Beyond Braveheart - Wallace Family Roots 1076-2003

This study began early in my life.  In summer I spent time at my grandparents 100 acre farm in southern Indiana.  That “huge” farm was my whole world to explore!   It was the source of conversations, picking up little tid bits here and there, assimilating a new way of living.  My grandfather, Henry M. Wallace,  calling my uncles – “it’s 4 o’clock – time to get up!”  Livestock to be fed, cows to be milked, horses to be harnessed.  Then back to the house for a huge “stick to the ribs” breakfast prepared by my grandmother.  Then back to the horses for cultivating the fields.

My maternal great grandfather, John Clements, lived there also.  He kept bees and there was always fresh honey.  There were home cured hams and sides of bacon hung in “the summer kitchen”.  Canned meat and vegetables in “the cellar” – a self-sustaining existence.  It has been said “we had everything except money” -  it was a fact of life in the Depression Years.

Kerosene lamps provided light in the house and kerosene lanterns in the barn.  Kerosene was commonly referred to as “coal oil”.  The new Alladin lamp in the parlor provided better reading light. Lamps did not burn too long – on the farm it was early to bed, early to rise.  Sunday afternoons on the front lawn – home grown watermelon and muskmelon and “hand cranked” homemade ice cream.  Games of hide and seek, catching fire flies etc.  The life was both harsh and austere – but at the same time romantic.  These days would become “The good old days”.  Every generation has it’s “good old days”.

In the summer of 1935 my grandmother hitched a team of horses to a “hay wagon”.  No seats!  My grandmother stood and drove the team, pulling the wagon, me, my brother Dean, uncle Donald, aunt Margie and aunt Martha to my great grandmothers home.  It was known as the Isaac Shelby Wallace home, 1 ½ miles east of Orleans.  The trip from the farm was 2 ½ miles one way.  We found my great grandmother baking apple pies!

What was the heritage that motivated these strong, self-reliant people?  I now know it was forged over the years, generation by generation.  This question emerged as the force that has driven us to record it for future generations.  We wanted to know our roots and we want our children and their families who follow,  to know their roots and appreciate the heritage that precedes them.

Wallaces served  in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 and in the Civil War - some wore Blue, others wore Gray!   Lew Wallace, a Union Major General in the Civil War, also served as Ambassador to Turkey, and as Territorial Governor of New Mexico.  They have served their country in time of war and have served their country in public service.  In the course of time, some of the approximately 10,000 members named in this report have resided in every state of the 50 United States except Hawaii, Maine, and North Dakota.

In the 13^th century, Sir William Wallace, known as the Hero of Scotland, also as the Defender of Scotland, defeated English Armies at Sterling Bridge. He later was betrayed and put to a cruel death by King Edward I of England.  Political persecution eventually drove some of the Wallace clan to move to Ireland.  Later, many migrated to America.  Matthew Wallace emigrated from Ireland in 1648.  He established himself as a planter in the Eastern Shore of Maryland.  In time, some of the family moved on, his son, Matthew moved on to Cecil County, at the north end of the Chesapeake Bay. Some moved to New England where Oliver Hazzard Perry was born.  Later as Commodore Perry, he defeated the British Fleet in the battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812.  His mother was descended from the Maryland Wallace families.  Some moved to North Carolina and others moved to Western Virginia.

Upon discovery of the Cumberland Gap, people swarmed through and fanned out in many directions.  Some south, south-west, west and north into the old Northwest Territory.  Thus, with temporary stops in Kentucky, the family arrived in Indiana in the early 1800’s.  Clark County, Sullivan County, Scott County and Orange County were destinations.  As society became more mobile, the ever widening path of migration continued.

My son Douglas began collecting data in the mid 1970’s.  I served on the historical committee of the Wallace Family Reunion of the descendants of Henry Morton Wallace and Cora Frances (Clements) Wallace.  Both Doug and I have a curiosity for  history in general and this has served us very well as we pursued the story of this Wallace family.  Each bit of new information made additional information imperative.  Clue by clue this record began to take shape.   

I have said of our field trips, we collect dots – then return home to try to connect the dots.  Perseverance, a sense of historical perspective, the mind set of a detective, serendipity and at time just plain luck are critical factors in genealogical research.   

Our journey back in time, took us to the Eastern Shore of Maryland, where in 1650’s, Matthew Wallace was known as “one of the three kings of Manokin”.  From Maryland, this time journey took us to Ireland,  Scotland and Wales.  Richard of Wales (born 1076) migrated to Riccarton, Ayrshire, Scotland.  He was also known as Eimerus Gallieus.  He is the progenitor of t