Clackamas County OR Archives Biographies.....Wallace, Leander Cinclair April 18, 1849 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/or/orfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com May 8, 2009, 2:10 am Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company LEANDER CINCLAIR WALLACE, a Kelso pioneer, has witnessed each stage in the development of the town and is one of its prominent financiers and venerable citizens. He was born in Oregon City, Oregon, April 18, 1849, and is of Scotch lineage in both the paternal and maternal lines. His father, Victor M. Wallace, was a native of Vermont and became an expert mechanic. In 1847 he started for the Pacific coast, crossing the plains with Captain Bewley, and spent some time in the gold fields of California. He then journeyed to Oregon and in the spring of 1849 was intrusted with the task of making the die for the ten dollar Beaver gold pieces for the mint at Oregon City. In 1850 he migrated to Cowlitz county, Washington, and took up six hundred and forty acres of land on the Cowlitz, becoming the owner of a portion of the ground on which Kelso is now located. His nearest neighbor was Peter W. Crawford, who had filed on a donation land claim here in 1849. He was a surveyor and in the ‘80s laid out a townsite, which he called Kelso, after his native city in Scotland. A Mr. Cleber opened the first store in Kelso, and E. A. Edlin was the first postmaster and also the first mayor. As the years passed Victor M. Wallace cleared and developed his ranch and was also a successful blacksmith. He conducted the shop on his place and sharpened plow points, made horseshoes and wagon wheels, and did other work of that character. His wife, Isabelle (Roy) Wallace, was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, and came to the United States with relatives in her infancy, being then an orphan. To Mr. and Mrs. Wallace were born four children: Cashena, who was appointed a cadet in the United States Naval Academy early in the '70s and died while a student there; James, who lives at Cannon Beach, Oregon; Mrs. Rosetta Hewitt, of Tacoma, Washington; and Leander Cinclair. The last named went to a school across the Cowlitz at what was then known as Freeport and was taught by C. A. Thatcher. In alluding to his experiences as a boy Mr. Wallace said: "Money was scarce in those days. I well remember the first money I ever earned. A man named Blankenship, who lived at Olympia, came to our place with a bunch of horses when I was about twelve years old and said: 'There are five of us. What will you charge to row us across the river?' I wondered if he would pay me twenty-five cents, and I was about to say, 'I'll charge you a quarter for the party,' when he inquired 'How will twenty-five cents apiece do? That will be a dollar and a quarter I certainly thought I was rich. I carried that money in my pockets for months so I could hear the coins jingle. I became a good shot when I was in my early teens and kept the table supplied with deer meat and birds. In those days ducks and geese were abundant here and there were lots of bears and bobcats in the woods. Now hunters kill for sport, but then we only killed when we needed meat." At an early age Mr. Wallace began to assist his father in tilling the soil and afterward worked on neighboring farms, becoming thoroughly familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. After the father's death Leander C. and James Wallace inherited the homestead, on which the former lived for many years, adding many improvements to the place and bringing the land to a high state of development. In 1909 he established his home in Kelso and purchased stock in the First National Bank, which was founded at that time. Mr. Wallace was one of the original directors of the bank and in 1908 after the death of Scott Strain, its first president, he was elected vice president. This office he has filled for twenty years contributing toward the upbuilding and prestige of the institution by systematic, well directed efforts and also toward the development of the locality which it serves. Mr, Wallace was married at Castlerock, Washington, in 1905 to Miss Carrie N. Naylor, who was born near Lancaster, Garrard county, Kentucky, and is a member of an English family that was established in this country during an early period in American history. She was reared on her father's farm and came to Castlerock with her sister, Mrs. Kate Pollard, about 1903. Mr. and Mrs. Wallace have a daughter Margaret, who was born in 1905 and attended Reed College at Portland, Oregon. In 1926 she was graduated from Seattle University, afterward taking a course in the English department of Columbia University, from which she received the Masters degree in 1926, and she plans to return to that institution for the degree of Ph. D. Endowed with exceptional gifts along literary lines, she is writing book reviews for the Bookman and other well known magazines and is also a frequent contributor to the leading newspapers of New York city, where she resides. In politics Mr. Wallace is a strong republican with views similar to those of Abraham Lincoln, and he cast his first presidential ballot for Ulysses S. Grant. Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise he has never wavered in his allegiance to the party and at various times has been a delegate to republican state conventions. Although frequently urged to become a candidate for office, he has always refused, having no desire to enter the arena of public affairs. He is a man of domestic tastes and has no club or fraternal affiliations. In disposition he is frank, quiet and unassuming, caring nothing for the artificialities of life, but time has proven his true worth and during the seventy-eight years of his residence in Kelso he has won a host of sincere friends. Additional Comments: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. II, Pages 669-670 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/or/clackamas/bios/wallace617gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/orfiles/ File size: 6.3 Kb