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 […]
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In the spring of 1872, Lew Wallace travelled about 100 miles north to the Allegheny House on Lake Maxinkuckee to fish and to put the finishing touches on his first major novel, The Fair God. Wallace had been working on the book intermittently for almost 30 years. He had the time […]
“I resolved to give up the dream. Still it haunts me. At this day even, I cannot look at a great picture without envying its creator the delight he must have had the while it was in evolution.” This quote from Lew Wallace conveys his appreciation for the arts and the […]
Over the years, there have been questions as to whether or not Lew Wallace and Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) ever crossed paths. There is anecdotal information that perhaps they did, but no clear and definitive proof. In 2002, a message was left on our museum answering machine from a fellow […]
Memorial Day is a federal holiday throughout the United States that honors the men and women who died while in military service. For years, the holiday has been observed on the last Monday in May. Many older people remember this holiday as Decoration Day, which was established in the years […]
The Humorist from Hell – Ted Shane 101 years ago, the 1925 epic film version of Ben-Hur was released by MGM. It received almost universal applause—almost. It was the most expensive silent movie ever made with sequences filmed overseas and in the United States. It cost a reported $5,000,000. Upon its release, […]
The citizens of Crawfordsville have been fighting fire for almost 200 years—both professionally and with volunteers. After Lew Wallace completed his service on the military tribunals that handled the Lincoln conspirators and Commander Wirz in 1865, he headed south to Mexico. He had been in Mexico just prior to the […]
Edward Allen Hannegan was one of the most prominent and charismatic politicians in Indiana from the 1830s through the 1850s. He was born in Hamilton County, Ohio in 1807 and moved to Bourbon County, Kentucky as an infant with his family. He was admitted to the bar in 1827 after […]
In honor of the MotoCross of Nations race in Crawfordsville this weekend, we thought it appropriate to note that Lew Wallace may be given credit for the first motorized race in Crawfordsville, between him and his new car—it was a race he lost. For all of the research that has […]
There is a saying that behind every great man is a great woman. Lew Wallace would likely agree wholeheartedly with that statement. Even as a young man, before he was aware of Susan Elston, he pondered how his life would play out. Ever the romantic, Lew wrote: “I have always […]