1925 Biography - Isaac D. Wall

Isaac Dickson Wall, who is engaged in the practice of law in the City of Baton Rouge, is a man of exceptional and versatile talent, and in his character and achievement has signally honored the state of his birth. He has been a prominent figure in educational work in Louisiana, has gained distinction in the legal profession, and gave earnest and zealous service as a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, for a short period in early life. He is now vice president of the University of Louisiana and of its allied institution, the Agricultural and Mechanical College. His fine intellectual ken, his broad vision, his mature judgment and his exalted civic loyalty have expressed themselves in manifold ways and for the good of his fellow men. In short, he has made his life count for good in its every relation.

Colonel Wall, as he is familiarly known, was born at Clinton, East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, May 17, 1856, and is a son of Rev. Isaac Wall and Mary S. (Winans) Wall, the former of whom was born near Newark, New Jersey, in 1799, and the latter of whom was born in Wilkinson County, Mississippi, in 1818. The father was a resident of Clinton, Louisiana, at the time of his death, in February, 1872, and there the widowed mother continued to maintain her home until she too passed away, she having been eighty-two years of age at the time of her death, in 1900. The name Winans was originally spelled Weynands.

Rev. Isaac Wall was reared and educated in New Jersey, and as a youth he devoted seven years to training himself as a carpenter and architect, with the result that he became skilled in both the trade and allied profession. He was a young man when he came to the South and established his residence in Wilkinson County, Mississippi, where he engaged in the work of his trade and profession and where also his marriage was solemnized. In 1830 he removed to Clinton, Louisiana, where he made a record as one of the leading architects and builders in that section of the state, and where he gave earnest service as a local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. A man of gracious personality and splendid stewardship, he gained the affectionate regard of all who came within the sphere of his benignant influence. He was a most appreciative member of the Masonic fraternity, was a well fortified advocate of the principles of the democratic party, and through his service as a soldier in the Mexican war he became familiarly known by the title of captain. His wife was a daughter of Rev. William Winans, .D. D., a distinguished clergyman of the Methodist Church and considered the leading clergyman of his denomination in the Southwest. He was prominently concerned in the movement which led to the establishing of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and it is to be noted also that he was a warm personal friend of Gen. William Henry Harrison. Of the children of Rev. Isaac and Mary S. (Winans) Wall, the firstborn was Sarah C., who became the wife of Judge William F. Kernan, and who died at Clinton, Louisiana, at the age of forty-four years her husband having there remained until his death and having given many years of service on the benches of the District Court and the Circuit Court of Appeals. William Winans, the eldest son, was in service as a soldier of the Confederacy in the Civil war at the time of his death. Benjamin D., the second son, was killed at the battle of Mansfield while serving as a Confederate soldier in the Civil war, and his remains rest on the battlefield where he thus sacrificed his life. Ira Bowman, the next in order of birth, was born in January, 1843, and is an extensive planter residing at Clinton, Louisiana. Wesley W., who died at Cheneyville, Rapides Parish, when seventy-four years of age, was a loyal soldier o the Confederacy in the Civil war, and in his earlier life followed the trade of telegraph operator. Martha DuBose, who died in 1923, at the age of seventy-three years, was at the time a resident of Meridian, Mississippi, in which state occurred also the death of her husband, Douglas Embree, who was there a merchant at Woodville. Eliza died at the age of thirteen years. Col. Isaac D., of this review, was the next in order of birth. Frank Richardson, who died in 1918, in the City of San Francisco, was graduated from the United States Naval Academy, and after resigning from the navy he became a pioneer lawyer and newspaper man in the State of Washington. Later he served as a leading member of the editorial staff of the Oregonian at Portland, Oregon. When the Spanish-American war was precipitated he reentered the United States Navy, with the rank of lieutenant, and was ordered into service in the Philippine Islands, his transport having arrived at Manila after the historic victory of Admiral Dewey, so that he did not have opportunity to engage in naval battle. He returned to the States and became a practicing attorney at San Francisco, where he met his death in an automobile accident.

After completing the curriculum of the grammar school in his native town of Clinton, Col. Isaac D. Wall there attended the Masonic Male Academy. In 1872-73 he was a student in the University of Louisiana, and in 1877 he was graduated from Centenary College at Jackson, Louisiana, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. At this college he was an active member of the Franklin Literary Institute. After his graduation he held for two sessions the assistant professorship of languages and was principal in the preparatory department of his alma mater, Centenary College. In 1879 he initiated his service as a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, his activities having thus continued three years, in Mississippi, in 1882 he began the study of law in the office of Judge William F. Kernan, and upon his admission to the bar in 1883 he engaged in the practice of law at Clinton. There he remained until October, 1910, since which year he has been numbered among the representative members of the bar of Baton Rouge, the fine old capital city of Louisiana. The Colonel specialized in corporational law, and in this domain has a large and important practice. In the year of his removal to the capital city he here formed a law partnership with Thomas J. Kernan, under the title of Kernan and Wall, which is still retained, the death of the senior member Of the original firm having been followed by the admission of his son, Clive Wetherill Kernan, to partnership, an alliance that still obtains.

In politics Colonel Wall may be classed as an "inveterate" democrat, and he has given yeoman service in behalf of the party cause. He was secretary of the Democratic Executive Committee of East Feliciana Parish for a period of ten years, and gave thirteen years of service as a member of the village council of Clinton, besides having been for fourteen years a member of the Board of Education in his native town, where he was president of the board for some time. In the period from 1S96 to 1900 he gave effective administration as district attorney for the parishes of East and West Feliciana, and as representative of East Feliciana Parish he was a member of the Louisiana Legislature from 1908 to 1912. From 1911 to 1919 he was a member of the commission of Uniform State Laws, and he has been since 1914 the vice president of the University of Louisiana and the Agricultural and Mechanical College, which latter is an integral part of the university. He is a steward of the local Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and chairman of the music committee of this church. The Colonel is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, and is a past grand of De Soto Lodge No. 7, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has membership in the Louisiana State Bar Association and the American Bar Association. He is the owner of valuable real estate in the capital city, including his attractive home place at 531 St. Anthony Street. He has other real estate holdings in East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana and Pointe Coupee parishes.

In the period of American participation in the World war Colonel Wall devoted fully one-half of his time to patriotic service. He was a leader in the local campaigns in support of the government war bonds, savings stamps, etc., as well as Red Cross work, and in his many addresses throughout Southeastern Louisiana he gained reputation as the only man who could make an effective speech in three minutes, with a facility in condensation that enabled him to cover much ground in the minimum of time.

On the 6th of January, 1892, was solemnized the marriage of Colonel Wall and Miss Marie Louise Beavin, daughter of the late Benjamin Beavin, who was an extensive planter and influential citizen in Jefferson County, Mississippi. Mrs. Wall was graduated from Nazareth College in Kentucky, and is active in the social and cultural circles of Baton Rouge, besides being the gracious and popular chatelame of lien attractive home. Colonel and Mrs. Wall have no children.

Contributed 2021 Nov 04 by Mike Miller, from A History of Louisiana, by Henry E. Chambers, published in 1925, volume 2, pages 206-207.