Lew Wallace, Jr.'s 1930 Duesenberg visits the Study

We have been incredibly fortunate this weekend to receive a visit from Lew Wallace, Jr.'s 1930 Duesenberg, currently owned by Jack and Drena Miller of Georgia. The car was custom built for Lew, Jr. at an estimated $16,000 or more--and in 1930 that was a lot of money! As the Great Depression deepened, the Duesenberg was sold, but fortunately it has been preserved and restored for us to view today.

The car weighs 6100 pounds and gets about 10 to 11 miles per gallon. The 8-cylinder engine features double overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder, and a mechanical computer. Standard features on the Duesenberg include power brakes, an altimeter, and a chronograph.

Lew, Jr.'s son William Noble Wallace related in an email the following story about the Duesenberg:

The family chauffeur, Arthur Slaughter, was an auto expert. One time he was driving the Duesy alone from Burt Lake back to Rye, a 700-mile trip. The shortest distance was through southern Ontario, from Port Huron-Sarnia to Niagara Falls, N.Y.

Enroute Slaughter was pulled over by a Canadian provincial policeman on a motor cycle. Slaughter, always careful to stay within speed limits, was startled. The officer told him the stop was one of curiosity. He'd never seen a Duesenberg before. Could he, maybe, drive it a bit? "Sure," said Art. And the officer stepped in and drove it around for awhile.

Art told that story to me but I think he kept it from my father.

We're very grateful for Jack and Drena Miller's generosity in bringing the Duesenberg to visit us this weekend, and to Mike Shotwell for researching the Duesenberg's history.

Membership and Sponsor Appreciation Party

If you are a member of the Lew Wallace Study Preservation Society and haven't yet RSVPed for the Membership and Sponsor Appreciation Party on Sunday, June 2, make sure you do so today! You won't want to miss seeing Lew Wallace, Jr.'s Duesenberg automobile, here for this weekend only. We also have ongoing offerings including:

• Refreshments by Juniper Spoon & Iron Gate
• See Lew Wallace, Jr.’s Duesenberg
• Meet Wallace family members
• Update on the Making a Historic Difference Campaign
• Take a Behind the Scenes Tour
• History Beneath Us archaeology with Anne & Chris Moore
• Enjoy live music by The Brass Masters Quintet
• Play lawn games

You won't want to miss out on this fun and informative event. If you're not a LWSPS member, you can join online via Paypal by visiting the Join & Support page of our website.

We hope we'll see you on Sunday from 4-6 p.m.

Armed Forces Day

According to the Department of Defense, Armed Forces Day was created in 1949, which means Lew would never have celebrated it. It would probably have been an important holiday to him, however. Lew was very proud of his military service and remained active in veterans' associations and war memorial efforts.

Lew served in both the Mexican War and the Civil War, and actually volunteered for the Spanish-American War. Because he was 71 at the time of the Spanish-American War, his offer was declined. He delivered speeches at occasions such as the dedication of the Greencastle's Soldiers Monument, the reunion of the 11th Indiana in Terre Haute, a United States Naval Academy graduation ceremony, and the dedication ceremony of the Indiana Soldiers and Sailors Monument. He even built a special case in his Study to display some of his military artifacts. With such evidence, we can say confidently that Lew would have appreciated Armed Forces Day.

Lew wasn't the first of his family to serve in the military--his father, David, was a West Point Cadet. Nor was Lew the last. His two grandsons, Tee and Lew, Jr., served in World War I. Tee enlisted in the American Field Ambulance in 1916, before U.S. entry into the war, and drove ambulances for the French Army. After his graduation from Yale, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was killed during a surveillance mission near St. Etienne in October of 1918.

Lew, Jr. was in the National Guard and served in Texas during the Mexican Revolution. In September of 1918, he was sent to France, where he served as a captain in the intelligence service. In 1919 his division was inactivated and he served as aide to General E.M. Lewis until 1920.

Later generations of the Wallace family also continued the tradition of military service. Lew's great-grandsons  III and Bill Wallace both served in World War II, and Lew's great-great-grandson Sanford Miller served in Vietnam.

With such a strong legacy, is it any wonder we think Lew would have approved of a holiday set aside for civilians to thank members of the military for their sacrifices?

Found: Letter to Bumpa

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 is not always easy to make out, and the spelling is at times inaccurate).


Wallace drafted this telegram to Mr. Howland in Indianapolis. As far as we can make out from Lew's hasty handwriting, it reads, "Capt W Wallace Presidio. S. F. Will be at meeting of GAR San Francisco. Have your acounts ready then. L.W." Notes on other pages refer to plantings and itemized accounts for labor and materials. Some, like the bottom page pictured in the photo, include dimensions for spaces ("7 ft + 9"" is pictured here) - perhaps Lew was planning gardens around his home and Study?

The General was not the only Lew Wallace to write in this notebook. June 14, 1903, a younger writer got a hold of notebook and pen and jotted "Lewis Wallace," and "General Wallace," "Lewis Wallace grand son of general Lew Wallace." Interestingly, the elder Wallace wrote consistently in pencil in this notebook, while the grandson Lew Wallace Jr. tried his hand at pen and ink.

A few years earlier, dated June 3, 1899, a child (we assume Lew Wallace Jr., who was born in 1892) began a letter to his grandfather: "Dear Bumpa We went out rideing yesterday an..." Our guess is that Bumpa, or Grandpa, interrupted the little writer and we will never know what happened during the riding excursion!