It took Lew Wallace almost 30 years to write and publish his first novel, The Fair God. He started working on it at about the age of 19 in the 1840s and published it in 1873 at age 46. After the success of his first book, it took him approximately […]
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In March of 1901, Klaw and Erlanger announced their arrangement with Arthur Collins, the director of London’s Drury Lane Theater, to take the play to England. Collins had travelled to New York to stage a play, but also to secure the rights to Ben-Hur. Ben Teal and A.L. Erlanger were to […]
In 1877, the Republicans won the controversial presidential election between the Republican Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio and the Democratic nominee, Samuel Tilden of New York. With his party in power General Lew Wallace anticipated a reward for his support. The first offer that came to him in 1878 from […]
The large statue of Lew Wallace on the site of the Ben-Hur beech is not the only piece of free-standing sculpture on the grounds of the General Lew Wallace Study & Museum. Visitors who walk around the grounds find themselves face to face with an image of Lew’s father, David […]
The play Ben-Hur opened on Broadway in 1899. Edward Morgan took the stage as Ben-Hur and William S. Hart portrayed Messala. Lew Wallace attended the opening night performance at the Broadway Theater and, like the rest of the audience, was pleased with the dramatic presentation of his work. An opening […]
Lew Wallace was not the only famous member of the 11th Indiana Volunteers during the Civil War. Colonel Dan Macauley also became famous. His face graced the cover of the sheet music for the “The 11th Indiana Quickstep” a toe-tapping song composed for the piano by Hubert J. Schonacker in […]
Lew Wallace knew each of the three American presidents assassinated during his lifetime. Abraham Lincoln had known Wallace and members of his family for years and was personally involved in aspects of Wallace’s Civil War career. James Garfield had come to know Wallace during the Civil War, through Republican Party […]
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 […]
In downtown Indianapolis a number of historic markers recognize the contributions of Lew Wallace and his family. One of the markers recognizes Wallace’s selection of the site of Indianapolis’ Civil War camp 1861. Today, the area is known as the Herron-Morton neighborhood, but in 1861 it was on the outskirts […]
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 Indiana. By all accounts, Susan adored Lew and was thrilled by his attention. Her very business-like father, however, was not so enamored. Lew had something […]