Celebrate National Archaeology Month at the Study

The General Lew Wallace Study & Museum is celebrating National Archaeology Month with a continuation of its "History Beneath Us" archaeology dig this weekend in the backyard of General Lew Wallace's home and study.

A stately brick reflecting pond graced Wallace's grounds between approximately 1898-1903, after which the General filled in the pond because of concerns for the welfare of small children who might fall into the standing water when he wasn't around to help.  Today and tomorrow, professional archaeologists and students from the University of Indianapolis are continuing to uncover the western perimeter of the pond to define the original outline of the structure and aid in interpreting the grounds to the public.

So far, the digging has revealed the remarkably-intact wall of the pond and determined its original depth.  The archaeologists are combing through the original material used to fill the pond to see if artifacts can be found.  On previous occasions, the archaeologists have found sections of pipe, pieces of pottery, iron nails and a metal pot inside the pond.

See archaeologists in action during this weekend's "History Beneath Us" program on the grounds of the General Lew Wallace Study & Museum in Crawfordsville, today and Sunday until 5:00 p.m.  This program is free and open to the public; separate tours of the Museum cost $5 for adults and $1 for students.

A Look Back: The Tribe of Ben-Hur

Of all of the many products, places, and institutions to carry the name Ben-Hur, perhaps none was more successful than the Tribe of Ben-Hur. Lew Wallace never belonged to this fraternal benefit organization, but he gave the enterprise his blessing in the early 1890s and was close friends with many of the founding members.

Headquartered in Crawfordsville for generations, the Ben-Hur Life Association was created by David W. Gerard in 1894. David Gerard had been born on a farm in Shelby County, Ohio in 1844. His family moved to Romney where his father, Abner, died when David was just five years old. His mother and brothers returned to Ohio where they struggled to make ends meet. By the age of 16, David was teaching school and by the age of 17 he was fighting in the Civil War. After serving for four years he returned to this area and taught school in Wingate (although it was called Pleasant Hill in his day). He met and married Elizabeth Krug and together they established their lives here.

Wallace and Gerard had already crossed paths at least twice by 1865. When David Gerard’s father died, Lew Wallace was a young attorney living in Covington. Wallace was called to help settle Abner Gerard’s meager estate. While Wallace remembered the family, at age five, David Gerard was too young to remember this initial meeting. Their lives crossed paths again during the Civil War.

Throughout the 1870s and 1880s as the economy prospered, Gerard kept thinking about establishing a fraternal insurance agency where the members would take care of their own. In 1893, Gerard and a small group of friends determined that in establishing such an agency, Wallace’s Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, would provide not only name recognition, but also a rich background from which they could develop the secret rituals and elaborate hierarchy that fraternal groups in the late 19^th century were so fond of.

The group met with Wallace who readily gave his consent and assisted them in getting permission from Harper & Brothers to use the name of Ben-Hur and portions of the book. According to tradition Wallace even suggested the name Tribe of Ben-Hur as tribes were the organizational structure at the time of Christ. On January 9, 1894, papers were filed with the Secretary of State in Indianapolis. Early leaders in the Tribe included Gerard, Frank L. Snyder, S.E. Voris, Dr. J.F. Davidson, and John C. Snyder.

The first session of the Tribe, or grand conclave, as it was known locally was held on January 16, 1894. More organizational meetings followed and on Thursday, March 1, 1894 the community celebrated Ben Hur gala day. The town was filled to capacity with people from far and wide and by the end of the gala, 422 individuals had become charter members of the Simonides Court Number 1. The Tribe was unusual in its day as it allowed both men and women to join, and within in a few years had made provisions for children to be included in the benefits program.

Gerard was widely recognized as an organizational genius and within two years there were more than 5,000 members in the Tribe of Ben-Hur and “Courts” had been established in a dozen states from California to New York. The tribe was initially housed in an upstairs room of a downtown building called the Thomas Block, but the organization soon built their first Supreme building. Then 99 years ago in 1912/13, the Tribe built the ornate white terra cotta five-story building that has become a landmark on the corner of Main and Water Streets. 

While The Tribe of Ben-Hur continued to be based in Crawfordsville, it grew far beyond the confines of Montgomery County and it prospered. During the Great Depression when other insurance agencies and fraternal organizations were failing, the management of the Tribe was such that it continued to grow, astutely purchasing the resources of failing groups. Many of the founding members stayed with the Tribe until their dying day. This was true of D.W. Gerard who served as the Supreme Chief until his passing on January 3, 1910.

Ultimately, changing times and economies did affect the Tribe of Ben Hur and in the 1980s after 90 years of service, the fundamental nature of the organization was changed as it became known as USA Life Insurance Company of Indiana.  In 1988, the rituals, offices, obligations, and fraternal nature of this group inspired by Lew Wallace’s book quietly (and sadly for some in Crawfordsville) slipped into history.

Friendship with the Wallaces Shapes a Young Man's Life

Helping with the care and maintenance of the grounds of the Lew Wallace property by incoming freshmen at Wabash College 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 of the young Wabash men who worked for the Wallaces was Harry Wann. In September 1904, Harry was a seventeen year old freshman at Wabash. His older brother had attended Wabash and had worked for General and Mrs. Wallace at different times. As Harry was in need of money to support his education, he walked over to the Wallace home and introduced himself requesting an opportunity to work for Mrs. Wallace.

Some weeks after his meeting with Mrs. Wallace, she sent him a note asking that he bring all the students he could find to help rake leaves. As Wann recorded, the grounds were spacious and it was a real challenge to keep them neat and free of leaves. After this initial effort, Mrs. Wallace quickly came to depend on Harry for help and he was frequently at the home doing odd jobs.

By the fall of 1904, General Wallace’s health was declining. He often sat outdoors between the house and the Study to enjoy the fresh fall air. Ever curious Wallace would question Harry about his college studies, his ambitions, and even his eating habits! Harry didn’t have enough money for breakfast so he tended to skip that meal—Wallace grew concerned as he told Harry that breakfast was a very important meal. Although he was weak in body, Wallace continued to be strong in mind and he hired Harry to work in the Study. Wallace was still doing research and writing but it was too tiring to move about the Study pulling the books he needed from the shelves. To keep up with his research, he had the young man pull the desired volumes from the book shelves and bring them to the center desk.

As the autumn of 1904 turned cooler, Harry was hired to fire the furnaces in both the Wallace home and the Study. He also performed this same service for Susan’s brother Isaac who lived just up the street and Colonel Thompson who also lived nearby. Each evening Harry would stoke the furnaces and then at 5:30 the next morning he would make the same round to prepare the furnaces for the day.

When Harry was working at the Wallace home, the General would share stories of his experiences as Minister to Turkey as well as other episodes from a crowded life. Wallace’s health declined during the winter of 1904 and early in 1905 he took to his bed. Several times he sent for Harry to come to his bedroom to take dictation which Harry would write out in long-hand for the General to sign. Harry would post the letters the next morning.

On January 25, 1905 the General called for Harry to take dictation. The General dictated one letter regarding a typewriter he intended to purchase and a second letter to a nursery which included a list of plants and seeds for the spring planting. Harry completed the letters and prepared to leave. As he reached the front door, Mrs. Wallace detained him and asked Harry to refrain from sending the letter with the plant list as there was doubt as to her husband’s ability to garden come the spring. Harry headed back to Wabash College and laid the letter aside. He continued to come each evening and early each morning to tend the furnace, but he never saw the General again. Wallace’s health declined rapidly and he died on February 15.

After the General’s passing, Mrs. Wallace closed the house and she moved to Indianapolis for a time. A few months later, Harry received a note from Mrs. Wallace requesting him to retrieve her door key from Miss Millen (who was staying at Colonel Thompson’s home). In the note, Mrs. Wallace asked Harry to go to the Wallace house, and get two things for her. From the lowest drawer of her desk in the small (east) room, downstairs she wanted a manuscript of a play based on the Prince of India and then on the mantel was a letter from a friend. She asked Harry to add some Ben-Hur postcards from a local store; bundle it all together and send the package to her in Indianapolis via American Express.

As Harry wrote: “Needless to say, I was proud as a peacock, as a boy of seventeen, to be privileged to enter alone the privacy of the Wallace home to obtain, wrap and send to Mrs. Wallace the original MS. of the play “Prince of India.”

Harry Wann graduated from Wabash in 1908, taught German at Wabash for one year and then, perhaps remembering Wallace’s stories of the Middle East, he moved to Constantinople where he taught for three years. Wann returned to Wabash briefly in 1911 before moving on to teach at the University of Michigan. He pursued his doctorate and in 1917 was appointed head of the Romance Language Department at Indiana State University. Like Wallace, Harry Wann loved to learn. He participated in Community Theater, enjoyed singing in local choirs, and became a student once again when he enrolled at the Herron Art School in Indianapolis to learn the art of sculpting. As a sculptor he received a number of commissions.

In his 80s, as Wann reflected on his life and recorded his memories he continued to treasure the few months he worked for General and Mrs. Wallace. After a lifetime of accomplishment one of his prized possessions was the letter that was dictated to him and signed by General Lew Wallace on January 25, 1904 but never mailed.

Advance Taste Tix Now On Sale

Advance tickets for the fifth-annual Taste of Montgomery County are now on sale in select Crawfordsville locations.  Visitors can purchase Taste tickets at the Carriage House Interpretive Center of the General Lew Wallace Study and Museum, home of the Taste; the Montgomery County Visitors and Convention Bureau at the corner of Pike and Green streets; Kwik Kopy Printing at 123 East Main Street, Milligan’s Flowers & Gifts at 115 East Main, and Hovey Cottage on the campus of Wabash College.  Advance tickets are $4 for adults and $2 for students.  The Taste is an annual fundraiser for the Lew Wallace Study Preservation Society, the organization that maintains General Lew Wallace’s original artifacts and keeps his legacy alive.

The benefits of purchasing advance tickets are twofold.  Advance tickets are $1 cheaper—adult tickets at the gate on the day of the Taste will be $5 and student tickets will be $3.  Advance ticket holders will also be able to get into the gate faster on the day of the Taste, as they won’t have to wait in line to purchase tickets.  This could be a real advantage when crowds gather for the live musical acts scheduled to play at this year’s Taste. Crawfordsville’s own Kenn & Keller will play from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.; Indianapolis’ Cool City Swing Band will bring the swing from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., and this year’s headliners, Healing Sixes will take the stage from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. for an exhilarating finale.

The Taste of Montgomery County will be held at the General Lew Wallace Study and Museum on Saturday, August 27, from 12:00 to 10:00 p.m.  The restaurants and caterers showcasing their foods at this year’s Taste include The Iron Gate, The Juniper Spoon, Two Guys Cooking, The Big Dipper, Bon Appétit, Miller's Quality Meats & Catering, Arthur's Café, Norvell's BBQ & Catering, Applebee's, China Inn, Mighty Dogs/Athens Nutrition and Smoothies, Buffalo Wild Wings, Hawg Wild BBQ, Waynetown Bar & Grill, Coal Creek Cellars Winery, 1832 Brew and Creekside Lodge.


For more information about the Taste, visit our website at www.tasteofmontgomerycounty.com.

A Look Back at GLWSM's Civil War Week 2011

From July 7-13, 2011, the General Lew Wallace Study and Museum hosted some terrific events to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War.

On July 7, Jeannie Regan-Dinius, Director of Special Initiatives, Division for Historic Preservation and Archaeology, Indiana Department of Natural Resources, spoke to a packed Carriage House about the history of the Underground Railroad in Indiana.  The audience response was such that the Museum is making plans to bring Regan-Dinius back for a second engagement!

On July 8, Joan Flinspach, CEO of Presenting the Past and former President of The Lincoln Museum in Fort Wayne, illuminated the life and accomplishments of acclaimed Civil War photographer Mathew Brady for guests inside the Study.  The fascinating question-and-answer section afterward lasted almost until the sun went down!

The 7th Annual Lew Wallace Youth Academy completed its week of new experiences on July 9 with a visit to the Civil War Encampment, which was held on the Museum grounds on the weekend of July 9-10.  Academy students learned about Civil War-era surgery, embalming, armaments, and much more.

Throughout the weekend, visitors from throughout the Midwest met with living history interpreters from the Mid-States Living History Association to learn about the trials and triumphs of camp life during the tumultuous years of the Civil War.  Guests got to see a working telegraph, infantry drills and sharpshooter demonstrations, ladies' teas, camp music and seminars on saving history with the Curator of Social History at the Indiana State Museum, among many other things.

On July 13, guests were treated to an inside look into the private life of controversial First Lady Mary Lincoln during the lecture "Mary’s Legacy According to Her Son Robert Lincoln" by Donna McCreary, an award-winning living history presenter, educator and historian.


Civil War Week 2011 was an enormous success, and the General Lew Wallace Study and Museum staff would like to thank all of our partners for helping make it happen!

Civil War Surgery at the 2011 Lew Wallace Youth Academy

CIVIL WAR WEEK FEATURES LIVE ENCAMPMENT, LECTURES

CRAWFORDSVILLE, IN, July 2, 2011— The General Lew Wallace Study & Museum is commemorating the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War with a lecture series and live encampment that will dynamically illustrate the hardships and triumphs of that era.

Three free, in-depth lectures on some of the Civil War’s most compelling subjects will be held at the Museum beginning this week.  On Thursday, July 7 at 7:00 p.m., the Museum will be hosting Jeannie R. Regan-Dinius from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources as she discusses the Underground Railroad in Indiana, including its history in Montgomery County.  The following evening, July 8 at 7:00 p.m., Joan Flinspach of Presenting the Past will talk about famed Civil War Photographer Matthew Brady.  On Wednesday, July 13 at 7:00 p.m., living history presenter Donna McCreary will illustrate the life of one of the nation’s most controversial First Ladies in “Mary’s Legacy According to Her Son Robert Lincoln.”  These lectures are free but space is limited; call the Museum at 765-362-5769 or email study@ben-hur.com to reserve a seat.

The scent of campfires and the sounds of Stephen Foster songs will fill the air once again at the General Lew Wallace Study and Museum for its annual Civil War Encampment weekend, July 9 and 10.  The Museum’s partnership with the Mid States Living History Association, Inc. allows visitors a rare chance to dig deeper into the experience of life as one of General Wallace’s rank-and-file soldiers.

Mid States, an Indianapolis-based group comprised of living history interpreters from throughout the Midwest, will present several activities on the Museum grounds over the course of the weekend that offer a greater insight into life as a Civil War soldier or civilian.  In addition to live demonstrations of camp cooking, construction, medical care, music, telegraphy and artillery training, visitors will have the chance to interact with both General Lew Wallace and the Governor of Indiana during that critical time, Oliver Morton.

“Our Encampment weekends are always popular,” said Associate Director Amanda Wesselmann.  “It’s an immersive experience that lets visitors really appreciate what General Wallace and his soldiers had to endure during the Civil War, much more so than they could just by reading a book or sitting in history class.”

The live activities include “School of the Piece,” an instructional training exercise for cannoneers that demonstrates the degree of textbook and practical training required to function on the field of battle.  Visitors will also be invited to participate in infantry training drills using toy “Woodfield” (wooden) rifles.  Demonstrations in Civil War-era medical care, camp construction and cooking will also be held throughout the weekend.  New this year will be a sharp-shooter display and a ladies’ tea.

Visitors are invited to experience the live drama of the Civil War on Saturday, July 9 from 1:00 – 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, July 10 from 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. at the General Lew Wallace Study and Museum in Crawfordsville.  For further information, contact the Museum at 765-362-5769 or email study@ben-hur.com.