Henry Cantwell "Harry" Wallace (May 11, 1866 – October 25, 1924) was an American farmer, journalist, and political activist who served as the

Secretary of Agriculture The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments. The department includes several organi ...

from 1921 to 1924 under

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

presidents President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Warren G. Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...

and

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer ...

. He was the father of

Henry A. Wallace Henry Agard Wallace (October 7, 1888 – November 18, 1965) was an American politician, journalist, farmer, and businessman who served as the 33rd vice president of the United States, the 11th U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, and the 10th U.S. S ...

, who would follow in his father's footsteps as Secretary of Agriculture and later became

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

under President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

. He was an editor of ''

Wallaces' Farmer Farm Progress is the publisher of 22 farming and ranching magazines. The company dates back nearly 200 years. Farm Progress Companies is owned by Informa. Farm Progress has the oldest known continuously published magazine, ''Prairie Farmer'', whi ...

'' from 1916 to 1921.

Early years

Born May 11, 1866, in

Rock Island, Illinois Rock Island is a city in and the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The original Rock Island, from which the city name is derived, is now called Rock Island Arsenal, Arsenal Island. The popul ...

, Wallace was the first child and son of Henry Wallace and Nancy "Nannie" (née Cantwell) Wallace. John Wallace, father of the elder Henry, was an Ulster Scots immigrant from the village

Kilrea Kilrea ( , ) is a village, townland and civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It gets its name from the ancient church that was located near to where the current Church of Ireland is located on Church Street looking over the tow ...

County Londonderry County Londonderry ( Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. B ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

who arrived in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

in 1823 and later owned a farm in western

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, which the elder Henry worked on as a child with his seven siblings. The elder Henry moved west at 18 and became a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

minister. He married Nancy Cantwell, the daughter of an Ohio politician, in 1863. The elder Henry moved the family to

Winterset, Iowa Winterset is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Iowa. The population was 5,353 at the time of the 2020 census. Winterset is part of the Des Moines metropolitan area. It is the birthplace of actor John Wayne. History Winterset ...

in 1877 on a doctor's recommendation. The family managed farm lands in Adair County, and his health improved significantly. He then entered the local newspaper business; he bought the ''Winterset Chronicle'' and the ''Madisonian'', and wrote for both from a

perspective. The younger Henry worked as his father's apprentice in the newspaper business. In 1883, the elder Henry was named editor of ''The Iowa Homestead'', the largest farming publication in Iowa, and moved to

Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

to be closer to his work. However, ''The Iowa Homestead'' was acquired by James Pierce in 1885. In 1895, the elder Henry disagreed with Pierce, and left to join ''The Farm and Dairy'', an agricultural paper operated by his sons. By 1898, this paper had been renamed ''Wallaces' Farmer''. (The ''Homestead'' and ''Farmer'' were bitter rivals for many years; in 1929 the Wallaces bought the ''Homestead''. In 1932, due to the Depression, the ''Farmer'' went bankrupt, and was acquired by Dante Pierce (son of James.) It is now owned by

Penton Media Penton was an information services and marketing company. The company's three largest revenue streams came from events, digital and marketing services. Although Penton had a long history (see below) as a trade publisher, in 2015 it reported that ...

Iowa State Agricultural College

Henry left Winterset in 1885 to attend Iowa State Agricultural College, now

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

; he left the college in 1887 and later said "very little agriculture was taught

t the school T, or t, is the twentieth Letter (alphabet), letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabe ...

. He married Carrie May Brodhead, whom he met at the college, on November 27, 1887. The two returned to Adair County to become

tenant farmer A tenant farmer is a person (farmer or farmworker) who resides on land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management, ...

s on his father's land. The couple had two children while they lived on the farm: Henry Agard was born on October 7, 1888, and Annabelle Wallace was born on November 8, 1891. They eventually had six children together. In 1893, Wallace returned to Iowa State University to complete his degree and take on a teaching position as an assistant professor of dairying. He handled many of the daily details at ''Wallaces' Farmer'' and became editor when his father died. He also helped establish

4-H club 4-H is a U.S.-based network of youth organizations whose mission is "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development". Its name is a reference to the occurrence of the initial letter H four times i ...

s and extension programs in Iowa, and helped start the Iowa Farm Bureau.

Political career

Wallace served as the longtime president of the Cornbelt Meat Producers Association. He was appointed

by President

in 1921. Wallace promoted programs for American farmers struggling against over-production and the collapse of farm prices after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

ended. Wallace continued to serve as Secretary of Agriculture after President Harding died in August 1923 and was succeeded by Vice President

. During his tenure as Secretary, the department established the Bureau of Agriculture Economics and the

Bureau of Home Economics The Bureau of Home Economics, later known as the Bureau of Human Nutrition and Home Economics, was a division of the US Department of Agriculture that supported homemaker activities in the early 20th century. The bureau developed recipes, collec ...

Death and legacy

Wallace died while still in office on October 25, 1924, just 10 days before the

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

. He was 58 years old at the time of his death. Wallace was buried in

Woodland Cemetery Woodland Cemetery may refer to: * Woodland cemetery, a type of cemetery or it may refer to specific places: in Sweden * Skogskyrkogården (The Woodland Cemetery) in Stockholm, Sweden in the United States (by state) * Woodland Cemetery (Quincy, I ...

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

. His son,

(1888–1965), went on to become

, and the

Secretary of Commerce The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...

. Wallace's book, ''Our Debt and Duty to the Farmer'', was published posthumously.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, Henry Cantwell 1866 births 1924 deaths Burials at Woodland Cemetery (Des Moines, Iowa) Politicians from Rock Island, Illinois People from Adair County, Iowa United States Secretaries of Agriculture American Presbyterians American people of Scotch-Irish descent Dairy educators Fathers of vice presidents of the United States Writers from Illinois Writers from Iowa Politicians from Des Moines, Iowa Harding administration cabinet members 20th-century American politicians Coolidge administration cabinet members Iowa Republicans People from Winterset, Iowa Wallace family of Iowa Burials in Iowa