Hon. Elmer D. Wallace, one of the most prominent men of Steele County, conducts an extensive agricultural business in Edendale township and makes his home on section seven. There is probably no other man in that region who takes a more active interest in public affairs than Mr. Wallace, and he has served his county and state faithfully and well in various official positions and has gained the confidence and esteem of his fellow men.
Our subject was born in Macomb County, Michigan, July 5, 1844 and was the oldest son and second child in a family of four children born to Robert H. and Sylvia (Steward) Wallace. The family is of Scotch origin. When our subject was eight years of age the family removed to Detroit, where the father engaged in the general merchandise business.
Mr. Wallace was educated in the Detroit public and high schools, and at the age of fourteen years he was apprenticed to the druggist's trade. He entered the service of the Union army as a private August 13, 1862, and was soon afterward placed on the non-commissioned staff as hospital steward of the regiment, in which capacity, and as brigade hospital steward, he served about two years, when he was commissioned first lieutenant. After his return from the war he engaged for a time in the drug business, and later in the produce business, and in the spring of 1881 went to Dakota and secured land near his present home. He now operates a farm of one thousand eight hundred acres, and it is one of the best tracts in the county.
Our subject was married in 1871 to Miss Annie L. Briggs, a native of Michigan. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Wallace, as follows: Fannie and Clara. The latter is, at the date of this sketch, a student of the North Dakota University at Grand Forks. Mr. Wallace was elected a delegate to the constitutional convention for North Dakota in 1889, and took an active part in forming the constitution of the state. He served as chairman of the committee on public debts and public works, and as such was instrumental in fixing a low limit to the state debt, thus saving, as he thinks, millions of dollars to the people of the state. He was approved as candidate on the fusion ticket in 1892 for lieutenant-governor, and was elected by a large majority, and as president of the senate won the respect and confidence of his constituents. He supports the independent party in politics, and believes prohibition to be the proper policy for North Dakota.
Source: Compendium of History and Biography of North Dakota 1900 Page 172