History of Bucks
County, Pa Volume 3 by William H. Davis
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WILLIAM
STEWART WALLACE WILLIAM STEWART WALLACE, of Philadelphia, though not a native of Bucks county, takes more pride in his Bucks county ancestry, who were residents of that county for six generations, than many who still reside in that historic county. He is a son of John Bower and Maria Louisa (LA PAGE) WALLACE, and was born in Philadelphia, May 30, 1862. The WALLACES are of Scotch origin and were among the many sons of Scotia who in the last half of the seventeenth century settled in the province of Ulster, Ireland, where they found a temporary asylum from religious persecution and the internecine struggles incident to the restoration of the STUARTS; from thence a number of them migrated to Pennsylvania a generation later. Robert and John Wallace were landholders in Tinicum township in 1739, and were probably the ancestors of all of the name who appear in that township, and in Warwick and Warrington townships a few years later, but no records have been found to clearly demonstrate that fact. James WALLACE, the direct ancestor of the subject of this sketch, and who from various indications was likely a son of John also named, was born about the year 1725, and from his first appearance of record in the township of Warwick, Bucks county twenty-five years later, was one of the prominent men of that community, frequently appearing as a member of commissions to lay out roads, as an auditor to settle decedents' estates, and in various other positions of public trust. He was commissioned coroner of Bucks county in 1768, and filled that position for five years. He was one of the trustees of Neshaminy Presbyterian church in 1767. From the time when the relations between the colonies and the mother country became strained, he was one of the foremost patriots in Bucks county. He was one of the deputies appointed at the meeting of the inhabitants of the county at Newtown, July 9, 1774, to represent the county in the meeting of provincial deputies held in Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, July 15, 1774. His name heads the list of the Warwick Associators, organized August 21, 1775. He was one of the most prominent members of the committee of safety of the county from its organization, a member of its subcommittee of correspondence, and many other important committees. He was again appointed to represent the county in provincial convention, May 8, 1775, and again in June, 1776, in the provincial conference at Carpenter's Hall, that resulted in calling the convention that drafted the first constitution of the state, and was a member of the committee to report regulations governing the election of delegates to the constitutional convention, held on July 15, 1776, and was one of the judges of that election in Bucks. He was appointed in the same year to ascertain the process of making saltpetre, explain it to the inhabitants of the county, and to receive and pay for it when manufactured. In this connection he is spoken of in a letter from Judge Henry WYNKOOP to the committee of safety of Philadelphia, as "a gentleman of property, strict honesty and firm attachment to the cause." Upon the state constitution going into effect, he was commissioned one of the judges of the civil and criminal courts of Bucks county, March 31, 1777. He was undoubtedly a leading spirit in the Scotch-Irish community at Neshaminy, as well as in the county at large, and enjoyed the confidence of his neighbors and the community, as is evidenced by his always appearing as their representative in all the stirring events of that eventful period, but his career of usefulness was suddenly cut short by his death in the autumn of 1777. He married, in 1754, Isabel MILLER, daughter of Robert and Margaret (GRAHAM) MILLER of Warrington, and granddaughter of William MILLER, one of the earliest settlers of Warwick, and who donated the land upon which the original Neshaminy church was built in 1727. William MILLER was one of the patriarchs of the Scotch-Irish settlement on the Neshaminy. He died February 27, 1758, at the age of eighty-seven years, and his wife Isabel died December 26, 1757, at about the same age. They were the parents of six children: William, who married a JAMISON; Robert, surnamed Hugh (single): Isabel, the wife of Andrew LONG; Margaret, wife of John EARLE; and Mary, wife of James CURRY. Robert, second son of William and Isabel MILLER, was a large land owner in Warrington, and died before his father, and his wife Margaret GRAHAM also died while their children were yet minors. They were the parents of four children: William, Hugh, Robert and Isabel, who married James WALLACE above mentioned. James and Isabel (MILLER) WALLACE were the parents of six children: John and William, who both died unmarried; Jean, married John CARR, and died February 8, 1844, at the age of eighty-nine years; Margaret, married Samuel POLK; Robert, married Mary LONG and Isabel who died unmarried, Isabel (MILLER) WALLACE survived her husband many years, living to an advanced age. Her husband had purchased in 1763 a large portion of the homestead tract of William MILLER, Sr., adjoining Neshaminy church, where she resided with her sons Robert and William as late as 1810. Robert WALLACE, third son of James and Isabel, was born in Warwick, and spent his whole life there, dying in 1850. The Wallace farm, where he was born and lived for so many years, was the site of the encampment of General Washington's army during his two weeks stay at Neshaminy in the summer of 1777. Tradition relates that Robert and his sister carried some choice pears to the General's headquarters and presented them to him. Robert was captain of a company of militia during the Whiskey insurrection and was out again in 1812. He married, November 23, 1792, his cousin, Mary LONG, daughter of Hugh and Mary (CORBIT) LONG, of Warwick, and granddaughter of Andrew and Isabel (MILLER) LONG. Hugh LONG was first lieutenant of Captain William HART's company in the Bucks county battalion of the Flying Camp, under Colonel Joseph HART, in 1776, and died of camp fever during service in 1778. He had married Mary CORBET, October 31, 1761, and they were the parents of seven children, three sons and four daughters. Robert and Mary (LONG) WALLACE were the parents of eight children, viz.: Priscilla, born June 30, 1793, married William HART; Eliza, born May 7, 1796, married James POLK; Isabel, born May 15, 1794, married Joseph FORD: Mary, born August 14, 1803, married Mark EVANS: James, born December 29,1800, see forward; Jane, born April 30, 1806, married Charles SHEWELL; Margaret, born 1807, died in infancy; and Rebecca, born September 7, 1814, married William WARD. James WALLACE, only son of Robert and Mary, was born on the old homestead in Warwick, December 29, 1800, and lived thereon until 1850, when he sold the old farm that had been the property of his ancestors for one hundred and twenty-five years, and removed to Montgomery county, where he lived for several years, and then removed to Philadelphia, where he died January 27, 1866. He married, February 14, 1833, Mary FORD, daughter of James and Sarah (BOWER) FORD, of Monmouth county, New Jersey. James FORD belonged to the old family of FORD or FOORD, of Hamilton Square, Mercer county, New Jersey, where he lies buried in the Presbyterian churchyard. He is supposed to have been a descendant of John FOORD, who with other Scotch covenanters came over in the "Henry and Frances" in an expedition organized by George SCOT, Laird of Pitlochie, landing after great hardships at Perth Amboy in 1685. James and Mary (FORD) WALLACE were the parents of six children, viz.: Mary Jane, born December 5, 1833, died in 1891, married John TEMPLE; John Bower, born March 23, 1836, see forward; William, born 1838, died 1840; Charles Irvin, born December 15, 1840, died 1903, married July 22, 1861, Anna H. CURTIS; Rebecca, born 1844, died 1862; and James, born 1849, died in infancy, Mary (FORD) WALLACE, the mother, was born April 4, 1805, and died in Philadelphia, December 14, 1864. John Bower WALLACE, eldest son of James and Mary, was born in Warwick, Bucks county, March 23, 1836, and was educated at the Hilltop Academy of Samuel AARON, at Norristown, and removed with the family to Philadelphia. He became one of the real estate assessors of that city, and filled that position for many years until his death March 9, 1877, being at that time president of the assessors' association. At a meeting of the board of revision of taxes and assessors of Philadelphia, held March 10, 1877, the following resolution was adopted: "Resolved, that in the death of John B. WALLACE the public lose an officer of rare ability, integrity and usefulness, and his colleagues and friends an associate and companion whose deportment and character as a Christian gentleman leaves abiding traces on their memories, and commanded their respect and love." He married Maria LE PAGE, born July 25, 1834, died August 23, 1870, daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Susannah (GILL) LE PAGE. The former was a son of Peter and Mary LE PAGE, of the Isle of Guernsey, and the latter a daughter of Philip and Mary (BAKER) GILL, of the Island of Sark. Both families were French Protestants, and came to America together in 1818, landing at Baltimore, Maryland. Peter LE PAGE, Jr., married Elizabeth GILL in Philadelphia, November 24, 1824, and died in 1839. His wife survived him many years dying in 1892 at the age of ninety years. They had five children: Peter, Sophia, Selina, Mary and Maria. Peter, the only son, went south when young, married there and was an officer in the Confederate army, and after the war resided until his death in Savannah, Georgia. John Bower and Maria Louisa (LE PAGE) WALLACE were the parents of four children; William Stewart, the Subject of this sketch: John Le Page, who died at the age of eight years; Mary Jane, born March 18, 1866; and James, born December 14, 1869, both living. William Stewart WALLACE, eldest child of John B. and Maria L. WALLACE, was born in Philadelphia, May 30, 1862, and acquired his education in that city. He read law in the office of Hon. James W. M. NEWLIN, and was admitted to the bar of Philadelphia in April, 1883, and has since practiced his profession in that city. He is a member of the Law Academy, of which he was secretary in 1886; of the Society of the Sons of the Revolution, of the National and Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish Societies, of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the Bucks County Historical Society; of the City Relic Society of Germantown, and a member and secretary of the board of trustees of Summit Presbyterian church of Germantown. He married, June 8, 1888, Mollie Comfort BRAND, daughter of Jacob S. and Mary (FLACK) BRAND, of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Test taken from page 461-463 of: Davis, William W. H., A.M., History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania [New York-Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1905] Volume III Transcribed November 2003 by Joan Lollis. as part of the Bucks Co., Pa., Early Family Project, www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/bucksindex.html Published December 2003 on the Bucks County, Pa., USGenWeb pages at www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/ |
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Page was last edited:
11/15/2008