Biography of 	WALLS, William Edward, Orleans Parish, Louisiana
Submitted by 	Mike Miller April 1998

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Louisiana:  Comprising Sketches of Parishes, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form (volume 3), pp. 450-452.  Edited
by Alcée Fortier, Lit.D.  Published in 1914, by Century Historical
Association.

Walls, William Edward, owner and conductor of Rugby academy, well-known
military preparatory school at New Orleans, affiliated with Tulane
university and other educational institutions of eminent standing, is a son
of Richard and Olivia (Watts) Walls, and was born at New Orleans, La., June
20, 1873.  Richard Walls, the father, was born in Ecuador, in the month of
Sept., 1839, and continued resident at the place of his birth until 12
years of age.  He studied navigation, and later traveled extensively,
finally coming to the United States and ultimately locating at New Orleans.
 At the beginning of the Civil war he promptly enlisted in the Confederate
service as a member of the 8th Louisiana regiment, subsequently serving 3
years in the army and the fourth year in the navy.  He took part in the
Virginia campaign, serving under Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah
Valley.  He was mustered out at the close of the war and returned to New
Orleans, where he soon afterward engaged with W. H. Brown & Son, coal
merchants, remaining with this firm throughout the whole after period of
his active life, about 30 years.  Mr. Walls is now retired, but still
residing in New Orleans.  Olivia Watts was born in the state of
Mississippi, and was married to Richard Walls Dec. 26, 1867.  To their
union 4 children, as follow, were born:  Irene, now Mrs. B. E. Allingham;
Leah, now the widow of L. W. Daniels;  Beulah, now the widow of R. T.
Stocker;  William E., the subject of this sketch.  The last named was
educated in the public schools of New Orleans, followed by the intermediate
class in the Tulane high school, from which he received his high school
diploma in June, 1888.  He entered the academic department of Tulane
university in the autumn of the same year and graduated in the class of
1892 with the degree of B. A.  Following his graduation he did 2 years of
post-graduate work in the same institution, pursuing Latin as a major
subject and Roman history and German as minor subjects.  For this work he
received the degree of M. A. in 1894.  In the same year he formed a
partnership with a classmate, J. H. Rapp, and established the Rugby school.
 The school prospered, and 3 years after the start, in 1897, a third
partner, Robert S. Vickers was admitted and the school reorganized, being
at that time converted into a military school under the name of Rugby
academy.  At the end of the term of 1897-98 both Mr. Rapp and Mr. Vickers
withdrew from the academy, and Mr. Walls formed a new partnership,
including W. C. Jones and G. S. Raymond.  This combination continued until
1903, when Mr. Walls and Mr. Jones took over Mr. Raymond's interest and
bought the property at the corner of Bordeaux street and St. Charles
avenue, where the academy is now located.  Six years later Mr. Jones
retired from the academy to enter the practice of law, and since that time
Mr. Walls has conducted the school alone.  The present building, which is
in every respect a model for its purpose, was erected in 1912, and the
property is now valued at about $45,000.  The academy has experienced a
steady growth from the first, when but 24 students were enrolled, to the
present, when the enrollment is 150.  The academy has a full 4-year high
school course, requiring fourteen and one-half units of work for
graduation.  Mathematics, including 2 years of algebra, and the whole of
geometry, plane and solid; 2 units as a minimum of, either Latin or French,
and 4 years of English, constitute the required work.  Other studies,
enough to make up the 14-1/2 units, are elective.  This academy is
affiliated with Tulane university, Louisiana state university, the
University of the South (Sewanee, Tenn.), and the University of Virginia
(Charlottsville, Va.).  July 12, 1904, Mr. Walls was married to Miss Eva
Allen, daughter of John Q. and Martha (Scott) Allen, of Belton, Tex.  Mr.
and Mrs. Walls have 1 son,  Edward Garland, now 8 years old and a pupil in
Rugby academy.  Mr. Walls has been a member of the Episcopal church from
early youth.  He is affiliated with the democratic party, and while he has
taken an active part in political affairs, is a public-spirited citizen
fully abreast of the times and vitally concerned in all matters affecting
the common welfare and advancement of the people among whom the activities
of his life are east.  Rugby academy is situated in the most beautiful part
of the city of New Orleans, on the most attractive of the city's
residential streets, convenient to car lines by which all parts of the city
may be quickly reached, and only a short distance from one of the city's
large and beautiful parks, and in the vicinity of Tulane university.  Its
location could hardly be more favorable.  Mr. Walls, the head of the
academy, enjoys the confidence and esteem of a very wide circle of friends
and acquaintances in the city and adjacent regions, and occupies a high
place among southern educators.