Memorable Manitobans: William S. “Willie” Wallace (1859-1943)

Pioneer.

Born in Scotland on 14 November 1859, he immigrated to Manitoba in 1880 with his father and younger brother. The family acquired a homestead in the Shellmouth region in 1882. Wallace became an organist, choir director, and music teacher in the Presbyterian Church of Shellmouth in 1886, continuing until 1930. In 1887 he became secretary-treasurer of the Municipality of Shellmouth, while still continuing to work the family farm. Unmarried, he was joined by his sister and her husband in 1904. After being injured in 1909 he moved to Shellmouth and became postmaster, a position he held until 1936. He donated his extensive manuscript correspondence to Brandon College (now Brandon University) in 1943. A selection of these letters, covering 1881 to 1886 and edited by Kenneth S. Coates and William R. Morrison, was published in 1991 as My Dear Maggie ... Letters from a Western Manitoba Pioneer. He died at Russell on 27 December 1943.

Sources:

1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.

Death registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by John M. “Jack” Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 4 July 2017

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations.

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