Biography - John Wallis
JOHN D. WALLIS. Although our subject is the son of parents born under the sunny heavens of the South, imbibing the gladness of the semi-tropical nature, he himself was born in the Prairie State, his natal day having been December 6, 1830, and Greene County the place of his birth. He is the son of William P. Wallis, a native of Tennessee, and of Nancy (Stone) Wallis, also of Tennessee, where the couple were married, coining to Greene County, Ill., in their early wedded days.
Our subject was deprived of a mother's love and care in his infancy, her death having occurred in 1832. The father survived until 1873 and finally expired in Madison County, this State. John Wallis was the younger of two children born of the union of his parents. When he was but four years old his father removed to Madison County, where he continued to live for the most part until 1867. At that time, he came to Montgomery County and settled on section 2, North Litchfield Township, where he has ever since been a resident.
Brought up as a farmer, our subject has been devoted to that calling all his life and has brought to it all the resources of his fertile mind and prudent industry. His farm comprises one hundred and fifty fertile acres. Nature has done much for his tract and has been ably seconded by the efforts of the owner. The best of improvements are here found; he has an excellently built residence, which was constructed with an especial view to comfort. The outbuildings are in good repair and the barns are capacious and well filled.
August 10, 1854, in Madison County, Mr. Wallis married Miss Mary E. Shaffer, the third daughter of Joseph and Lucy (Randall) Shaffer, who were natives of North Carolina. Mr. Shaffer was a farmer and among the early settlers in Madison County, where both he and his wife died. Mrs. Wallis, the third in order of birth of nine children, was born September 6, 1836, in Madison County, where she lived until her marriage. She has never shrunk from any responsibility in. her domestic life, but has ably seconded her husband both in establishing a pleasant and comfortable home and in rearing their large family of children, which has numbered thirteen, but only eight are living at the present time.
The surviving children are as follows: William H., who married Miss Nancy B. Crawford, is engaged as a farmer in Zanesville Township. Their five children are James A., Charles H., Grace L., Minnie A. and Rosa B. John A. married Miss Emma Burriss and they had two children: Walter A. and Franklin D. On the decease of his first wife John married Maggie Brice. The third child is a daughter, Flora J., now the wife of Edward L. Denton and the mother of a bright boy named Charles N. Lucy A. is the wife of John Saxby and the mother of two children: Mary E. and Elmer F. George W. married Miss Alice Gordon and they are the parents of two children: Albert E. and Jesse. Lilly M. is the wife of Josiah Armour and is the mother of one child, Stella M. Mary L is the wife of Franklin McWilliams. 'The youngest surviving child is Ida L.
Mr. Wallis is a man of sterling principles and stands high in the estimation of his fellow-townsmen. Since coming to Montgomery County he has been School Director for twenty years. For six years he served as Highway Commissioner and for seven years he acted as Notary Public. He takes an active interest in both local and political affairs. He affiliates with the People's party and is a strong advocate of the principles of that party. Since about 1872 our subject has cast the weight of his influence with the independents. He is liberal in his church views but Mrs. Wallis is a devoted worker in the Methodist Episcopal Church. The original of this sketch is an integer of the great army who, beginning life with no ulterior advantages, have worked their way unaided to a success that includes the respect and honor of their fellow-men. He had a memorable experience during the winter of 1840, when he served as mail carrier from Carlyle, in Clinton County, to Hillsboro, and his endurance of the hardships during that winter, when the country was undeveloped, would have tried many a stronger man.
Extracted 10 Jan 2017 by Norma Hass from 1892 Portrait and Biographical Record of Montgomery and Bond Counties, Illinois, pages 398-401.
