Life and Letters of General W. H. L. Wallace

I. Parentage and Early Life.

LIFE AND LETTERS OF GENERAL W. H. L. WALLACE CHAPTER I. PARENTAGE AND EARLY LIFE. WILLIAM WALLACE of Illinois resembled William Wallace of Scotland in more respects than the name. They were alike in devotion to their country , for which each gave his life-~)De dying in a most inhuman manner by the hands of a foreign foe outside his own country; the other by the hands of a foe, 'tis true, his own countrymen, but in battle honored and admired by the enemy surrounding him no less than by his own soldiers. The body of William Wallace of Illinois was laid to rest with honor and respect, not cut and placed on poles to be jeered at by his enemies, as was the sad fate of the great Sir William Wallace of Scotland five hundred years before. In another point are they alike-in their devotion to home and the beloved wife sheltered there. Even in appearance, if history tells true, they again meet; both tall, with sandy hair and gray eyes, which betokens the Scotch ancestry of William Wallace of Illinois. Both were Nature's noblemen, firm in duty, gentle and considerate to all who required their aid-two great souls, akin in name no less than in exalted motives. In personal appearance William Wallace of Illinois was tall, erect, dignified almost to reserve, commanding by nature, but simple and unassuming, a gentleman in the highest sense of the term. Cowardice and meanness he abhorred and branded them as such in no uncertain words. Wrong was wrong and right was right; no glossing over for any temporary gain, ever standing firmly for the highest ideals. [1] LIFE AND LETTERS OF GENERAL W. H. L. WALLACE There was something in his personality that begat the deepest devotion and intense loyalty from his friends, who acknowledged his superiority without envy or jealousy; wishing to see him advanced, they put him forward as their leader, and felt honored in giving him honors. In war his soldiers almost idolized him, for to him fear was unknown and his bravery inspired them to heroic deeds. William Hervy Lamme Wallace was born in Urbana, Ohio, July 8, 1821. He was the fourth child and second son of John and Mary Lamme Wallace. His grandfather Wallace lived in Sussex County, Delaware, and removed to Rockingham County, Virginia, in 1782, where his father, John Wallace, was born. About 1817 John Wallace moved to Champaign County, Ohio, where he married Mary Lamme, daughter of James and Elizabeth Lamme, who were born in Augusta County, Virginia, and moved from there to Cynthianna, Kentucky, in 1791, and to Champaign County, Ohio, in 1808. James Lamme's father was born in Ireland and came to America in 1740, settling in Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. William was but four years old when his mother, Mary Lamme Wallace, died. His father married Sarah Hitt for a second wife. John Wallace was a carpenter and builder, but meeting with an accident that injured his back, gave up his business and moved to La Salle County, Illinois, taking up an original grant from the United States Government in Deer Park Township. In 1834 he, with his wife and eleven children , moved into this new country. William, then a lad of twelve years, assisted a young relative to drive out a large flock of sheep from the old horne to the new one. A log cabin was built and the family sojourned in this picturesque locality for some six years. It is now the beautiful park near the Deer Park canon, so rich in material for the naturalist and pleasure-seeker. Interspersed with the laborious battle with life that those pioneers waged was many a pleasant ramble in which the thoughtful, refined boy roamed through the neighboring canons and over the far-famed Starved Rock, where he gathered arrows and beads left by the vanquished Illini. [2] LIFE AND LETTERS OF GENERAL W. H. L. WALLACE With so large a family John Wallace desired better educational advantages for his children and moved in 1840 to Mount Morris, Ogle County, where was situated the Rock River Seminary, in the organization of which he was very active. The Wallace home here was a suburban farm and 'William manfully took an elder brother's share in its work, interspersed with his studies at the Rock River Semirnary . The martial spirit of young Wallace was early aroused, as...