Wallace Albert Bandy was born on July 19, 1880, in Sandy Hook, Elliot County, Kentucky to William H. Bandy and Sarah Howard (see Sam’s Notes).
He received his education in the public schools and the high school at Sandy Hook, and later took a special course in law and attended one term in military training school.
He enlisted on July 21, 1898, into the U.S. Army, Company H of the 4th Kentucky Infantry during the Spanish American war, serving in the Philippines and Hawaii. He was discharged from the regiment on February 12, 1899 as a private.
In the 1900 census he was located living at 820 Front Street in Ashland, Kentucky in Boyd County. He was 19 years old, single and listed as a day laborer by occupation.
Shortly after the 1900 census was taken, Bandy appears to have re-enlisted in the army and served until 1911 for a total of 12 years in the service.
On September 11, 1904, he married Dora Belle Johnson, in Barboursville, West Virginia. Dora, like Wallace, was a Kentucky native born on February 14, 1883.
In the 1910 census, at age 30, he is living in the 4th Magisterial District of Campbell County, Kentucky on the Fort Thomas Military Post. He is listed as a private and married for six years (1904). His occupation is listed as soldier.
After his release from the military in 1911, Bandy and his wife moved to Marion, Illinois where he initially worked in the local coal mines.
In September of 1918 when Wallace registered for the WWI draft in Marion, he and Dora were living at 105 N. Lear Street. He was physically described as medium build, tall, grey eyes and dark hair. He was aged 38 and listed his occupation as traveling salesman for a mine door company. He held the position with this company as salesman, mechanic and inspector for seven years.
In 1918, Wallace was a candidate for the Illinois legislature but was defeated by a small majority.
When the 1920 census was taken, Wallace 39 and Dora 36 were living at 105 N. Lear Street in Marion, Illinois. His occupation is listed as salesman. They had a 28 year old female, domestic servant named Della Perdur (sic?) living in the home.
In 1922, Wallace was elected to the House of Representatives for the 50th Illinois District, an office he would hold until 1931 (53rd-56th legislatures). Throughout a long public career be was active in political and veterans affairs. He was at one time chief of staff of the Illinois Spanish American War Veterans.
Whether it is true or not, is yet to be determined but Oldham Paisley, editor of the Marion Daily Republican from 1913 to 1972 firmly believed that Wallace was a Klansman. In his biography, describing the period of 1922 through 1925 as the KKK years, is found the following statement, ”Only one Klansman was arrested for violation of Prohibition laws during this period, not by Young’s raiders, but by a deputy sheriff and two other officers. He was State Representative Wallace A. Bandy.”
The following is a newspaper article dated January 3, 1923 which is related to Bandy being busted for alcohol possession during prohibition in his Lear Street home and S. Glenn Young, a hired KKK gun-slinger, trying his best to sweep it away.
Duty’s Statement Tells How Raid Came To Be Made
Highly Fermented Wine in addition to Liquor found at home of State Representative
How the raid at the home of State Representative Wallace A. Bandy at Marion came to be made last Friday and the result of the raid are told in a signed statement of State’s Attorney Delos Duty of Williamson County, which appeared in a Marion newspaper, a copy of which was received here yesterday.
The statement was made in view of the fact that S. Glenn Young, formerly federal prohibition officer working in this district, who took an active part with Bandy in a series of raids in Williamson County two weeks ago, had attempted to defend Bandy by declaring that the liquor found in the house was seized in raids and kept there for safe keeping, and that his arrest was the result of a “frame-up.”
Young is well known in Cairo where he conducted a series of sensational raids in the early days of prohibition. All of his cases here failed of conviction however, and he drew a rebuke from Judge George English on the federal court bench.
The statement made by Duty follows in part:
The truth about the matter is that the State’s Attorney’s offices has had complaints at frequent intervals for long past a year about drunken parties held at the home of Mr. Bandy at which he was present and participated, it being well known that one of Mr. Bandy’s houses in which lived one Gus Major and family, had been raided a short time ago and a complete still and much liquor having been found there and the state’s attorney’s office being informed that Mr. Bandy went to the Major home and drank liquor there and carried liquor away with him and the aforesaid complaint concerning Mr. Bandy’s liquor parties at this home were continuing, the complaint for a search warrant was made by myself as the result of those things and none other.
The statement of “frame-up” and likewise as to some woman being responsible for same are false and wholly untrue and whoever the woman may be that is accused of doing such a wrong has been highly wronged and if in fact they do in good faith allude to any certain woman she is certainly entitled to profound apologies from them. Mrs. Bandy told the officers who made the search that the liquor was here and that it had been there for three or four days and that she was entitled to same for medical purposes and that she had been drinking the same; Mr. Bandy stated to the Jailer and several prisoners in jail that the liquor had been there for three years, S. Glenn Young stated that he gave the liquor in a pop bottle to Mrs. Bandy to keep as evidence. In the first place the liquor was not in a pop bottle and besides that approximately two gallons of fermented wine was found by the officers.
Who is telling the truth?
Bandy, Mrs. Bandy or Mr. Young?
If there is or was any “frame-up” who are the parties to the “frame-up”?
A 1927 city directory listing found the Bandys at their Lear Street home and Wallace’s occupation was listed as insurance, he of course was still a representative at the time.
A 1928 city directory listing indicated that he was a state representative and also dealt in real estate with an office at 400 ½ W. Main Street in Marion.
In the 1930 census, Wallace 49 and Dora 47 continued to occupy a home at 105 N. Lear which they then valued at $2,000. His occupation was listed as state representative. Oddly enough, in the box asking if he was a veteran he indicated no, but likely he wasn’t home when the census was taken and this is a mistake.
When the 1940 census was taken, the Bandys were still in their Lear Street home. Wallace was 59 and Dora was 57. His education level was listed as 2 years of high school and hers as 4 years of high school, not unusual for this time period. He indicated his income for the previous year of 1939 was $1,000.
Wallace A. Bandy passed away at age 60 in Marion, Illinois on May 14, 1941 and was interred in Odd Fellows Cemetery. The former legislator had been in ill health for some time, and had recently been admitted to the U.S. Veterans Hospital at Jefferson Barracks, Mo., where he underwent an operation for colitis.
Bandy was a 32nd Degree Mason, Shriner and a member of the I.O.O.F.
Besides his widow, be left four sisters, Mrs. Alice Pruitt, Red wine, Kentucky; Mrs. Abbie Kelley, Longacre, West Va.; Mrs. Helen Jones, W. Va. and Mrs. Stella Partlow, Jackson, Ohio.
Last Rites for Wallace A. Bandy, former Marlon member of the Illinois General Assemblies were held at the Frick Funeral Home the following Friday afternoon.
Reverand 0.A. Sweckard, pastor at the Aldersgate Methodist Church delivered the funeral sermon. Mrs. Leonard Rodd and Mrs. Fannie Boatright sang “Does Jesus Care?” and “There’ll be no Dark Valley.” Mrs. Joe Long accompanied at the piano.
Interment was in Odd Fellows Cemetery. Pall bearers were Tony Loveless, Harry L. Peebles, C.A Cox, L. Adkins, Willis Hendrickson and John Abbott.
After his death his wife, Dora, applied for a military grave marker which was approved as an upright granite marker for his service with Company H, 4th Kentucky Infantry. The marker was shipped to Tony Loveless at 107 E. Goodall Street in Marion, Illinois.
Dora Belle (Johnson) Bandy passed away in Marion on April 1, 1977 and was interred on the 3rd in Odd Fellows Cemetery next to her husband.
For further information on the 1922-1925 KKK activity, see the post The Ku Klux Klan in Williamson County, Part Two.
Sam’s Notes: Although historical notes from the Illinois State government and Wallace’s obituary show his mother as Sarah Hunter. A marriage record from Ohio and military pension records, located by his descendants, for his parents show her name as Sarah Howard, so there is some disagreement, but the most solid is the marriage and pension records. Many times, governmental records are pulled from obituaries which would only have perpetuated a mistake.
(Data extracted from Federal Census Records; Military grave applications; Illinois Death Records; Virginia Marriage Records; Marion City Cemetery Records; Marion City Directories; Findagrave.com; Oldham Paisley, by Margaret O’Shea; The Cairo Bulletin, January 3, 1923; compiled by Sam Lattuca on 10/31/2013)