I currently do not have information on the dates of birth and death for Lymus Wallace. Lymus Wallace, a prominent Memphian of color, occupied several positions in the city government at various times.  A self-made man, Wallace was ambitious and a hard worker. When a youth he was a hostler, then became a drayman.  He operated a saloon at 117 Beale Street in 1883 and was also a contractor in 1884.  In 1882 and again in 1886, he was elected to four year terms as Alderman, and was said to be the first Negro Alderman in Memphis.  According to the Commercial Appeal, at that time an Alderman "...actually was membership on the Board of Supervisors of Public Works. There was a three member Police and Fire Commission and a five member public works board..."

In 1887, he was a member of a Committee of Memphians who went to Washington, D.C., to invite President Grover Cleveland to visit Memphis. President Cleveland accepted and came to Memphis in October of that year with his bride on a honeymoon tour.  Wallace made a sizeable contribution toward the entertainment of the President. 

He served also as a member of the Board of Education at one time. 

A news item in The Commercial Appeal, May 15, 1886 states: Councilman Lymus Wallace wants it understood he has not been attacking women. He decked out a lawyer who insulted him, paid the fine for it, was dismissed and went about his business..."

Lymus Wallace and his wife, Nannie, were the parents of nine children.

The Wallaces lived one block south of the home of their friends, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Church, Sr., in the 400 block of South Lauderdale Street.  Their next door neighbor was Kenneth D. McKeller, who later became the famous member of the U.S. Senate from Tennessee.  The oldest of his children, a daughter, Lula, (1885-1975), a Memphis teacher, and the rest of his family moved to Chicago after his death. Lula located in a Chicago suburb, Robbins, Illinois, where she was a teacher until her retirment.  She resided in Robbins until her death.

Roberta Church and Ronald Walter