Lew Wallace’s great-great-granddaughter Carol visited Crawfordsville on September 8. She drew a record crowd for her discussion of Ben-Hur and growing up with the Wallace family legacy of writing. Carol graciously allowed us to broadcast her talk on Facebook Live, and we are posting the video here for future viewing. The […]
We’re pleased to invite the public to join us on Thursday, September 8, at 7 p.m. for a very special evening with Carol Wallace, Lew Wallace’s great-great-granddaughter! Carol has written more than twenty books, including most recently a historical novel, Leaving Van Gogh. She is the coauthor of the New York Times […]
Susan Elston Wallace was one of the nine children born to Isaac & Maria Elston. One of her sisters was Helen Elston Blair, who built the Gothic Revival home at the corner of Wallace and Wabash in Crawfordsville. Helen had a niece named Rose Blair Marsh. Rose came to know […]
Is your family photo album neatly organized with all the names, dates, and locations written on the back? Even more organized, is it in archival scrapbooks with appropriate labels in chronological order? Or is it more like mine–a few haphazard scrapbooks and albums with photos that may or may not […]
Sometimes an educator is remembered less for their accomplishments than for the history made by their students. Such is the case with Samuel K. Hoshour. In 1840, when Lew Wallace was 13 years old his father, David, once again sought to impress the importance of an education on his son. […]
While there have been six official residences for Indiana’s chief executive, only five have been occupied by a Hoosier Governor and the first two in Indianapolis had a checkered history. Indiana’s first official Governor’s Residence was located in Corydon, the first state capital. This home stood on a small rise […]
Off Wabash Avenue on the east side of Crawfordsville is Canby Avenue. It is one of the few local reminders of E.R.S. Canby, a local boy, friend of Lew Wallace, and one of Crawfordsville’s five Civil War generals. The Canby family settled in Crawfordsville in the 1830s and lived in […]
When Lew Wallace courted Susan Elston in the late 1840s and early 1850s, he was pursuing a daughter of one of the richest men in the State of Indiana. By all accounts, Susan adored Lew and was thrilled by his attention. Her very business-like father, however, was not so enamored. […]
Helping with the care and maintenance of the grounds of the Lew Wallace property by incoming freshmen at WabashCollege is not a recent phenomenon. These young men have been helping the museum for years and actually helped General and Mrs. Wallace in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. One […]
During a visit today from Nicholson Elementary second-graders, we showed a few artifacts relating to Lew Wallace’s occupation as an author. One object was a notebook Wallace used to jot notes, keep accounts, and draft correspondence. Below we have included images and transcriptions as we read them (General Wallace’s handwriting […]
