My Genealogy Hound

R. N. Wallace, prominently identified with the mercantile affairs of Bartonville, was born in Weakley County, Tenn., in 1840, being the son of James Wallace, originally from Barren County, Ky., who came to Tennessee about 1820 with his parents when eight years of age. He grew to manhood in Weakley County, and engaged in farming there, becoming married to Miss Mary E. Goldsby, a Kentuckian by birth, who went to Tennessee with her parents in 1852 when she was a child. After they were married Mr. and Mrs. Wallace moved back to their native State, and lived there till their death. They were both members of the Baptist Church, and the parents of three sons and three daughters, of whom three sons and one daughter lived to be grown. J. G. Wallace, the youngest of the children, was reared by his grandfather, and is now a practicing lawyer in Russellville, Ark. R. N. Wallace, the oldest son, was left on his own resources at the age of sixteen, his father having died at that time, and he came to Arkansas in 1856, and to Crittenden County in 1859, where he has since lived. During his stay here he has spent two years in Tennessee attending school, and after his return he was occupied in teaching. At the breaking out of the late war he enlisted with the Crittenden County Rangers, Joe Earl’s company, and later joined the Second and Third Arkansas as a private. He was captured near Dalton, Ga., in 1864, and taken to Camp Chase, Ohio, from which he was paroled after being kept for five months. Returning to his command he was again taken prisoner the day before the surrender of Joseph E. Johnston, and was paroled from Chester Court House, S. C., and came back home on horseback. After his arrival he resumed farming till 1869, when he entered the firm of R. C. Wallace & Co., and opened the first store at Crawfordsville. A. F. Crawford, a member of the above firm, was the first postmaster at Crawfordsville, in 1870, the first post-office established west of Marion. Mr. Wallace remained with this company for two years, when they sold to Anderson & Allen. He then carried on farming till the spring of 1887, when he opened and conducted a store for one year at Needmore, and after going out of business at Needmore, embarked in merchandising at Bartonville, where he continued till October, 1889. Then he sold to H. F. Avery, and has since given his attention to his farm which consists of 300 acres under cultivation, besides small tracts of wild land. Mr. Wallace was married to Mrs. Sarah A. Chambers, nee Graham, daughter of H. Graham, one of the old settlers in this county. Mrs. Graham is still living, and is seventy-nine years of age. Mrs. Wallace died in January, 1888. She was an active and earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was the mother of one child, John G., who was born August 26, 1874. Mr. Wallace is a Master Mason, and stands high among the prominent citizens of Crittenden County.