Meet Lew Wallace: Timeline of an American Hero

"May a man tell what he can do until he tries?  That, I take it, is the soul of the Americanism which makes us a peculiar people." --Lew Wallace
1827     Lew Wallace born in Brookville, Indiana on April 10 

                   1833    The Wallace Family moves to Covington, Indiana
1834    Esther Test Wallace, Lew's mother, dies of consumption
1837    The Wallace Family moves to Indianapolis when Lew Wallace's father becomes the sixth Governor of Indiana
1843    Lew Wallace leaves home and begins working
1846    Lew Wallace recruits for the Mexican War and becomes 2nd Lieutenant of the 1st Indiana Volunteers
1849    Lew Wallace passes the bar exam and sets up law practice in Covington, IN

                   1852    Lew Wallace and Susan Elston are married
1853    Henry Lane Wallace is born in Covington; soon the family moves to Crawfordsville
1861    At the outbreak of the American Civil War, Wallace serves as Adjutant General of Indiana, before becoming Colonel of the 11th Indiana Volunteers
1862    Lew Wallace is promoted to Major General and commands Union military divisions in the Tennessee battles of Forts Henry and Donelson and Shiloh.  Organizes successful defense of Cincinnati, Ohio
1864   Wallace saves Washington, D.C. from Confederate assault at the battle of Monocacy

                   1865    Lew Wallace serves as a judge in the military trial for the men who conspired to kill President Abraham Lincoln and at the court-martial of Henry Wirz, commandant of Andersonville Prison
1868    Lew and Susan Wallace build a home in Crawfordsville

1873    Lew Wallace publishes his first book, The Fair God
1878    Lew Wallace appointed Territorial Governor of New Mexico by President Hayes
1880    Lew Wallace publishes Ben-Hur
1881    Lew Wallace appointed by President Garfield to serve as U.S. Minister to Turkey
1885    Lew Wallace returns to the United States
1893    Lew Wallace publishes The Prince of India
1895    Lew Wallace starts building his Study in Crawfordsville
1899    Ben-Hur becomes a stage play in New York City
1905    Lew Wallace dies on February 15 in Crawfordsville
1906    Wallace's autobiography is published

1908    Ben-Hur Beech Tree removed
1910    Lew Wallace Statue erected on the site of the Ben-Hur Beech Tree
1925    Ben Hur becomes a silent movie
1959    Ben Hur movie, MGM version with Charlton Heston