KATHERINE (GRANT) WALLACE, a member of one of the most prominent families of Sullivan county, was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, September 14, 1836, a daughter of Peter and Anna (Neff) Grant. The father was born in Glasgow, Scotland, but was only a boy of nineteen when he came to this country, and he spent three months in crossing the ocean. He taught school both before and after coming to the United States, and was one of the highly educated men of his day, being able to speak five different languages, and his professional career covered the long period of fifty or sixty years. During that time he taught in Baltimore and in many of the higher educational institutions of learning, but finally he came to Sullivan county, Indiana, in 1855, and spent the remainder of his life here, his later years having been passed on his farm in Jackson township. From the Whigs he transferred his political allegiance to the Democracy, and both he and his wife were members of the Presbyterian church, in which he served as an elder for many years. Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Grant, namely: Katherine Wallace; Mary Forester, deceased; Elizabeth Squire, also deceased; Anna Wallace, whose home is in Curry township; William and Charles, who have both passed away; Caroline Baker, whose husband is a minister at Lyons; and Morgan, who died in infancy.
The daughter Katherine received her educational training in the public schools and under the able instructions of her father, and she also taught school during about four years before her marriage. This occurred on the 7th of August, 1859, when she wedded Henry R. Wallace, Sr., who was born February 7, 1824, in Pennsylvania, and was a lad of sixteen when he came with his parents to Indiana. Immediately following their marriage the young couple moved to the farm where the widow yet resides and which had been entered from the government by his father. Mr. Wallace cleared and improved this place, and made it his home until his death on the 7th of August, 1887, and he was buried in Littleflock cemetery, near Shelburn. At his death he left a valuable estate of four hundred acres, and during his lifetime he had been prominently engaged in the raising of grain and stock. His politics were Democratic, and he was prominently before the people for many years as a squire, as a trustee and as a county commissioner. He was at the same time an earnest Christian gentleman, a member of the Presbyterian denomination, and for many years he served his church as a deacon.
The union of Mr. and Mrs. Wallace was blessed by the birth of five children, namely: Elizabeth Giles, of Jackson township; Frank, who married Joanna Giles, by whom he has two children, Katharine and Henry, and the family home is in Curry township; Edward P., at home with his mother; Harry S., who has been twice married, first to Leona Wagner, deceased, and secondly to Sarah Ross, and he is now practicing law in Terre Haute; and Peter J., who died at the age of seven years. Mrs. Wallace and her son reside on her estate of eighty acres in Jackson township, and she is a prominent member and an earnest worker in the Presbyterian church.