In large measure, we have Isaac Elston to thank for the creation of Lew Wallace’s Study. Isaac was Lew’s father-in-law and Lew and Susan Wallace inherited about 5 acres from her father along Wabash Avenue in the 1860s.
Isaac Elston (1794-1867) was born in New Jersey and began his life in Indiana in Vincennes, moving to Terre Haute and then to Crawfordsville in 1823. He married Maria Eveline Akin (1805-1874) in 1823. Together they had nine children. All nine of the Elston children survived childhood, but three died as adults without marrying. Sylvia Ann, James Akin, and William Francis all died without issue because of their early deaths. Joanna and her husband, Henry Lane, and Mary and her husband, Hector Braden, had no children. Susan Wallace, Helen Blair, and Evelyn Smith each had one child, while Isaac Elston II and his wife Sarah (Sally), five daughters and a son.
Isaac was a leader in the business life of Indiana with involvement in real estate, shipping, banking, coal, and rail roads among other enterprises. As his surviving son, (Isaac II) and his sons-in-law came along, Isaac brought them into various businesses. In the 1860 census his wealth was estimated at over $270,000, the equivalent of almost $11,000,000 in 2025.
While speculative, it is likely that Lew Wallace was not Isaac Elston’s favorite son-in-law. Henry Lane (married to Joanna), Hector Braden (married to Mary), and Aaron Blair (married to Helen) were all very business-minded men who focused on practical matters. After meeting Susan Elston, Lew seriously pursued his law practice and had some success, but his rather chaotic younger life, his lack of money, and his lack of focus on his law career would have been a concern for his father-in-law. While perhaps not the favorite son-in-law, it is likely that Lew was not the least admired son-in-law as Evelyn Elston Smith divorced her husband Robert, for unknown reasons. Isaac did live long enough to see some of Lew’s growing successes and the happy marriage between Susan and Lew.
During the Civil War, when Lew was gaining national attention, Wallace and his father-in-law differed on some political questions. After a period of not speaking to one another, Wallace made Elston a present of a fishing pole—considered a very fine one in its day. As both Elston and Wallace were very fond of fishing, the past difficulty was evidently forgiven and family friendship resumed.
Isaac Elston died at 5:00 a.m. the morning of October 24, 1867, in his home on Pike Street after an illness of just a few hours. Elston had recently returned from a business trip just a day earlier and according to the Indianapolis Daily Herald: “A gentleman informs us that he saw him the evening previous, buoyant in spirits and apparently in excellent health.” He reportedly died of cholera, and it is possible he contracted the illness during his travels given his rapid decline and the time that it can take for cholera to incubate. Ironically, there were major outbreaks of the disease in the 1800s directly related to the canal improvements that Elston and others had been associated with which spread infected water from the East Coast through the man-made inland waterways. Lew and Susan began construction of their house on Wabash Avenue shortly after her father’s passing so there may have been some transfer of family money after Isaac’s death that supported the building of their new home.
There are some surviving images of Isaac Elston. Perhaps, the best likeness is a large one painted by Lew. In an article on April 30, 1868, the Crawfordsville Journal reported under the headline “Fine Painting. Gen. Wallace has recently painted a very life-like portrait of the late lamented Isaac C. Elston, Sr., which has been placed in the Bank on Green Street. The picture is held to be an excellent one, and will be looked upon with much pleasure by those who were daily accustomed to meet the original in the business and social relations of life. A great many of the poor of this city and county, however, will not need the portrait to call to mind the features of their late friend. His numerous acts of kindness, of which they were the recipients, will serve them well in its stead. The portrait is well worthy of the attention of our citizens, however, as showing the skill of our distinguished fell-townsman in the art of painting.”
This painting is now owned by Wabash College and often hangs in the old Elston Homestead on Pike Street. Creating this portrait was a wonderful gesture by Lew and was surely appreciated by Maria, Susan, and the Elston family.
Museum’s Vision
The General Lew Wallace Study and Museum celebrates and renews belief in the power of the individual spirit to affect American history and culture.
Museum’s Mission
The General Lew Wallace Study & Museum is deeply committed to the protection and preservation of Lew Wallace’s legacy now and for generations to come.
