Henry Wallace

As printed in 1881

HON. HENRY C. WALLACE.

Henry C. Wallace was born August 18, 1823, in Woodford county, Kentucky. He is the son of Henry and Elizabeth Wallace, the latter a daughter of George Carlyle, a soldier of the revohition, of Woodford county, Kentucky. He is a descendant of the oldest and most honored families of the " dark and bloody ground." His ancestors are traced back to Scotland, but in this country they settled first in Virginia. The father of Henry C. Wallace, Capt. Henry Wallace, was born in Kentucky, in March, 1792, soon after the admission of the state, and is supposed to have been the first male child born in the state after its admission into the union. He was a soldier of the war with England in 1812, under Gen. William H. Harrison, and served with that officer in the north, then known as the Northwestern Territory, against the hostile Indians. Hei removed to Missouri and settled in Lexington in the spring of 1844, where, in the vicinity, he resided until his death in 1875. He was a man of high moral character and unspotted integrity, a useful member of society and of the Baptist church. He lived to the advanced age of eighty-three years, honored and respected by his fellow-citizens and revered by his numerous children and grand-children. Hon. Caleb B. Wallace, eldest brother of the subject of this sketch, was a member of the senate of Kentucky, in 1850-51, from Boyle county. Henry C. Wallace enjoyed the advantages of Sinking Spring academy in his native county, and was attending Center college, at Danville, Kentucky, when his father emgirated to Missouri; but was forced by impaired health, resulting from a long and severe attack of typhoid fever, to leave college in 1844. Though his health gradually improved after removing to Missouri, it did not permit of his resuming his collegiate course, and he continued to prosecute his studies during several years with such assistance as he could then secure at Lexington. He then taught school in that town for a year and a half, when he commenced the study of law with F. C. Sharp, Esq., his brother-in-law, afterward a prominent lawyer of the St. Louis" bar. He was admitted to practice in 1849, and after practicing for eighteen months with good success, he attended the law school at Louisville, Kentucky, and graduated in 1851. He then returned to Lexington, and has ever since been assiduously engaged in the study and practice of the law. Besides holding the office of justice of the peace and that of city attorney, each from 1849 to 1853, he has never until his election to the constitutional-convention, which met in 1875, held or desired to hold official position. He was elected to the constitutional convention from the three counties composing the 17th senatorial district- Lafayette, Pettis and Saline, by a large and flattering majority. In religion he is a Baptist, and member of the first Baptist church of Lexington. He is also a Mason and a Knight Templar. Politically, he was an old line whig, but since the dissolution of that party he has affiliated with, and is a warm supporter of the democratic party. He was married June 4, 1863, to Miss Lizzie Sharp, sister of F. C. Sharp, above mentioned and daughter of Absalom Sharp, of Christian county, Kentucky. By her he has five children surviving, three boys and two girls, the oldest being in his twelfth year.

As printed in History of Lafayette County, Mo., carefully written and compiled from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of its townships, cities, towns and villages, together with a (1881). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.