Wallace was born to Thomas Wallace and the former Lula Barber in Daingerfield in Morris County in east Texas. His early education was procured in [[rural]] schools in Morris and neighboring Cass County. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M University-Commerce, then known as East Texas Teacher's College. Wallace began his teaching career in the 1925-1926 academic year at the White Lick community east of Sweetwater in Nolan County in West Texas; there he wed his wife, the former Ellen Kegans (January 16, 1908 – October 12, 1987), a college classmate fromMerkel in Taylor County near Abilene, and the couple had a daughter.<ref name=handbook>{{cite web|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fwaaj|author=H. Allen Anderson|title=Ernest Wallace|publisher=''Handbook of Texas: Texas State Historical Association|accessdate=September 11, 2009}}</ref> | Wallace was born to Thomas Wallace and the former Lula Barber in Daingerfield in Morris County in east Texas. His early education was procured in [[rural]] schools in Morris and neighboring Cass County. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M University-Commerce, then known as East Texas Teacher's College. Wallace began his teaching career in the 1925-1926 academic year at the White Lick community east of Sweetwater in Nolan County in West Texas; there he wed his wife, the former Ellen Kegans (January 16, 1908 – October 12, 1987), a college classmate fromMerkel in Taylor County near Abilene, and the couple had a daughter.<ref name=handbook>{{cite web|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fwaaj|author=H. Allen Anderson|title=Ernest Wallace|publisher=''Handbook of Texas: Texas State Historical Association|accessdate=September 11, 2009}}</ref> |