David Wallace (Indiana politician)

David Wallace ( * April 4, 1799 in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, † September 4, 1859 in Indianapolis, Indiana ) was an American politician and 1837-1840, the sixth Governor of the State of Indiana.

Early years and political rise

David Wallace was the older brother of William Henson Wallace, U.S. Congressman and Governor in Washington Territory, and was later in the Idaho Territory. He grew up after moving the family to Ohio, where he attended elementary school. Then he moved to Brookville, Indiana. In 1821 he graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Until 1822, he taught mathematics at the military school. Then he returned to Indiana, where he studied law. In 1824 he was admitted to the bar, after which he began practicing as such. At the same time he was a member of the National Guard of Indiana, in which he rose to the colonel.

Between 1828 and 1831 Wallace sat as an MP in the House of Representatives from Indiana and from 1831 to 1837, he was under Governor Noah Noble as deputy governor his deputy. On August 7, 1837 he was elected as a candidate of the Whigs as the new governor, where he prevailed with 55.5 percent of the vote to Democrat John Dumont.

Governor of Indiana

David Wallace began his three -year term on December 6, 1837. These three years were overshadowed by a severe economic crisis that had erupted in 1837 and shook the entire nation. In Indiana, the measures to improve the infrastructure stalled and the economic difficulties increased dramatically. For the country, this would mean a huge setback to the progress that has been made in the two decades before. It is worth mentioning that in 1838 the Potawatomi Indians were driven from Indiana and moved to the Kansas Territory.

Further CV

After the end of his tenure in 1841 Wallace before he for two years in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington DC was working as a lawyer in Indianapolis, moved. After his time in Congress, he was a lawyer again. In 1850 he was a member of a meeting on the revision of the Constitution of Indiana. Between 1856 and his death in 1859, he served as a judge at a court in Marion County. David Wallace was married twice and had seven children, including the son Lew (1827-1905) was the author of the novel Ben Hur and Territorial Governor of New Mexico Territory was.