Zerelda G. Wallace 5392300 224970275 2008-07-11T06:41:54Z Lightbot 7178666 Units/dates/other {{Infobox Person | name = Zerelda G. Wallace | image = ZereldaWallace.gif | image_size = 200px | caption = | birth_date = [[August 6]], [[1817]] | birth_place = [[Kentucky]] | death_date = {{death date and age|1901|3|19|1817|8|17}} | death_place = [[Indianapolis, Indiana]] | occupation = [[Women's suffrage|Suffragist]], [[Temperance|temperance leader]] | spouse = [[David Wallace (governor)|David Wallace]] | parents = | children = Mary, Ellen, Jemima, Sanders, Agnes, David |relatives = William, Lewis, Edward (stepchildren) }} '''Zerelda Gray Sanders Wallace''' ([[August 6]], [[1817]] – [[March 19]], [[1901]]) was a [[First Lady]] of [[Indiana]], a contemporary of [[Susan B. Anthony]], an early [[temperance]] and [[women's suffrage]] [[Leadership|leader]], a charter member of Central [[Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)]] of [[Indianapolis, Indiana|Indianapolis]], and [[stepmother]] of General [[Lew Wallace]], author of ''[[Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ]]''. ==Early life and family== Born Zerelda Gray Sanders, August 7, 1817 in [[Kentucky]], she came to Indianapolis with her family in the early 1830s. She was a [[charter member]] of the [[Churches of Christ|Church of Christ]] in 1833 (later renamed Central Christian Church) which became the "mother church" of all Disciples of Christ [[Congregation (worship)|congregations]] in Indianapolis. She was elected the first president of the [[Women's Christian Temperance Union]] of Indiana in 1874 and was a member of the Equal Suffrage Society of Indianapolis. She married [[David Wallace (governor)|David Wallace]] on December 25, 1836; they had six children and she was stepmother to Wallace's three sons from his first marriage. David Wallace became the sixth [[governor]] of Indiana, serving from December 6, 1837 to December 9, 1840. ==Temperance and suffrage leader== Zerelda spoke nationally on temperance and suffrage. On January 21, 1875, she [[Testimony|testified]] before the Indiana General Assembly, presenting 21,050 [[signature]]s on temperance [[petition]]s from 47 [[County|counties]]. On January 23, 1880, Zerelda testified before the [[United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary]] on women's right to vote. She died March 19, 1901 and is buried in [[Crown Hill Cemetery]] in Indianapolis. Zerelda Wallace became a temperance leader first in the Christian Church, Disciples of Christ, when in 1883 she refused [[Eucharist|communion]] at Central Christian Church because of her convictions about alcohol use and abuse. Her refusal eventually led to the use of [[grape juice]] rather than [[wine]] at communion celebrated during each [[worship service]] of the Disciples of Christ. An Indiana State Historical [[Commemorative plaque|Marker]] was erected in Zerelda Wallace's honor in 2004 along Fort Wayne Avenue in [[downtown]] Indianapolis on the grounds of the Central Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The marker is located on Fort Wayne Avenue, an angle street, in the block between Alabama and Delaware Streets. Indiana's first female [[lieutenant governor]], [[Kathy Davis]], led the [[dedication]] [[ceremony]] for the marker. ==External links== * {{Findagrave|7872091}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, Zerelda}} [[Category:1817 births]] [[Category:1901 deaths]] [[Category:People from Indiana]] [[Category:American women's rights activists]] [[Category:American feminists]] [[Category:American suffragists]] [[Category:American Disciples of Christ]] [[Category:Burials at Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis]]