Wallace, Robert C., 1837-1928

Robert Craig Wallace was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, on February 26, 1837, the son of John and Agnes (Craig) Wallace. When Robert was seven, the family emigrated to the United States, settling in Detroit. Robert left school at age fifteen and went to work for a grocery where he worked for seven years. In 1860 he opened his own grocery, but when the Civil War began the following year Wallace enlisted. He served two terms of enlistment in the First Michigan Volunteer Infantry and the Fifth Michigan Cavalry, participating in the battles of Bull Run, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Appomattox, and others. He was captured at Hawkhurst Mills in 1863, and exchanged after a few months in Libby Prison near Richmond. He was discharged with the rank of major. After the war Wallace worked briefly as a traveling salesman for a tobacco company and as a clerk for a steamer line, and then in 1869 moved to Helena, Montana Territory. After working as a clerk in several stores Wallace opened his own grocery in 1871. In 1872 he took in as a partner James L. Davis. The grocery operated as Davis and Wallace until Robert Wallace bought out his partner's interest in 1883. The grocery continued as R.C. Wallace and as the R.C. Wallace Company. After Wallace died in 1928, the store was operated by his son David until it closed in 1940. In addition to his grocery business, Wallace was involved in the Union Bank and Trust Company, the Elkhorn Queen Mining Company, and numerous ranching and mining interests. Robert Wallace was active in the Republican Party, serving in the 1883 territorial legislature, and as Helena's first city treasurer and a city alderman. He was a member of the Masons, the Grand Army of the Republic, the United Workmen, the Loyal Legion, and the Caledonia Club. In 1875 Robert C. Wallace married Ellen M. Shaw. They had a son David and a daughter Margaret. Ellen Shaw died in 1890. Robert Craig Wallace died October 21, 1928.

James L. Davis was born in New Jersey around 1838. After the Civil War he lived for a period in Nebraska and moved to Helena by 1870. After selling his interest in Davis and Wallace, he became partners with Charles Jefferis in another grocery business. During 1889-1890 he returned to the R.C. Wallace grocery as a clerk. In 1890 he married Annie Cassidy. They had two children.

From the guide to the Robert Craig Wallace Papers, 1872-1928, (Montana Historical Society Archives)