of Rutherford County, North Carolina (Kit 159723, GRP 5 - Joseph b.bef 1755 > William c1785 SC-1823), who had brothers Joseph and James, and a brother McCasland Wallace of York County, South Carolina.

A 2004 genealogical article mentions in passing that William Wallace was the son of Joseph and Jane Wallace of York County, South Carolina.^[7] Members of this family are buried at Beersheba Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Clover, York County, South Carolina. Sarah Wallace Donaldson, daughter of Joseph Wallace and wife Jane, and her two sons, William and Robert M. Donaldson are also buried at Beersheba Cemetery in York County, South Carolina.

William Wallace named a son William Donaldson Wallace. There are Donaldsons buried at the same Beersheba Presbyterian Church Cemetery in York County. A family tree at ancestry.com lists Sarah Wallace of York County who married William Donaldson and had a son Joseph Wallace Donaldson. William Donaldson and father-in-law Joseph Wallace were sued 1804 in York County, SC, Court for a debt they jointly owed. The coincidence of names, county location, and cemetery records between the two families is striking, indicating a familial relationship.

Biography

William Wallace was born in South Carolina, probably York County. He married Mary Ann Nesbitt, presumably around 1804 or so. Mary Ann was born around 1787 and came to America at the age of three with her parents. According to Rush's Wallace Family Genealogy, Mary Ann Nesbitt was the daughter of John and Mary (Gibson) Nesbitt.

John and Mary (Gibson) Nesbitt are also routinely identified as the parents of Margaret Nesbitt, who married Matthias Turner and lived in Rutherford County, North Carolina before moving to Randolph Co., Missouri, where the Wallace family also settled. Presumably it is no coincidence that William and Mary Ann Wallace named a son Matthias Turner Wallace. However, no primary source evidence for John Nesbitt is currently known.

William's likely father, Joseph Wallace of York County, South Carolina (see above), died in 1807, so perhaps William received inheritance money which enabled him to buy the following tract of land in Tennessee:

On 23 Nov. 1809, the State of Tennessee granted William Wallace 437 acres, at the rate of one dollar per acre, on Pistol Creek in Blount County, Tennessee, next to David Caldwell along the road from Maryville to Knoxville.^[8]

From the census records of William's children, it appears that he moved from South Carolina to North Carolina before 1812, and he moved to Tennessee around 1815.

William Wallace “died of a fever at his home, fourteen miles east of Knoxville, in January, 1823, and is buried in the little cemetery near his house.”^[9] Here is the inventory of his property, dated 30 Dec. 1823:

An Inventory of the property of William Wallace - deceased. Three head of horses, four head of grown cattle and five head of sheep, seven head of hogs, 2 shovel ploughs and one bare shovel, two pair of drawing chains and harness, one chopping ax, one iron wedge, 3 weeding hoes, 1 mans saddle, 3 beds and furniture, 1 cotton wheel and 1 flax wheel, 3 pots and 2 ovens, 2 pails, 1 churn, 1 dozen of pewter plated and one pewter dish, 5 Delf plates, 1 set of knives and forks, 6 tin cups, 4 chairs, 4 earthen crocks, 1 coffee pot, 1 slate, 1 looking glass, 1 iron potrack, 2 pair of pot hooks, 1 pair fir shovels and tongs.

Recorded December 30th day 1823 her mark

Mary X Wallace^[10]

“The mother, Mary Nesbitt-Wallace and her children, after his death, continued to live at the old home for several years, and she was finally persuaded by her husband’s brother, Uncle Joseph and his wife, Aunt Polly, to go with them to Randolph county, Missouri, where a number of the relatives had already gone…. A few years later they moved to Davis County, Iowa where she finally died of Consumption and is laid to rest in Southern Davis County.”^[11]

It would appear that “Uncle Joseph” was really the eldest son of William Wallace, and not William’s presumed brother Joseph, who lived in South Carolina.

Children:

1. Joseph, b. c. 1806; m. Polly Harlin 14 Dec. 1826 Fayetteville, Lincoln Co., Tenn.; d. 18 Apr. 1843 Sugar Creek Twp., Randolph Co., Mo.; his son Isaac m. Mary Jones, dau. of Robert and Martha (Gash) Jones.

2. John Nesbitt, b. 28 Sept. 1808; m. Sarah Hamilton 6 Jan. 1829 Tenn.; to Randolph Co., Mo. 1832; Platte Co., Mo. 1850; Davis Co., Iowa 1860; to California 1864; d. 7 July 1883 Stockton, Ca. (per history written by Benjamin Carpenter Wallace).

3. Jane, b. c. 1810; m. Wiley Benson; d. 1849 on the way to California.

4. Sarah, b. c. 1812; m. Peter Vines; in Randolph Co., Mo. 1843; in Crawford Co., AR 1850.

5. James B., b. c. 1814 N.C. (per 1850 census); m. Malinda Jones (sister of Martin Jones, husband of James’s sister Elizabeth) Feb. 1834 at Howard Co., Missouri; in 1840 census Randolph Co., Mo.; in 1850 census Macon Co., Mo.; d. 1852, probate Randolph Co.

6. Rev. William Donaldson, b. 15 June 1816; m. Martha Jane Jones; in Davis Co., Iowa 1850; Putnam Co., MO 1860; Bourbon Co., KS 1870 where he died 1871.

7. Elizabeth, b. 9 Nov. 1818; m. Martin Mitchell Jones 8 Feb. 1836 Huntsville, Mo.; d. 7 Nov. 1892 at Canton, Kansas. Her 1880 census record (Fox River Twp., Davis Co., Iowa) states that her father was born in South Carolina and her mother was born in Ireland.

8. Matthias Turner, b. 29 Mar. 1821 (per Rush); m. (1) Emmaranda Liggett 24 Sept. 1844 at Platte Co., Mo.; m. (2) Martha A. Crawford 2 Dec. 1858 at Putnam Co., Mo.; d. 26 May 1909 near Ringwood, Ok.

9. Robert Biers, b. 13 May 1823; m. Minerva C. Jones (sister of brother William’s wife) in 1845; in 1852 from Davis Co. to Taylor Co, Iowa; to Bedford, Iowa 1873; to Little River, Rice Co., Kansas 1880; later to Canon City, Colorado, where Robert died 23 Nov. 1917.

Sources

Acknowledgments

Thank you to John Schmeeckle for creating WikiTree profile Wallace-4016 through the import of Coons.ged on Dec 11, 2013. Click to the Changes page for the details of edits by John and others.

William was born in 1787. He passed away in 1823.

Sources

1. ↑ "Bleeding Kansas" and its national political ramifications are treated in detail in William Freehling's The Road To Disunion, Vol. 2 (2007).
2. ↑ "Portrait and biographical album of Sedgwick County, Kansas" (1888), p. 830.
3. ↑ Writing of herself in the Wallace Family Genealogy (1961), p. 97: "Rena Marie was born December 19, 1903 on her parents' claim near Ringwood, Oklahoma. She received a large part of her education in and near Ringwood. She graduated from East High School in Wichita, and attended two years at Friends University in the same city. She was employed two years by the American Friends Board of Missions in Richmond, Indiana, before her marriage to Glen Everett Rush, June 7, 1931, in Wichita, Kansas."
4. ↑ Mrs. Glen E. Rush, Wallace Family Genealogy (Wichita, 1961), pp. 8-9.
5. ↑ A list of these five imaginary records is given on this forum post by a puzzled genealogist who was unable to find the immigration record. John Schmeeckle has communicated with another Wallace descendant, Ralph Wallace, who actually searched for these records in Ireland, and found nothing.
6. ↑ The relevant census information for William and Mary Ann's youngest son Robert is consistently inconsistent. Robert's 1880 census record (in Kansas) states that William was born in Tennessee and Mary Ann was born in Ireland. Robert's 1900 census record (in Colorado) states that William was born in Scotland and Mary Ann was born in Ireland. Robert's 1910 census record (in Colorado; he was living with son Alva, who may have been the informant) simply states that both of his parents were born in "United States."
7. ↑ Richard E. Wallace, “James Wallace (1793-1863)," in York County Genealogical and Historical Society Quarterly, June 2004. The relevant quote reads, "Joseph Wallace (pre 1755-ca 1807) and his wife Jane (pre 1755-p 1810) may have had as many as 11 children, six boys and five girls. These numbers come from the York Census tallies for 1790 and 1800. Of the possible sons of Joseph Wallace, three were born before 1790 and three were born 1790-1800. Joseph (1777-1864) and William (ca 1785-ca 1823) were two sons born before 1790, and the subject of this article was among those born after 1790."
8. ↑ The text of the following deed was sent in an e-mail from Jackie Barnes to John Schmeeckle:

   The State of Tennessee #793

   To all to whom these presents shall come, Greeting

   Know ye that in pursuance of an act of the General Assembly passed on the 23 day of November 1809, there is granted by the said state of Tennessee unto William Wallace a certain tract or parcel of land containing Four hundred thirty seven acres two (rood) and eight chain, within the tract locate for the use after (demied), lying in the County of Blount and district South of French Broad and Holston on the waters of Pistol Creek. There being due and chargable on said land, the sum of four hundred and thirty-seven dollars and sixty cents with the interest due thereon.

   Beginning at a stake in the road from Maryville to Knoxville Corner to David Caldwell and running with King and Montgomery and Daniel Owens, north sixty six and a fourth west thirty chain and twenty five links to a stake north forty one west forty eight chain thirty links to a pile of stone north ten and an half cast with David Owen and D. Eagleton, fifty five chain to a small hickory. Then with Eagleton, noth thirty two west, sixty eight chain to a post oak. North twenty three east, forty six chain to a post oak and a black oak. South twenty eight east fifty five chains and eighteen links to a post oak and a hickory. Then with David Ogleby, South eighty eight and a half east, thirty five chain and forty eight links to a post oak and a black oak. South twenty seven an half three forths west, eighteen chain and forty two links to a small black oak. South twenty eight east, fifty five chains and eighteen links to a post oak and hickory. Then with David Caldwell, south forty four and an half west, one hundred and five chain and thirty six links to the beginning.

   Surveyed July 17, 1809 with its appurtenances, to have and to hold, the said tract or parcel of land and to appurtenances to have and to hold to the said William Wallace and his heirs and assigns forever. In witness where of, Willie Blount, Governor of the State of Tennessee has here unto set his hand and can ( ) the Great seal of the State to be offisced at Knoxville on the fifth day of May in the year of our Lord One Thousand and Eight Hundred and Ten, and of the American Independance, the thirty fourth

   By the Governor Willie Blount

   W. F. Blount, secretary

9. ↑ Mrs. Glen E. Rush, Wallace Family Genealogy (Wichita, 1961), p. 9.
10. ↑ Transcript of inventory e-mailed from Jackie Barnes to John Schmeeckle before 2003
11. ↑ Mrs. Glen E. Rush, Wallace Family Genealogy (Wichita, 1961), pp. 8-9.

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