JOSEPH JAMES WALLACE

The following bio was taken from page 424 of the book entitled "Rusk County History" compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Claudia Schuster

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County Coordinator

Joseph James Wallace (farmer 1853-1923), son of James Adams Wallace and Elizabeth Farris, was born in York, S.C., and came to Texas as a young child. He married Susan Jenkins (1850-1942), daughter of John Ervin Jenkins and Mary Jane Phelps, in 1877, at Pine Hill, Rusk County.

To this union were born thirteen children. They were: Bob, married Nancy Roberson and had no children; Mary Jane (Jennie) married Joel H. Worley and has nine surviving children; Bonnie Holder, Ervin, Mary Kate Sledge, Corine Cassity, Gladys Cariker, Preston, Winston, Evelyn Choate, and Nell Keeling. Jim married Beulah Grantlett and had one child, Robert Ervin. Vertie married Smith Patrick and had four children: Boyd, Gertie, Lois Rhodes and Robert. Allen married Myrtle Madden and had four children: Joe, Julian, Catherine Mattlock, and Gordon. Deiman married Bertie Welch and had one child, Annie Wood Adams. Olivia (Livvie) never married. Clyde married Ida Smith. Kate married Sam Bearden and had four children: Nellie Orr, Ellie Orr, Ruth Orr, and Bobbie Burks. Osburn married Cassie Smith and had two children, Dwight and Jane Conner. Boman died at age 19. Arthur married Erin White and had two children. Dale and Melba McCormack. Mays married Ester Orr, and two surviving children are Sugene Smith and Etheleen Celerier.

Joe Wallace was a prosperous farmer and very active until his death-- the result of an accident while he was plowing new ground. There was always plenty of food on the long, long table in the dining room, and friends or strangers were welcome to eat with the family. He was a godly man, and a family altar was observed each night with everyone kneeling for prayer in a semi-circle around the fireside. Mrs. Susan Wallace was busy in the summer time tending to the yard full of flowers. In the winter time she was busy piecing quilts for her grandchildren.

Mr. Wallace, unable to get a good education himself, wanted his sons to have a better education. Three sons Bob, Jim, and Mays-became teachers, and two sons, Delmar and Clyde were Methodist ministers. Clyde at age 89 is still active in some church work, and Bob, who lived to be 103, was still teaching a Sunday School class at age 100.

Four of Joe Wallace’s children are living. Arthur lives on the old homeplace in the Patrick Community. Mays and Kate live in Henderson; Clyde’s home is in Beckville, Texas.

By Bonnie Worley Holder