Wallis/Wallace Origins

THE NAME AND FAMILY OF WALLACE AND WALLIS

The name of WALLACE or WALLIS is believed to have been derived from the word
Galleius, meaning "stranger", a name originally applied to the Cimbri or
Welsh tribes. It is found in ancient records in the various spellings of
Walleys, Wallys, Walense, Wallays, Walays, Waleis, Waleys, Walles, Walais,
Waleis, Wallis, and Wallace, of which the two forms last mentioned are those
most generally used in America today.

Families of this name were resident at extremely early dates in Wales,
Scotland, Ireland, and various parts of England. Records indicate that they
were, for the most part, of the landed gentry and nobility of the British
Isles. According to most historians, the largest branch of the family of
this name descended from Eimerus Galeius, a Welshman, who went into Scotland
and settled in Ayrshire in the early twelfth century. He was succeeded by
his eldest son Richard Walense, who was the father of Richard and Henry, of
whom the first died in 1204 and was succeeded by his brother Henry. This
Henry was probably the father of Adam Walays, who had at least two sons,
Adam and Sir Malcolm. The elder son, Adam, was the grandfather of John
Wallace, who married Margaret Lindsay, heiress of Craigie and was the
ancestor of the elder line of the family, known as the Craigie-Wallaces.

Sir Malcolm Wallace, younger son of Adam Walays, resided at Eldershe,
Ayrshire. He married Margaret Crawford, by whom he probably had issue of
Andrew, William, and John, of whom the last is believed to have been the
father of a son named John, who had a son named John, who was in possession
of Eldershe in 1390.

This last-mentioned John was the father of Thomas, who had George, who had
Patrick, who was succeeded by his son William, who had John, who was the
father of a son named William, who married Katherine Crawford. William and
Katherine were the parents of William, John, and Allen, of whom the first
married Jean Chalmers and had issue of John and William (father of Hugh).
John, the elder son of William and Jean, married Margaret Hamilton and had
William, James, and Allan, of whom the first was the father by his wife,
Margaret Stewart, of William, Margaret, and John, of whom the first settled
in Glasgow and was the father of John, Thomas,

William, Michael, and Rebecca. William, third son of William of Glasgow, was
the father of Dr. Michael Wallace, who emigrated to Virginia about 1734 and
will be further mentioned below.

Among the earliest records of the family in England are those of Ingelran le
Waleys of Wiltshire in the time of King Edward the First, who was the father
of Thomas and Roger, of whom the first had a son named Thomas and the second
had a son named John; Henry le Wallis, Lord Mayor of London in the latter
century; Henry le Waleis of Wiltshire and Adam and Roger le Waleys of
Oxfordshire in 1273; William le Walles of Sussex about the same time;
Richard and William Wallys of Lincolnshire in 1379; and John Wallis alias
Darte of Barnstaple, Devonshire, in the mid sixteenth century, who was the
father of Lewes Wallis, who married Elizabeth Roscarrock and had issue by
her in the early seventeenth century of Lewes, Phillip, Jane, John, and
Charles.
Probably the first of the name to emigrate to New England were Ralph and
George Wallace or Wallis, perhaps father and son or brothers, who came from
London in 1635 and settled at Boston, Mass. Of these, George is believed to
have been the father of another George, who was married at Portsmouth, R.I.,
in 1686 to Ann Shortridge.

In the year 1638 Robert Wallace or Wallis made his home at Ipswich, Mass. He
was the father of Nicholas, who was the father of Samuel, and probably of
others as well.

About 1658 the brothers John and Nathaniel Wallace or Wallis came from
Cornwall to Scarborough, Me. Nathaniel was the father by his wife Margaret
of John and others.

Reverend James Wallace came from Scotland to Elizabeth City, Va., in the
latter seventeenth century and was married in 1695 to the Widow Ann (nee
Shepard)
Wythe in 1695. His children are believed to have been Euphan, Ann, Mary,
John, and James.

Others of the name who emigrated to America in the seventeenth century but
left few records of themselves and their families were William of
Charlestown, Mass., in 1642; Thomas of Massachusetts in 1643; Richard of
Saybrook and Norwich, Conn., in 1659; and John of Woburn, Mass., in 1670.
One of the first of the name to emigrate to America in the eighteenth
century was James Wallace, who came from Scotland to Norwalk, Conn., in the
year 1705. Shortly afterward he married Mary Hyatt, by whom he had issue at
Ridgefield, Conn., of John, Rachel, James, Agnes, Thomas, Jacob, and Martha.
About 1720 John Wallace came from Ireland to Londonderry, N.H. He was the
father by his wife, Annis Barnet, of a son named William and probably of
others as well.

Another early Scotch-Irish immigrant was James Wallace, who came from
Ireland to Warwick, Pa., in the early eighteenth century. He had issue by
his wife, Isabella Miller, of James and others.

One Peter Wallace of Scotch ancestry, who died in Ireland, was the father by
his wife, Elizabeth Woods, of William, Susannah, Samuel, Andrew, Adam, and
Peter, all of whom emigrated with their widowed mother to Virginia in the
first half of the eighteenth century, probably about 1724 or shortly
thereafter. Of these children, William married Hannah Woods and had issue by
her of Michael, John, Jane, William, Sarah, Hannah, and Josiah; Samuel
married Esther Baker and had Judge Caleb, Elizabeth, Andrew, and Samuel;
Andrew married Margaret Woods and had Michael, Samuel, Elizabeth, Sarah,
Hannah, Mary, Margaret, Jean, and John; Adam left no trace of his family;
and Peter married Martha Woods, by whom he had Malcolm, Samuel, James, Adam,
Andrew, John, Elizabeth, Janet, and Susannah.

In 1734 the before-mentioned Dr. Michael Wallace, descendant of the
Ayrshire, Scotland, line of the family, settled in Virginia. In 1747 he
married Elizabeth Brown, by whom he had issue of, possibly among others,
William, Gustavus Brown, Michael, James, Rebecca, John, and Thomas.

One James Wallace, believed to have been a descendant of James Wallace of
County Donegal, Ireland, came to Augusta County, Va., about the year 1748.
He was the father by his wife, Elizabeth Campbell, of an only son named
William.

William Wallace, who was the son of James of County Down, Ireland, son of
James, son of Colonel James, "signer of the Covenantv, emigrated to Rhode
Island in the latter half of the eighteenth century. By his wife, Eleanor
Baillie or Bailey, he had issue of William, James, Alexander, Robert,
Charles, Sarah, Anne, and Eliza.
The history of the family in America is that of a strong, active, and
dynamic race of leaders of men. Gifted with intellectual and executive
ability, they have won success in almost every line of endeavor. Many
members of the family have been outstanding in the fields of war,
statecraft, law, education, literature, theology, business enterprise, etc.

Among those of the name who served as officers in the War of the Revolution
were Captain Adam, of Virginia; Lieutenant Colonel Gustavus Brown, of
Virginia; Captain James, of Rhode Island; Surgeon James, of Virginia;
Surgeon Michael, of Maryland; Ensign James, of North Carolina; and
Lieutenant John, of Massachusetts; of whom all but the last two spelled the
name Wallace.

Richard, Henry, John, Andrew, Thomas, James, Michael, George, Robert, Peter,
Samuel, and William are some of the Christian names most favored by the
family for its male progeny.

A few of the many members of the family who have distinguished themselves in
America in more recent times are the following:

Severn Teackle Wallis (1816-1894), of Maryland, lawyer.
Horace Binney Wallace (1817-1856), of Pennsylvania, scholar.
William Harvey Lamb Wallace (1821-1862), of Ohio, military officer.
William Wallace (1825-1904), of England and America, manufacturer.
Lewis ("Lew~) Wallace (1827-1905), of Indiana, military officer and author.
Henry Wallace (1836-1916), of Pennsylvania, agricultural writer and leader.
John Findley Wallace (1852-1921), of Massachusetts, civil engineer.
Louis Wallis (b. 1876), of Rhode Island and New York, author and lecturer.
Wilson Wallis (b. 1886), of Maryland and Minnesota, educator and author.
George Selden Wallace (b. 1871), of Virginia and West Virginia, lawyer.
Lawrence Wilkerson Wallace (b. 1881), of Texas and Illinois, mechanical
engineer.
Benjamin Bruce Wallace (b. 1882), of Ohio, tariff expert.
Henry Agard Wallace (b. 1888), of Iowa, editor, writer, and Secretary of
Agriculture.

One of the most ancient and probably the best known of the coats of arms of
the Wallace or Wallis family of England is described as follows (Burke,
General ~ 1884):

Arms. --"Gules, a lion rampant argent within a bordure compony of the second
and azure".

Crest. --"Out of a ducal coronet or, an ostrich's head and neck proper,
holding in the beak a horseshoe azure".

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bardsley. English and Welsh Surnames. 1901.
Rogers. The Book of Wallace. 1889.
Paterson. History of the Counties of Ayr and Wigton. 1866.
The Genealogist. Vol. 15. 1899.
Harleian Society. Cornwall Visitation. 1874.
Savage. Genealogical Dictionary of New England. 1862.
Kennedy. Seldens of Virginia and Allied Families. 1911.
Phelps. The Wallace Family in America. 1914.
Hughes. America Ancestry. 1887. 1891.
Miller. History and genealogies. 1907.
Whitsitt. Life of Caleb Wallace. 1888.
McClure. McClure Family. 1914.
Perry. Perrys of Rhode Island. 1913.
Heitman. Officers of the Continental Army. 1914.
The Americana. 1932.
Burke. General Armory. 1884

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