The General Lew Wallace Study & Museum, formerly known as the Ben-Hur Museum, is located in

Crawfordsville, Indiana Crawfordsville () is a city in Montgomery County, Indiana, Montgomery County in west central Indiana, United States, west by northwest of Indianapolis. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 16,306. The c ...

. It was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1976, and in 2008 was awarded a National Medal from the federal

Institute of Museum and Library Services The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States federal government established in 1996. It is the main source of federal support for librar ...

. It is located in the Elston Grove Historic District. The museum is associated with the life of

Lew Wallace Lewis Wallace (April 10, 1827February 15, 1905) was an American lawyer, Union general in the American Civil War, governor of New Mexico Territory, politician, diplomat, artist, and author from Indiana. Among his novels and biographies, Walla ...

and his 1880 novel '' Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ''. The study, designed by Wallace, and accompanying carriage house are the only structures pertaining to Lew Wallace that have retained historical integrity. Both of these buildings now make up the museum and exhibit many of the artifacts that Wallace used during his lifetime, as well as many objects pertaining to his literary legacy.Adams Sec. 7, p. 1 Guided tours of the study are available for a small admission fee; the Carriage House Interpretive Center and grounds are open to the public free of charge.

History

Lew Wallace is most famous for his military service and his novel '' Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ'' (1880). He served in the Union Army during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, participating in the Battle of Fort Donelson,

Battle of Shiloh The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the American Civil War fought on April 6–7, 1862. The fighting took place in southwestern Tennessee, which was part of the war's Western Theater of the ...

, and Battle of Monocacy as well as managing operations for the Union Army in Indiana in July 1863 when Confederate general John Hunt Morgan invaded the state during

Morgan's Raid Morgan's Raid (also the Calico Raid or Great Raid of 1863) was a diversionary incursion by Confederate States Army, Confederate cavalry into the Union (American Civil War), Union states of Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia during the A ...

. After the war, he served on the military commission that tried

John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838April 26, 1865) was an American stage actor who Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, assassinated United States president Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the p ...

's assistants in the assassination of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

, as well as presiding over the court that resulted in the execution of

Henry Wirz Henry Wirz (born Hartmann Heinrich Wirz; November 25, 1823 – November 10, 1865) was a Swiss-American convicted war criminal who served as a Confederate Army officer during the American Civil War. He was the commandant of Andersonville Prison, ...

for the Union deaths at

Andersonville prison The Andersonville National Historic Site, located near Andersonville, Georgia, preserves the former Andersonville Prison (also known as Camp Sumter), a Confederate prisoner-of-war camp during the final fourteen months of the American Civil Wa ...

. In the postwar years, he began seriously writing, publishing his first novel in 1873. In 1880 he published '' Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ'', a novel set during the time of

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

in the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

; it sold poorly at first, but soon became the bestselling novel of the nineteenth century, and continued as first until the publication of ''

Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * Gone with the Wind (novel), ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * Gone with the Wind (film), ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind ...

.'' Considered "the most influential Christian book of the nineteenth century," it has never gone out of print, and has been adapted for four films."Ben-Hur: The Book That Shook the World"
, ''Humanities,'' November/December 2009 Volume 30, Number 6, Accessed 2010-04-20 In addition, Wallace worked as a lawyer, governor to New Mexico Territory, and ambassador to Turkey. His creative pursuits included a total of seven books: novels and biographies; art, inventing, and music. Wallace was said to have built the study because he wanted "a pleasure-house for my soul," that would be "a detached room away from the world and its worries."Wolfsie p. 288 Wallace died in his home on February 15, 1905.Adams Sec. 8, p. 6 Upon his death, his family allowed the public to tour his study. In 1941 the city of Crawfordsville was given the property by a local civic organization, which purchased the property to donate it to the city.Adams Sec. 7, p. 2 Wallace's former house was mostly razed, with only its dining room, living room, and floored central hall remaining as part of a modern

ranch-style house Ranch (also known as American ranch, California ranch, rambler, or rancher) is a domestic architectural style that originated in the United States. The ranch-style house is noted for its long, close-to-the-ground profile, and wide open layout. ...

; it is not part of the National Register designation. The carriage house opened in 2006 as the Carriage House Interpretive Center, and is now the launching point for visitor experiences. Formerly used by the Girl Scouts and the Camp Fire Girls, it houses an exhibit that changes annually, gift shop, orientation video, offices and collection storage.

Architecture

The study took three years to finish, from 1895 to 1898, and cost $25,000–$30,000 to build. Wallace built the eclectic structure with influence from

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

, and Romanesque styles. It is one-story and made of

garnet Garnets () are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. Garnet minerals, while sharing similar physical and crystallographic properties, exhibit a wide range of chemical compositions, de ...

-colored brick. The domed copper roof is tall, with a cupola of copper, glass and steel protecting a large skylight over the main room. Bedford limestone, native to southern Indiana, was used for the porches and exterior trim. The limestone

frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

, crowning the top of the walls, was hand-carved. A face in the center of the frieze on each side of the building represents characters from two of General Wallace's books. On the tower is Princess Irene, on the back is the Prince of India, both from ''The Prince of India''; to the east is Ben-Hur's sister, Tirzah, and over the entry is Judah Ben-Hur, both from ''Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ''. The small curved room in the back of the building was the mechanical room, housing light switches, levers that opened windows in the cupola on the dome, and other features related to the building. The bricks used to make the semicircle are curved. The study includes a tall tower on the west side. The tower was designed with Roman arches that were originally bricked in except for two stained glass windows. The tower, besides being decorative, served as a chimney and storage for the water tank that supplied the original bathroom in the basement. The full basement can be seen through round porthole windows on the east side of the building. It holds the workbench which General Wallace used when creating his nine inventions, the furnace used to heat the building, and the Wallaces’ carriage. The underpinnings of the study are also visible: Carnegie steel I-beams, corrugated metal, and concrete. ''Note:'' This includes and Accompanying photographs.

Today

When the city of Crawfordsville acquired the structure, it became known as the Ben-Hur Museum; it is officially called the General Lew Wallace Study & Museum. It still exhibits many of the 1,200 books Wallace owned. The furniture in the study is original, including the chair that Wallace used when writing his masterwork, ''Ben-Hur'' (which he completed long before building the study). Among the other artifacts in the collection are his military uniforms, artwork, musical instruments, and the fishing rod he invented. Art includes the portrait of the daughter of the sultan of

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, which he gave to Wallace in 1885. The annual exhibits in the Carriage House Interpretive Center highlight different facets of Wallace as a Renaissance man; previous exhibits include ''Collective Influence: The Wallace Women'', ''Lew Wallace - Gentleman Scientist'', and ''Embattled: General Wallace's Leadership in the Civil War''. The of land on which the study sits is a public park, and many use it as a place to picnic, walk dogs, and take family photographs amid the flower beds. In recent years it has seen increased use from geo-cachers searching for a cache on site. Guided tours of the study are available for a small admission fee; the Carriage House Interpretive Center and grounds are open to the public free of charge.

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