Lew Wallace

A most incredible story. To those to whom history is important/interesting, this is well worth your time. Lew Wallace was named Indiana's Adjutant General at the start of the Civil War and, in succession: a rising star among Yankee political Generals from the battles at Forts Henry and Donelson, a undeserved scapegoat at Shiloh, the savior of, first, Cincinnati and then Washington, D.C. He later participated in both the Lincoln conspiracy and Andersonville trials, was the Territorial Governor of New Mexico Territory during the time of the Lincoln County Wars, was Ambassador to Turkey and, most memorably, authored the best known novel of the 18th century, "Ben Hur, a Tale of the Christ." In his later years, Lew Wallace employed my Grandfather, Bob Jones, as a grounds keeper and general mechanic at his study in my hometown of Crawfordsville (Indiana) around the turn of the last century. According to family lore, he allowed Grandpa to occasionally borrow his horse-less carriage (the first in Crawfordsville) for the purpose of courting Grandma Katie Burgess, later Jones.