20th Century in the United States

Mary Louise Wallace

Mary Louise Wallace, born Mary Louise Harris in 1898, was working as a laborer in a rope factory in 1920 while raising three children with her husband Anson Wallace. She was going by her middle name, Louise, at the time, which she seems to have started using at the time of her marriage in 1912. She was only 14 when she and Anson married, and she gave birth to twins a little over three months after the wedding. She and Anson both misreported their ages on the marriage certificate, claiming to be 17 and 18, respectively, when they were actually only 14 and 17.

The twins that Mary Louise gave birth to in March 1913 were named Oscar and Ellen. Ellen died of cerebral meningitis in August 1914 a few months after their first birthday. [Image: Ellen M. Wallace's death certificate, 1914. Accessed via FamilySearch.org]

At the time of their marriage, Mary Louise and Anson Wallace were both working- Louise as a domestic, and Anson as a janitor. Anson, born in the British-controlled West Indies, served in the British Expeditionary Forces in World War I. By 1920, he had returned to Boston and was working in a slaughterhouse. Before the war, the couple had another child, Viola, and in 1919 had another son, named after Anson.

In 1920, the family of five was living with Mary Louise’s mother Mary Harris, and a William E. Butler. Butler was listed in 1920 as a white man, and Mary as his housekeeper. However, earlier records record him as either Black or “Mulatto,” a term referring to mixed-race Black Americans, and list Mary as his sister. It seems that Butler transitioned to live as a white man, potentially to enable better financial opportunities. He worked as a barber in a barber shop in 1920.

It’s possible that Mary Louise Wallace, nee Harris, went by “Louise” while her mother was alive, and decided to use “Mary” after her mother, once she passed. However, it may also have been a practical choice, making it easier for her to pass as white by going by a different name. Her son Anson also recorded his race as white, both on the census and in his World War II draft paperwork.