James Monroe Wallace

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Biography

James Monroe Wallace was born April 2, 1835 at Wallace Prararie. He was the fourth child of Caleb an "Old 300" and Elizabeth Wallace. His mother died when he was just a few days old and he was nursed by a negro mammy. He was raised by her and his Aunt Elvira, who became his stepmother.

This story has been passed down that when James was just a baby, he was kidnapped by Indians who came up to the Wallace homeplace and took "Little Jim" away. His father, Caleb, had to get some of the settlers and make a raid on the Indian encampment and get "Little Jim" back.

James spent his childhood on the league of land that his father received as a colonist in Austin"s first colony. His father Caleb died August 13, 1844. The community of Retreat was founded on the edge of the Wallace land. In 1856, James gave one acre of land to the Retreat Lodge, Masonic Lodge #133, which was never built.

James Wallace moved from Retreat to Little River, Bell County in 1857. He married twice. His first wife died after two years of marriage. They had two children.

When the Civil War broke out, James enlisted along with two cousins, the sons of Samuel and Polly Marshall in Company 1, 17th Texas Volunteer Infantry, Colonel R. T. Allen, 3rd Brigade, General Theophilus H. Holmes commanding. He enlisted April 11, 1862 in Bell County.

When the war was over, he came home and married Martha Ann Marshall, whose father was John Ligett Marshall a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto. They had twelve children.

In 1902, he sold his Bell County holdings and went to Coleman County where he purchased six sections of land near the town of Santa Anna. James Monroe Wallace died on September 14, 1914 and his body was returned to Bell County where he is buried in the Greathouse Cemetery just outside of Temple.

James is buried in Bell County at Greathouse Cemetery.

Submitted by Robert L. Smith

Grimes County, TXGenWeb Project Webmaster: Eleanor Colson