Wallace-Totty Family
Wallace-Totty Family History
Details of the Wallace ancestry are very sketchy. Richard Burton Wallace (born April 20, 1830; died December 27, 1892) married Mary Emmaline Wright (born September 10, 1844; died September 17, 1902) on the seventeenth of January, 1872, in Rusk, Texas. They are both buried in marked graves in the Davis Cemetery, Grapeland. According to the 1880 census, Richard Wallace was born in Mississippi; his father was born in Ohio and his mother was born in Kentucky. Their names are not known. Richard had two sisters who lived in the Houston Anderson County area. They were Isabel (called “Iz” or “Izzie”) and Mary. It is believed that there were at least two brothers who served in the War Between the States but names are unknown. The family members always said, “The Wallace’s came from the old states’ “. The only available photograph of R.B. Wallace shows him with a receding hair line and thin face. Those who knew him described his eyes as blue or grey, complexion light and hair sandy to brown. In June, 1861, Richard Wallace enrolled at Rusk, Texas, for 12 months in Texas Cavalry, CSA; was discharged in July 1862, from Camp Price, Mississippi, and was paid $178.60 for his service. He rejoined in 1863. The January and February 1864 muster roll did not state whether he was present or absent but listed him as Pvt., Co. D, Debray’s Reg’t, and 26th Texas Cavalry. Mary Emmaline (Emma) Wright was the daughter of William Wright III and Jeanette Winn. The Wright family lived on Squirrel Creek at Ioni. Emma married, first, James Coleman Smith, born in Tennessee, the son of Martha H. Smith and Gen. Nathaniel W. Smith (who commanded a regiment for the Florida War in 1836). James died in the army during the Civil War. His daughter was born after his death. She was Mattie Coleman Smith (born June 12, 1863; died October 30, 1940) and married Percy W. Walker. R.B. Wallace was a farmer, reared his family in the “sandy land” and was reported to be a great joke-teller. He was consistently a trustee of the Silver Creek School and a leader in the community. His youngest child was only three when he died. Children: Mary Jeanette (born October 7, 1872; died September 18, 1965), married William T. Hunt on December 25, 1890. George Burton (born February 6, 1875; died June 15, 1959), married Ida Elizabeth Day (born January 7, 1876; died October 12, 1965). Fannie Mariah (born August 18, 1876; died September, 1913), married John W. McIntosh. Julia Belle (born February 25, 1878; died February 29, 1952), married J. Ed Bush. Charisie Lee Ella (born May 28, 1880; died September 25, 1981), married John W. Anderson on April 21, 1898. Benjamin Albert (born August 21, 1882; died November 22, 1882) Infant daughter (born 1884; died 1884). Edna Robinson (born October 7, 1885; died 1913), married Frank Spaulding. Ida Webb (born February 1, 1888; living), married Edwin Elbert Roark on April 5, 1906. Before and following his marriage to Mary Jeanette, William Hunt was associated with Mr. Hickey in a Grapeland firm. In January, 1891, Hickey & Hunt became Hickey & Owens. William Hunt also worked in the Grapeland Post Office. G. Burton Wallace, a farmer, reared his family in this area. He and his wife Ida are buried in Davis Cemetery in marked graves. They had children: Emma (born February 19, 1902; died February 25, 1981), married D.L. Patton (born October 4, 1901; died November, 1959). No children. Bert (born July 19, 1904; died June 7, 1982), married Effie Hodges (born July 25, 1905: died April 13, 1973), children.
Both buried in Guiceland Cemetery, Houston Anderson County Line. John Day (born March 1, 1908; living), married Oleta Nichols (born September 28, 1917; living), children. Louise (born September 3, 1911; living), married William Caskey (born December 24, 1911; died March 22, 1970), one son. Julia Belle is listed in Bush- Thompson history with children named. The other children of R.B. Wallace lived out of the area after their marriages. Isabella Wallace (born January 4, 1833; died October 25, 1916), married William H. Campbell (born January 2, 1824; died August 27, 1894). They had one adopted daughter, Retilla Peel (who married William H. Thompson). Mary E. Wallace (born July 4, 1828; died January 6, 1913), married William T. Totty (born June 30, 1833 in Georgia; died March 25, 1886). Both are buried in Davis Cemetery. He was a Mason. They had three children: William (Will) B. (born April 20, 1860; died January 22, 1922), married Ida E. Brimberry (1872-1938), the daughter of Peter and Letha Ann Brimberry on September 10, 1890. Their children were Willie McRae and Eola. Neither were married. Wallace (born June 18, 1863; died February 7, 1903), married, one son, Maurice (or Morris). Ida Bell (born March 17, 1867; died June 3, 1888), never married. Wallace Totty was one of the organizers of the Democrats in Grapeland, May 7, 1892. He was also a member of Grapeland Masonic Lodge No. 473 AF & AM. William B. (Will) Totty was one of the most industrious and progressive businessmen of his day. He is best remembered for the Totty Hotel (or Totty House) which predated the Goodson Hotel. It was located adjacent and to the right of the present Kennedy brick building on Main Street. In 1891 he arranged for the construction of a restaurant and barber shop in town, piped water into the hotel in March of 1895, and later the same year made plans for a two-story brick “between the hotel and the old Campbell store.” Will was a member of the First Christian Church, as were all of the Totty’s. Both his mother and his aunt Izzie lived with him, after he moved to Palestine, during their last days.