December 12, 1891

Deplorable Tragedy

On last Saturday evening Joe Patterson, colored, living on Mr. John A. Sewall’s place, in this ward, shot & killed a colored man. His wife commenced to scream, when he shot her to death. He then went to Mr. James B. Lay’s store, about a half mile distant, and entering it, without warning, shot and wounded Mr. Lay. Mr. David Wallace, who was at the store, was about to get into his jumper, when Patterson shot & fatally wounded him. Mr. Wallace died Saturday night at 12 O’Clock.
Steps were immediately taken to capture the murderer, and after trailing him over a long circuit, he was finally run to earth Sunday night in his own home, where he barricaded himself and defied arrest. Then the pursuers opened fire on the house with Winchesters. Two shots were heard within. On forcing an entrance, Joe’s body was found near his wife’s, with a bullet hole through his head. His body was dragged out; after removing the dead woman, his body was carried back into the building, which was set on fire and the fiend’s corpse cremated.
Mr. Wallace was nominated at the parish primary election last Thursday for State Legislature. He was a farmer and a prominent and popular citizen – a man of sound practical sense, a sterling Democrat; a man of noble qualities of heart, and a citizen who was deeply and earnestly interested in the welfare of the parish. His sad and truly unfortunate death is universally deplored.
Bossier Banner Progress, December 17, 1891

David Wallace was my great-grandfather. My grandfather, Robert E. Wallace, was nine years old when his father was killed. He told me this story but never mentioned that his father was headed to the legislature. David Wallace had won the Democratic primary election, defeating W. B. Boggs, who was the first mayor of Plain Dealing. After Grandpa Wallace’s death, Mr. Boggs got the nomination and served in the State House and in the State Senate.
Another interesting note is that my grandfather told me that the ‘shootout’ in which Joe Patterson was killed was at the site where the Palmetto Country Club is now located. Something to think about when you tee off next time.
The picture below is of the Wallace house, where David Wallace was taken after he was shot, and where he died that midnight, December 12, 1891. My grandfather grew up in this house with all of his siblings. The house burned down in 1920, so the picture below was taken sometime before that. Grandma Wallace had moved out years before, and although the house was lived in, it was in disrepair when this photo was taken.
The house was on Linton Road.
The bottom photo is of his widow, Louisa Wallace.  She lived to the age of 93 and died in Benton in 1936.

Louisa Yarborough Wallace