The Wallace Family and the Truman Family

A Family Affair

Harry Truman gained more than just a wife when he married Bess Wallace in 1919. With the marriage, he acquired an extended family. A tight-knit group for many years, they often drew upon each other for help and support.

Old Friends

Family tradition holds that one day in 1910, Harry Truman was reunited with a young lady he had been in love with for twenty years, Miss Bess Wallace. On that day in 1910, Harry Truman was returning some type of dessert plate from his aunt and uncle's house across the street.

The courtship of Bess Wallace was on.

While courting Bess Wallace, Harry Truman also got to know Miss Wallace's family a little better. They had known each other for many years, but now their relationship rose to a new level. Bess Wallace has three brothers...George, Frank, and Fred.

Frank Wallace was tall and dignified, a serious fellow who assumed responsibility for his widowed mother’s business affairs. His new wife Natalie was the daughter of a banker and had traveled widely, including a nine-month trip to Europe—something rare for Independence residents.

George Wallace was the handyman; if something needed fixing, the family took it to George. His wife, May, eventually found herself the family spokesperson after her brother-in-law Harry became President of the United States. One local reporter remembered, “She was wonderful, because I could always find out what was going on. I would find out some things that some other papers wouldn’t.”

Fred Wallace was the youngest of the Wallace siblings. Born in 1900, he was only three when his father, David W. Wallace, died. Fred Wallace was especially close with his mother, Madge Gates Wallace. Fred Wallace eventually married Christine Meyer and had three children. Fred Wallace and his family called 219 North Delaware Street home until 1942, when they moved to Colorado, where Fred had a new job. But they would all have a special attachment for the family home in Independence.

Left to right: May (Mrs. George) Wallace, Harry S. Truman, Bess Wallace, Natalie (Mrs. Frank) Wallace, and Mr. Frank Wallace posing for a photograph during a picnic.

Truman Library

While courting Bess Wallace, Harry Truman would spend time with her siblings and their significant others. The Wallace siblings were especially close. While in France in World War I, Harry Truman sent notes and souveniers to Bess Wallace's youngest brother, Fred.

During the Truman/ Wallace courtship, Frank Wallace married Natalie Ott. George Wallace married Mary (May) Southern. These brothers and their wives lived behind 219 North Delaware Street, known then as the Gates mansion. Their mother, Madge Gates Wallace, lived there, as did young Fred.

Harry Truman and Bess Wallace married on June 28, 1919. In attendance were George and May, Frank and Natalie, and Fred. The family bond grew even stronger.

Of course, they had no way of knowing at the time that in the future, Harry Truman would be the most powerful man in the world, and needed his family's love, support and encouragement. His family provided that, and more.

Portrait of Fred Wallace, youngest brother of Bess Wallace Truman. Fred Wallace was a noted and talented architect. Examples of his work can still be seen in Independence, Kansas City, Denver and elsewhere. He and his wife Christine (Meyer) and family lived in 219 North Delaware Street until 1942, when they moved to Denver for new opportunities.

Truman Library

Frank and Natalie Wallace

Truman Library

The Family Compound

When Frank Wallace married Natalie Ott, and George Wallace married May Southern, they received a special wedding gift from their grandfather, George Porterfield Gates. Each newlywed couple received a 50-foot lot at the rear of the Gates property, behind the Truman Home today.
Two simple bungalows were constructed on these lots between 1915-1916. The Wallace homes provided a familiar, relaxing atmosphere that often served as a refuge for Harry and Bess during their Washington years.
Opening the big house was a chore for short trips home, so the Trumans often found themselves as overnight guests of their Wallace relatives. When the Trumans came home for longer visits, George and May helped by opening and airing out the big house and closing it up after the Trumans departed.

Portrait of young David and Marian Wallace, children of Fred and Christine. Photograph likely taken in 219 North Delaware Street, circa 1935.

Truman Library

George and May Wallace sitting inside their home, by their fireplace.

Truman Library

The Wallace Homes Today: Part of a Cultural Landscape

The Wallaces were more than relatives, friends, or neighbors; they were part of a tightly-knit support group for the President. They provided him with domestic calm and balance in the midst of a storm of politics, government, and celebrity. The Wallaces were valued people in Truman’s inner circle and caretakers of his private life. Frank and Natalie Wallace continued to live next door to the Trumans until they both passed in 1960. George Wallace passed away in 1963. His wife May continued to live in Independence until her death in 1993.
The Frank and George Wallace homes represent
President Truman’s close, lifelong relationships and
his commitment to home, family, and community.
For this reason and others, the homes became part
of Harry S Truman National Historic Site in 1991.
Today the homes are used as offices and park
housing for staff. Both structures have undergone
repairs and restoration projects over the years,
including the installation of new foundations in
2005 for the Frank Wallace Home and in 2013 for
the George Wallace Home.

Family portrait of First Lady Bess Truman and her three brothers, probably taken at the White House during Christmas. Left to right: Frank Wallace, Fred Wallace, Bess Truman, and George Wallace. This photo is from an original negative. From: Truman Home.

Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum

For Christmas, 1947, the four Wallace siblings gathered at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The boys' sister was First Lady of the United States, their brother-in-law was President of the United States.

When they were kids in Independence, could they have ever imagined this scenario? It's a wonderfully American story.

The Frank and George Wallace Homes today.