David Wallace (governor)
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| David Wallace | |
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| In office December 6, 1837 – December 9, 1840 |
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| Lieutenant | David Hillis |
| Preceded by | Noah Noble |
| Succeeded by | Samuel Bigger |
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| In office 1834 – 1837 |
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| Preceded by | John H. Thompson |
| Succeeded by | David Hillis |
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| In office 1828 – 1831 |
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| Born | September 12, 1799 Lewistown, Pennsylvania |
| Died | September 12, 1859 Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Political party | Whig |
| Spouse | Esther French Test & Zerelda Gray Sanders |
| Profession | solider, attorney, politician, judge |
David Wallace (September 12, 1799 – September 4, 1859) was a Whig governor of the U.S. state of Indiana.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
He was born in Lewistown, Pennsylvania, raised and educated in Ohio, and later moved to Brookville, Indiana. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1821 and served as a lieutenant, captain, and colonel in the 7th Regiment, Indiana Militia. He was the older brother of William H. Wallace, who was appointed as the fourth governor of the Washington Territory and first governor of the Idaho Territory in 1863.
Wallace was married to Esther French Test on November 10, 1824 in Lewistown, Pennsylvania.[1] They had four children together, one of whom was Lew Wallace, author of the novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ and Governor of the New Mexico Territory. After the death of his first wife, David married Zerelda Gray Sanders in 1836 and together they had six children.
[edit] Public Life
In 1828, Wallace was elected to the Indiana House of Representatives, where he served until 1831, when he was elected lieutenant governor on the Whig ticket with Noah Noble. He and Noble were reelected in 1834 and served until 1837 when Wallace was elected as Indiana's sixth governor, having defeated John Dumont, also a Whig candidate.
Wallace's term as governor was marred by the Panic of 1837 and the years of economic uncertainty which followed. Indiana had been enjoying a period of internal improvements of roads and canals, but nearly all such projects ended during this financial crisis. The Treaty of Chicago--signed in 1833 with the Potawatomi--led to their forceable removal from their lands. Wallace ordered General and U.S. Senator John Tipton to remove a band of 859 Potawatomi from the vicinity of Plymouth, Indiana, and send them to the Kansas Territory. More than 40 Potawatomi died from disease and the stress of the two-month march in what became known as the "Trail of Death".
Following his term as governor, Wallace was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1841, but failed in his attempt for reelection in 1843. Following the defeat, Wallace returned to Indiana where he became chairman of the state's Whig party in 1846. He served as a member of the state's constitutional convention in 1850 and judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Marion County from 1856 until his death.
Wallace died on September 4, 1859 in Indianapolis, Indiana and is buried in Crown Hill Cemetery.
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
- Biography from Indiana State Library
- Profile from Directory of the United States Congress
- Find-A-Grave profile for David Wallace
| Preceded by Noah Noble |
Governor of Indiana December 6, 1837 – December 9, 1840 |
Succeeded by Samuel Bigger |
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