Matilda Ann ALLUM

  General Notes:

Biography: This sketch of Leroy Woods Allum, 1844-1932, includes information that pertains to Leroy's father, Thomas Allum, 1818-1897. Regarding the marriage of Leroy's parents, Thomas and Matilda, the bio states, "He [Thomas] married Miss Matilda A. Allum, a distant relative, of Scotch-English descent, and had a family of ten children." Was Matilda's maiden name also Allum? Or was it Wallace? Some death records of Matilda's children document her maiden name as "Wallace" with no further identifying information.
From DeeAnna Allum Granston


The biography of Matilda's son, Leroy Woods Allum, on page 348 in AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1890, Chicago, leads us to believe that his mother Matilda's maiden name was ALLUM. Some death records of her children cite WALLACE instead.


Definitive proof of the maiden name of Matilda, wife of Thomas Allum, 1818-1897, is one of the Allum genealogy's "most wanted" ...






Information passed down in the Thomas Allum (1818-1897) branch of the family regarding an identifying factor for his wife Matilda is that Matilda's mother's name was "Belle" Wallace.

WHO was "Belle" Wallace? Likely "Belle" was a nickname or a middle name.

Might a researcher have a Wallace in a database with a daughter Matilda?

"Belle" would have to have been born early enough to have a daughter Matilda born about 1820.

Some death records of Matilda's children record Matilda's own maiden name as WALLACE, which would mean Wallace was Belle's married name, not her maiden name.



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Instead of a "Belle" Wallace might a reference have been to a "Bill" Wallace"? If so, a William Wallace might have been the father of Matilda.




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Or might a reference have been to a marital union, i. e., "Bell" & "Wallace" as Matilda's parents?




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A potential identifying factor is that Leroy Woods Allum--son of Thomas Allum and Matilda--supposedly had a 2nd cousin once removed named Lew Wallace who had served in the Civil War.

Might he have been the famous General Lew Wallace (1827-1905), author of BEN HUR? Among Lew's ancestors are those with the surname WOODS, a potential indicator of the origin of the middle name of Leroy Woods Allum.

Remember, the bio of Leroy Woods Allum states that his father, Thomas Allum, married a distant relative, Matilda, whose ancestors were of Scotch-Irish origin. The Wallace and Woods ancestors of General Lewis Wallace are of Irish origin, and the Campbell ancestors are of Scotch origin.

Would an Allum - Wallace connection go back as far as original land patents in Washington County, Pennsylvania? William Wallis and Alexander Wallis lived in the vicinity of land occupied by William Allum.

1785 - Alexander Wallis on May 14: "Springfield," 197 1/2 acres
1785 - William Wallis on May 14: "Richmond," 570 acres

William Allum migrated from Harford County, Maryland to Washington County, Pennsylvania about 1783. Would a Wallace connection be even earlier, reaching back into Maryland? Or even across the Atlantic?!




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The book, HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF THE ENON BAPTIST CHURCH, 1848-1990, by the Historical Committee, documents a Matilda Allum on page 15 baptized by "Bro. William Woods." Was this the origin of the middle name of Leroy Woods Allum and/or was William Woods a relative of Matilda's and even a descendant of the Wallace-Woods line from which General Lewis Wallace was descended...potentially also the ancestral line of Matilda?






Latest note:

James Wallace (ca 1753-1843) became the second husband of Sarah (Raper) Allum (1780-1869) -- whose first husband had been John Allum (1784-1836).

James' uncle, John Wallace, had a daughter Isabella. James and Isabella were cousins.

Born in 1786, Isabella (called "Belle" ?) would have been the right age to have had a daughter born in 1820 (i.e., Matilda), but no records in addition to Isabella's year of birth have yet surfaced.

If this is important regarding a Wallace - Allum connection in which Matilda is part of the equation, it would mean "Belle" was a Wallace. If Matilda's maiden name was ALLUM -- as the biography of her son Leroy Woods Allum states -- we are left to presume Belle married an as-yet undocumented Allum man.

If Isabella is not significant -- and WALLACE (not Allum) was Matilda's maiden name -- it is at least possible Matilda was part of the extended Wallace family of which James was a member.

(From Ancestry.com is the information that the parents of Isabella Wallace were John Wallace, born in 1750 in County Antrim, Ireland, died August 8, 1808, in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania ... and Mary Alexander, born in 1757 in County Antrim, Ireland, died November 14, 1825 in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.)