Jesse Hoots

According to the Maryland Government Archives, James was the "Son of Robert Wallace and Susan (LeCompte) Wallace". According to the website of Dickinson College, "James Wallace was from a prominent Dorchester County family in Cambridge, Maryland." "He entered Dickinson College with the class of 1840 in the autumn of 1836. He was elected to the Belles Lettres Society and graduated with his class in the early summer of 1840. He returned to Cambridge and studied law," under Henry Page, "gaining admittance to the Maryland bar in 1842 and opened a successful practice." "In December 1843, he married Ann Elizabeth Phelps and the couple had five children. He entered politics and served a term in the Maryland House of Delegates between 1854 and 1856, then moved on to the state senate between 1856 and 1860. In 1856, having become involved with the American Party, he was a presidential elector for Millard Fillmore. After the outbreak of the Civil War, he helped raise the First Maryland Volunteers (Eastern Shore) in August 1861 and took command as its colonel." In a letter to Governor Bradford, Wallace himself states, "Since March last we have held [the Confederate Army] alone & guarded a coast, penetrated in every direction by creeks, inlets, rivers, & bays, stretching over a space of one hundred or more miles, secured many valuable prizes & broken up the contraband traffic with the Enemy across the bay more effectively than all the gun boats on the Chesapeake." Dickinson College continues, "The unit was intended to protect Union interests on the Eastern shore but in July 1863, the First found itself at Gettysburg fighting on the third day of the battle around Culp's Hill. In the regiment's only day of pitched battle during its entire service, and with Wallace in command, it met and mauled the First Maryland Regiment of the Confederate States Army that contained many of their friends and neighbors from coastal Maryland. The regiment, and its colonel, mustered out two days before Christmas in 1863. Wallace returned to Cambridge to resume his practice" founding Wallace and Milbourne law practice, "and also opened several large business concerns, including a large oyster steam packing plant on the docks and a fruit cannery with his son James." According to the Maryland Government archives, "In 1867, he served as the Dorchester County delegate at the 1867 Constitution Convention of Maryland. In 1870, Wallace founded Wallace & Son of Cambridge, a fruit and vegetable market that was the first to grow peaches on a large, commercial scale in Dorchester County." Dickinson College concludes, "James Wallace died in 1887 while visiting his married daughter in Baltimore. He was sixty-eight years old. (By John Osborne)" His death is state by the Maryland Archive to have been due to cancer.

According to the Maine Military Museum, As a World War II soldier, he landed in Normandy soon after D-Day and fought in the historic Battle of the Bulge. During the Battle of the Bulge, James became separated because he was in an aide station. Going AWOL, he hitchhiked through Europe to rejoin his unit (he really did!). The war ended with him in Czechoslovakia while German troops were advancing on his position. James has dedicated his time to volunteer activities, which most of us would call jobs. He flew small planes for the Civil Air Patrol, served Maine State Police as a dispatcher, was a guide at Maine Medical Center, helped build the Hills Beach Fire Department, and greatly assisted the curator at Maine Military Museum. His volunteer service continues weekly at the Maine Military Museum, where he talks about his life and service and poses for photographs with the museum guests. Although we call Jim our living artifact, a WWII veteran, and a lifelong volunteer, what we like best about Jim is that he is our friend. He is there to listen to you, tell you ’bout the ole times. You cannot see Jim without his infectious smile, and you cannot see Jim without smiling yourself.