Wallace Family Papers

Series I, Reuben Wallace, contains information on the first generation of the Wallace family to settle in Champaign and Clark counties at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Subseries I-A, Documents, includes material concerning his work as a justice of the peace and as a state legislator. It also includes financial records, indentures, wills and receipts both for Reuben Wallace and for his father, Thomas Wallace, as well as information about the 1839 Quarterly Conference of the Troy Circuit of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he was an active member. Subseries I-B, Correspondence, includes letters to and from family and friends on such topics as religion, family, legislative business, financial matters, and farming. Reuben Wallace married Anna Lamme and, following her death in 1818, married Barbara Cecil. Following her death, he married Eleanor Mitchell. In total, he was the father of fourteen children, including Joseph Collins Wallace and Benjamin Finley Wallace. Photographs of various family members are available in Box 34.

Series II, Joseph Collins (J.C.) Wallace, contains correspondence and related documents covering the years 1820-1914. J.C. Wallace was the second generation of the Wallace family to farm the land originally purchased by his father, Reuben Wallace. J.C.'s papers include letters to family and friends, financial records, and deeds, and the series also includes information on the William Lamme farm. Subjects covered in the correspondence include family and financial matters. J.C. Wallace married Mary Narcissus Smith, and they were the parents of Fred S. Wallace and William Clark Wallace. Of specific interest are letters written by William Clark Wallace to his parents while in Florida between 1883 and 1884, before he settled down and married; these materials are located in Box 2, File 5. A photograph is available in Box 34.

Series III, Joseph W. Smith/Elizabeth Churchman Sweet, contains the papers of Reverend Joseph Wilson Smith and his wife, Elizabeth Churchman Sweet, and some materials concerning their parents. Subseries III-A, contains land and will records for Joseph's parents, James and Sarah Smith. Subseries III-B, Joseph Wilson Smith Documents, and Subseries III-C: Joseph Wilson Smith Correspondence, contain materials concerning family, financial obligations, and real estate transactions, including their farm located west of Urbana, Ohio. Reverend Smith was a circuit preacher for the Ohio Conference of the Methodist Church, so some of his religious materials are included as well. His diary, with a handwritten transcription and notes completed by Milly Wallace, documents his life between 1828 and 1832. Subseries III-D, Sweet Documents, contains limited information related to Benjamin and Mary Ann Sweet, Elizabeth's parents. Joseph and Elizabeth Smith were the parents of Mary Narcissus Smith Wallace (Mrs. Joseph Collins Wallace) and Sarah Smith Hadley (Mrs. William Clark Hadley).

Series IV, William C. Hadley, contains correspondence and a few documents related to the Hadley Family. William Clark Hadley married Sarah (Sallie) Smith, sister of Mary Narcissus Smith Wallace (Mrs. Joseph Collins Wallace). Dating between 1854 and 1903, the letters are primarily family exchanges between Hadley and his wife, Sarah; their children, Minnie and Eugene; Elizabeth Sweet Smith, Sarah's mother; and Mary Narcissus Smith Wallace, Sarah's sister. Subjects discussed include family health and activities, financial matters, William Hadley's trip to Philadelphia in 1868, and politics. Of interest are the letters written by Minnie Hadley to her parents after she left home and moved to California about 1885, which include descriptions of San Francisco and Los Angeles around the turn of the century. Some Hadley family photographs are located in an album in Box 36.

Series V, Benjamin F. Wallace, contains documents and correspondence concerning Benjamin F. Wallace, the brother of J.C. Wallace and son of Reuben Wallace. He married Anna Elizabeth Barr. Of special interest is her autograph memory album, which is filled with good wishes from friends and family as she prepared to leave home for marriage and during the early years she and Benjamin were married. Benjamin and Anna had three children: Ida Belle, Clifford, and Charles. Ida Wallace later married Meigs Crouse and had three children: Ann Marie, Rachael Miriam, and Laura Louise. This series also contains Ida Wallace's correspondence with her parents and husband. Of special note are several charming letters by their daughter, Ida Marie. Elsewhere in the collection are a family photograph album in Box 38, Benjamin Wallace's family bible in Box 68, and the Crouse family bible in Box 69.

Series VI, William Clarke (W.C.) Wallace, consist of documents and correspondence concerning W.C. Wallace and his family. Documents include insurance and cemetery information, deeds, and school papers for Grace Wise. The financial records contain account books and bank records dating between 1890 and 1957. The correspondence is primarily between family and friends of the couple, including Bertha Lamme, and discuss such subjects as family, farm activities, and the deaths of his mother (Mary Narcissus Smith Wallace), his aunt (Sarah Hadley, Mary's sister), his wife (Grace Wise Wallace), and his brother (Fred Wallace). Items of interest also include a small collection of letters from Will to Grace during the few months preceding their marriage, April to June 1896, as well as several letters from family and friends in California between 1887 and 1890. Of special interest are W.C. Wallace's journals, including his 1884 trip to Florida; the journals cover the period 1892-1922, though not continuously. The final subseries contains a few school items and letters to and from W.C.'s brother, Fred Wallace, including a letters from Camp Bushnell, Florida, where Fred served during the Spanish-American War in 1898. W.C. and Grace Wise Wallace were the parents of Roscoe Wise "Dick" Wallace, Eugene Hadley Wallace, Anna Elizabeth "Betty" Wallace, and Donald McKinney Wallace.

Series VII, William Wise, contains documents and correspondence pertaining to William Wise and his wife, Martha McKinney Wise, the parents of Grace Wise Wallace (wife of W.C. Wallace) and Roscoe Wise. Included in this series are estate papers, school items, and correspondence. Of special note are the 1888 essay "Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow," and the "Prophecy of the Class of 1888, Olive Branch High School," both written by Grace Wise Wallace. Especially of interest is the correspondence which contains letters to William and Martha Wise from family and friends, including a collection of letters written to "Mattie" (Martha McKinney) by her cousin, William M. McKinney, 15th Regiment, 21st Brigade, 6th Division, Army of the Ohio, during the Civil War. These letters cover the period between 1861 and 1863. Some of William M. McKinney's Civil War correspondence from Series VII can be viewed online in Wright State University's Campus Online Repository (CORE Scholar):http://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/special_ms92_correspond/.There is also a small subseries concerning Roscoe Wise with some school records, account books, and his wedding announcement. The final series is a substantial collection of Articles of Agreement, some of which were completed when William Wise was a Justice of the Peace or in some cases served as a witness. The Articles are listed individually, include the names of the parties involved, and date between 1870 and 1917.

Series VIII, Roscoe "Dick" Wallace, is a small series containing documents and correspondence related to "Dick" Wallace, the son of W.C. and Grace Wallace and brother of Donald McKinney Wallace. The series includes correspondence with both Dick and Don Wallace, addressed as "The Boys," during their years at Ohio State University, as well as between other family and friends.

Series IX, Anna E. Wallace, is a small series containing documents and correspondence concerning Anna "Betty" Wallace and her work as a school teacher. The correspondence is primarily between family and friends, but does include some letters exchanged with the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio. A small collection of trade cards is included also.

Series X, Donald McKinney Wallace, contains the papers of Donald McKinney Wallace and his wife, Milly Kiblinger Wallace, and form one of the largest series in the collection. The first subseries, Personal, contains materials related specifically to Donald M. Wallace, including school records from Olive Branch High School and Ohio State University. Also included are employment materials and information concerning his service in World War I and his work during World War II at Wright Field. The second subseries contains materials specifically related to Milly Kiblinger Wallace, including papers and scrapbooks relating to her schoolwork in North Dakota as both a student and a teacher. Of special interest are her family stories and history, including an audio oral history interview, and her 1939 diary, as well as her original artwork, poems, and stories. The third subseries contains records of Donald Wallace's business career, while the fourth subseries contains substantial financial records, both business and personal. The fifth subseries is a large collection of correspondence from Donald M. and Milly K. Wallace with family and friends. Subjects discussed in the correspondence include family, health, farming, and school. Of special interest in this section are the following exchanges of correspondence: letters between Don and Dick Wallace and their parents when they were attending Ohio State University, 1916-1921; letters between Donald Wallace and his parents during his service during World War I, 1918-1919; letters between Donald and Milly Wallace before and during their marriage; and letters to and from Milly and family in the years after Donald's death. Donald McKinney and Milly Kiblinger Wallace were the parents of William Clarke Wallace, Donald Kiblinger Wallace, Joseph Parcells Wallace, Richard Hugh Wallace, and Nancy Lynn Wallace.

Series XI, Kiblinger/Parcells, consists of documents and correspondence relating to Milly Kiblinger, and her parents, John Kiblinger and Mamie Parcells Kiblinger. There are documents on the Kiblinger family dating back to 1783 as well as information concerning John Kiblinger's work. Of particular interest is the third subseries, which contains information on the Jacot branch of the Kiblinger genealogy.

Series XII, Donald Kiblinger Wallace, is another large series in this collection and documents the life and work of Donald Kiblinger Wallace, son of Donald McKinney and Milly Kiblinger Wallace. The first subseries contains documents primarily relating to his education and military service, including materials from Tecumseh High School, Antioch College, and Western Reserve University. Of special note is the information concerning the Wallace farm settlement and agricultural easement donation. Some related photographs have been included in this series as well as material concerning other family members and some ephemera items. Work related materials include articles, training, and awards. A large subseries of correspondence contains materials related to education, work, military service (including three tours of duty in Vietnam) and family, and dates primarily between 1951 and 19661972.

Series XIII, Photographs, is a large collection of photographs documenting history of the Wallace family and its various tangential branches and relations. The first subseries contains a wonderful collection of Daguerreotypes, tintypes, and ambrotypes, many of which are identified as family members. The oldest of these is a Daguerreotype of Reuben Wallace. The second subseries contains a variety of photograph albums. Several of these albums have been identified by owner and the listing includes the most prominent family surnames included in each album. The third subseries is the largest subdivision of the collection and contains general photographs dating between 1840 and the early 1990s. The photographs have been divided by person, theme, or event, and many have been identified by Donald K. Wallace, including his notes. The final box of this section contains photographs divided by family name, listed in alphabetical order. The final subseries contains miscellaneous other materials, including negatives, a Kodak picture diskdigital photographs, and VHS tapes, including one of the Wallace auction in 1999. Many of the oversize photographs are housed in a separate box (Box 75) at the end of the collection, but are listed in this series for reference.

Series XIV, General Family Information, contains documents, correspondence, and other materials relating to the general Wallace family and extended family members as well. The earliest records are an indenture record from 1803 and a land office patent from 1812. This series also includes early 20th century blueprints for the Wallace farm. The subseries on correspondence contains various announcements, cards, correspondence and fragments. Of special interest is the description from the battlefield of Pitsburg Landing, written by an unknown author, on April 13, 1862. The subseries on schools contains significant information on local schools, including Bethel Township, New Carlisle, and most especially Olive Branch, including annuals. It also contains a report created in 1982 with photos and descriptions of the remaining one- and two-room schools. The publications subseries contains pamphlets and bulletins as well as some general miscellaneous printed materials. The religious materials subseries consist of publications of a religious nature, including pamphlets and newspapers. The final subseries includes copies of newspaper clippings, the first folder of which are obituaries of family and friends between 1892 and 1980; there is an alphabetical list in the front of that folder.

Series XV, Genealogy, contains the most important genealogical information on the Wallace family and its many extended branches. This material was collected primarily by Milly Kiblinger Wallace, who was an avid and experienced genealogist. The first subseries on resources includes materials she collected to track the Wallace family genealogy. Of special note are the files on the DAR applications, which document the Wallace eligibility in that organization and the appropriate DAR numbers. Also of note are the Ahnentafels and DNA analysis information of Donald K. Wallace, which help document the long history of the Wallace family via biological research. The second subseries contains notes kept by Milly Wallace during her genealogy research. The third section contains published materials relating directly to Wallace family genealogy, especially materials tracing back to Maryland and Virginia. The largest subseries is the fourth subseries, families, which contains Milly's genealogical information for all of the many branches and related families. She kept several sets of index cards, notes, and materials relating to these families throughout her research, and those materials are contained in the folders in this section of the collection. The folders are identified by surname; files marked "index cards" contain the index cards for that alphabetical entry where no other family file existed in her records. Of special interest are the Lamme file and the application for inclusion in the First Families of Ohio in one of the Parcells folders. The Wallace portion contains ten folders of general family materials and notes, as well as separate folders on Bess Truman Wallace, land grant information, marriage information, and genealogy cards. The final subseries in genealogy contains correspondence related to Milly's genealogy research, and the folders are divided according to the name of the family to which the correspondence pertains.

Series XVI, Books, contains published books concerning the Wallace family and its extended family connections. The first subseries focuses on places and contains several works on local Clark County, Ohio, history. The second subseries contains works pertaining to the Wallace family, either by ownership or by content. Many of the early publications were owned by a member of the Wallace family. Of special note is the book by Isabel Wallace on the life and letters of General W.H.L. Wallace. The third subseries contains family bibles, and specifically those of Thomas Kizer, Benjamin Wallace, and Ida Wallace Crouse, Reuben Wallace, Joseph Collins and Mary Narcissa (Smith) Wallace, J. Parcells, and John Kiblinger. The fourth subseries contains books concerning Benjamin Lamme, including his autobiography and a set of the Electrical Journal in which he published. The final subseries contains books concerning places and people of interest to the Wallace family.

Series XVII, film contains 29 reels of 8mm and super 8 film, along with 5 master VHS tapes containing transfers of the original film. The film depicts vacation trips, Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and family events from 1959-1976. Series XVIII, William Clarke “Bill” Wallace, contains the personal papers of William C. “Bill” Wallace, son of Donald M. and Milly Kiblinger Wallace. Notable items in this series include his baby book as well documents related to his military service during the Vietnam War era, including extensive correspondence with family. Materials in this series date from 1935 to 1971, with the bulk being from 1960 to 1971.

Series XIX, Nancy Lynn (Wallace) Zwetsch, is another large series in this collection and documents the life and work of Nancy Lynn Wallace Zwetsch, daughter of Donald McKinney and Milly Kiblinger Wallace. The first subseries contains documents primarily relating to her primary and secondary school experience in New Carlisle, including attendance at Olive Branch Junior High School and Tecumseh High School. The second subseries includes materials related to her 4-H activities, as well as Ohio Forestry Training Camp and Conservation Camp. The third subseries concerns her college years as a student at Ohio Wesleyan University, including new student information and directories, course work for her Home Economics degree, as well as items pertaining to the Chi Omega sorority, of which she was a member. Of particular note in this series are two essays providing insights to her life and family: “Analysis of My Family” and “Autobiography.” The fourth series, Career and Continuing Education, includes materials related to her work as a teacher and social worker, and continuing education, such as her course work at Case Western Reserve University School of Applied Social Sciences. The fifth subseries, Correspondence, is perhaps the largest and includes letters from her parents and brothers (especially during her early adulthood from 1964 to 1974), extended family, and friends. Of particular note are several letters between 1966 and 1968 from Ohio Wesleyan classmate William F. Simpson, who served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. The sixth subseries includes other documents and ephemera, including a diary from 1961, a small number of photographs and news clippings, an invitation to her wedding to Glenn Zwetsch, documents related to her church and to the Daughters of the American Revolution, as well as other items.