William Thompson Wallace (March 22, 1828 – August 11, 1909) was the 12th

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and the 6th

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. He served on the

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from 1871 to 1879 and as Attorney General from 1856 to 1858.

Biography

Wallace was born on March 22, 1828 in

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. His father, Joseph, was a physician, who by 1850 was widowed with six children living in

Montgomery County, Kentucky Montgomery County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 28,114. Its county seat is Mount Sterling. With regard to the sale of alcohol, it is classified as a moist county In the Unit ...

. Wallace was educated and

read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...

, followed his older brother onto the Kentucky bar and practiced law. In 1850, at age 22, he moved to

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...

. He began a law firm with C. T. Ryland, and was joined after January 1851 by Peter H. Burnett, after he completed his term as the first

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. In 1852, Wallace won appointment as District Attorney for four counties, based in San Jose. After one year, he resigned and began a private practice. In September 1855, he ran successfully for

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

of California for the

Know Nothing party The Know Nothing party was a nativist political party and movement in the United States in the mid-1850s. The party was officially known as the "Native American Party" prior to 1855 and thereafter, it was simply known as the "American Party". ...

, on the same ticket as

David S. Terry David Smith Terry (March 8, 1823 – August 14, 1889) was an American politician and jurist who served as the fourth chief justice of the Supreme Court of California; he was an author of the state's 1879 Constitution. Terry won a duel aga ...

, who was elected to the California Supreme Court. He served in that office from January 1856 to January 1858. After leaving office, in 1861 Wallace joined the law firm of Patterson & Stow, formed in 1857 by William H. Patterson and W. W. Stow in San Francisco, and practiced there for seven years. In October 1869, Wallace ran against

Lorenzo Sawyer Lorenzo Sawyer (May 23, 1820 – September 7, 1891) was an American lawyer and judge who was appointed to the Supreme Court of California in 1860 and served as the ninth Chief Justice of California from 1868 to 1870. He served as a United States ...

and was elected as an associate justice of the

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. Wallace won a ten year term beginning January 10, 1870, and ending January 1, 1880. After the February 24, 1872, death of

Royal Sprague Royal Tyler Sprague (January 23, 1814 – February 24, 1872) was the 11th Chief Justice of California. Biography Sprague taught elementary school in Potsdam, New York and later opened a school in Zanesville, Ohio. In 1838 he began to study la ...

, from March 1872 to December 1879 Wallace was the chief justice. In 1873, Wallace's name was put forward as a candidate of the

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for

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, and even as a possible candidate for

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. In August 1880, Wallace again was again put forward as a Democratic Party candidate for U.S. Senate. On January 12, 1881, the

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chose Republican General John F. Miller of Napa to replace

Newton Booth Newton Booth (December 30, 1825July 14, 1892) was an American entrepreneur and politician. Early life Born to Hannah (née Pitts) of North Carolina and Beebe Booth

as U.S. Senator by a vote of 42 for Miller and 34 for Wallace. After stepping down from the high court, Wallace continued to hold public office. In 1882, Wallace was nominated by the Democratic Party and elected Assemblyman from the 13th district, holding a seat in the

from January through March, 1883. In October 1886, Wallace was elected as a judge of the

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, Department Six, for a six-year term. In October 1892, he successfully ran for re-election for a term through December 31, 1898. In 1899, Wallace was appointed to the

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by Mayor

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, and held that position until 1903. Wallace died on August 11, 1909, in

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Civic activities

In October 1875, Governor

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appointed Wallace a regent of the University of California. Wallace was a member of the

Bohemian Club The Bohemian Club is a private club with two locations: a city clubhouse in the Nob Hill district of San Francisco, California and the Bohemian Grove, a retreat north of the city in Sonoma County. Founded in 1872 from a regular meeting of journa ...

Personal life

On March 30, 1853, he married Romietta Juet Burnett, the daughter of his law partner and first

under American rule, Peter Burnett. They had three sons: William T. Wallace, Jr., who died in 1899; Richard R. Wallace; and Ryland B. Wallace, who became an attorney and in May 1895 was appointed as a code commissioner by Governor

James Budd James Herbert Budd (May 18, 1851 – July 30, 1908) was an American lawyer and Democratic politician. Involved in federal and state politics, Budd was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for the 2nd California district from 1883 to ...

. They also had four daughters: Mary A. and Margaret, and Romie and Isabelle ("Belle") Wallace. On January 25, 1884, Belle first married Colonel J. Mervyn Donohue. After his death on March 3, 1890, she married R. H. Sprague on October 11, 1894, at her father's home.

References

Selected publications

* Wallace, William T. (1857)
In memoriam to Hugh Murray
8 Cal. Rpt. iii. California Supreme Court Historical Society.

External links

William T. Wallace biography with picture
State of California Department of Justice.
William T. Wallace
California Supreme Court Historical Society.

California State Courts. Retrieved July 19, 2017.