Lew Wallace (1827-1905) was born in Brookville, Indiana. He was the son of Indiana governor David Wallace. Wallace married Susan Arnold Elston Wallace in 1853, with whom he had one son. He had a successful military career during the Mexican-American and Civil War, serving from 1846 until 1847 and again in 1861 until 1865 where he was promoted to the rank of major general. He resigned from the US Army to join the Mexican Army as a major general before returning to the United States where he was appointed governor of the New Mexico Territory by President Rutherford B. Hayes from 1878 until 1881. Despite his military career, Wallace is most known for his novel Ben Hur: A Tale of Christ (1880), one of the most influencial American Christian novels of the 19th century. Wallace became the diplomat for Turkey under President James A. Garfield between 1881 and 1885 before retiring in Crawfordsville, Indiana where he wrote until his death in 1905.

Susan Wallace (1830-1907) was an American poet and author, and published 5 books composed of her collection of travel essays across New Mexico, Middle East, and Europe. Some of these works include The Land of Pueblos (1888) and The Storied Sea (1883). Her most notable work was her poem "The Patter of Little Feet," about the death of their twin daughter. After the death of her husband Lew Wallace in 1905, Susan undertook the completion of his autobiography with fellow author Mary Hannah Krout. She passed in Crawfordsville, Indiana in 1907.