My Genealogy Hound

MAJ. WILIA WALLER, now among the pioneers of Marshall County, was born June 13, 1809, in North Carolina. His paternal grandfather, Benjamin Waller, was an early settler in North Carolina, and had but one son, whose name was Henry Waller, whose only son is Maj. Wilia Waller. Henry Waller was in the war of 1812, and married Nancy Moore; they both died in Marshall County, he in 1844, and she in 1870, at the age of eighty-four years. Maj. Waller was married in Davidson County, Tenn., in 1834, to Miss Cassy Johnson, with whom he has now passed over fifty years of wedded life. They immigrated to Kentucky in 1837, settling on their present farm, which they bought of Nelson Owens. His life has been one of hard labor, and service for the public good. He served several years as a magistrate in his precinct; in 1855, he was elected to the State legislature, representing Marshall and Livingston Counties. He was a warm opponent of the doctrine of secession, and in consequence of his stern adherence to what he believed to be right, he became very unpopular with those whose sympathies were on the opposite side of this great question. So great was the prejudice against him, that on different occasions he was subjected to cruel treatment in both person and property, and lived in constant danger of assassination. In 1862, he assisted in recruiting a company of men for the Federal service, which was attached to the Fifteenth Kentucky Cavalry, and in October, 1862, he was elected major of the regiment, in which position he served until the expiration of the period of his enlistment. He then returned to private life and to his farm, and in 1863, was again elected to a seat in the legislature, from Marshall County. He had three sons, who were in the Federal Army; of these, Thomas Waller was colonel of the Twentieth Kentucky Infantry, and Benjamin R. captain in the same command. Nine of a family of twelve children are still living: Lucinda (McCain), Col. Thomas Waller, Alexander K., Joseph, Celia A. (Cole), Nancy E. (Thweatt), Linn Boyd, Sarah E. (Quinn), and Benjamin Rush Waller. It may be safely asserted that no man in western Kentucky has been truer to his convictions, or stands higher in the esteem of his fellows than does Maj. Wilia Waller. He affiliates with the Republican party, and is an honored member of the A. F. & A. M.