This page is a list of Montgomery County's gifted citizens, great accomplishments, genuine treasures,

notable events and familiar places. 

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If you know of any other Montgomery County notables that are not on this list, 

please contact us with your suggestions at info@lane-mchs.org.

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Agriculture in Montgomery County and Indiana
Indiana Agriculture by Frank Long (1942), New Deal mural at Crawfordsville Post Office http://livingnewdeal.org/projects/post-office-mural-crawfordsville/

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Sports
Basketball Heritage Project, Inc. - www.bhpinc.org
1911 Crawfordsville High School State Basketball Champions: First State Tournament Champs http://www.ihigh.com/100/article_17064.html
1913 Wingate High School State Basketball Champions http://www.ihigh.com/ihsbhs/article_167184.html
1914 Wingate High School State Basketball Champions http://www.ihigh.com/ihsbhs/article_167184.html
1919 Crawfordsville High School State Boys Track Champions
1920 Wingate High School Midwest Invitational Basketball Champions "http://www.thepaper247.com/main.aspSectionID=24&SubSectionID=23&ArticleID=16264"
1956 Crawfordsville High School Boys Golf State Champions http://www.thepaper247.com/main.aspSectionID=24&SubSectionID=23&ArticleID=16264
1974 Crawfordsville High School Girls Tennis State Champions
1982 Wabash College NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Champions http://www.d3hoops.com/archives/men/1982
1995 North Montgomery High School 2A State Football Champions
1996 North Montgomery High School 2A State Football Champions "http://www.thepaper24-7.com/main.asp?ArticleID=16341&SectionID=24&SubSectionID=23&S=1"
2008 Crawfordsville High School 3A State Baseball Champions
Lambert, Ward “Piggy” – Purdue University basketball coach (1916-17, 1918-48), Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee
Stonebraker, Homer – state basketball champion at Wingate H.S., semi-pro basketball player http://www.hoopshall.com/hall-of-fame/homer-stonebraker/?back=HallofFame

 

Famous People of Montgomery County 
Allen, Joseph P. – astronaut http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/allen-jp.html
Anderson, Albert B. Judge for U.S. District Court 1902-25: U.S. Court of Appeals 1925-38
Baird, M. Keith: NASA flight surgeon http://thepaper24-7.com/main.asp?SectionID=23&subsectionID=22&articleID=44594
Beard, John - Father of the State School Fund, state representative (1827-31) and senator (1831-41, 1846-49)
Ben-Hur 19th century's best-selling novel by Crawfordsville novelist General Lew Wallace, later adapted into three motion pictures http://www.ben-hur.com/meet-lew-wallace/ben-hur/
Bratton, William: member of the Lewis and Clark expedition http://www.lewis-clark.org/article/2569
Brookshire, Elijah Voorhees: U.S. Representative (1889-1895) http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000886
Campbell, John L. – Wabash professor, originator and secretary of the Centennial Exposition, Philadelphia 1876
"http://www.thepaper24-7.com/main.asp?ArticleID=14064&SectionID=23&SubSectionID=22&S=1"
Canby, Edward Richard Sprigg: Civil War general http://www.nps.gov/resources/person.htm?id=57
Carnegie Libraries in Montgomery County: Crawfordsville (presently Carnegie Museum of Montgomery County), Darlington,
Linden, Waveland http://www.in.gov/history/markers/CCL.htm
Carrington, Henry B. – Author/historian, Civil War general, military science professor
Chief Cornstalk – Miami Indian leader
Churches in Montgomery County
Clodfelter, Noah J. – author, poet, electric railway promoter
Crawfordsville Land Office – government office sold land to Indiana pioneers
Crawfordsville mayors
Crawfordsville monster – sighted in 1891: UFO? Paranormal? Or not? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vIKeJKrR1s&noredirect=1
Crawfordsville Y.M.C.A. – where basketball began in Montgomery County http://www.ihigh.com/100/article_17064.html
Crinoids – pre-historic plant-like animal, fossilized remains can be found in Montgomery County http://www.indiana.edu/~libgeol/reprints/braun1873.html
De Bard, Carl O. – National Guard commander in the Philippines in WWII, post-war promoted to Major General Army Reserve Corps
De Paris, Wilbur and Sidney – jazz musicians
De Regniers, Beatrice – children’s books author http://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/08/arts/beatrice-schenk-de-regniers-86-an-author-of-children-s-books.html
Education in Montgomery County
Elmore, James Buchanan – “the Bard of Alamo (Ind.),” poet http://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/hanna-bayless-w
Elston, Isaac Compton (Sr.) – land speculator, banker, patriarch of Crawfordsville’s “first family.”
Famous short-term residents and notable visitors – Dick Van Dyke, Lana Turner et al
Gerard, Dave – cartoonist created “Will-Yum” and “Citizen Smith,” also a Crawfordsville mayor http://library.syr.edu/digital/guides/g/gerard_d.htm
Graham, Fannie – the first woman admitted to the Montgomery County bar, November 1893
Hanna, Bayless W. – newspaper publisher, U.S. Minister to Argentina (1885-89) 
Harbert, Elizabeth Boynton – journalist, suffragist http://www.elizabeth-boynton-harbert.com/Lizzie-summary-bio.html
Hawkins, John P. – Army general, Civil War veteran
Hays, Will H., Jr. – mayor, author, television & screen writer, son of the “Hollywood czar” http://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/will-hays.html
Herr, Shirl – inventor of the magnetic balance http://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/imh/article/download/6942/7598
Herron, Charles D. – Army general, veteran of the Philippine-American War, WWI, WWII
Hoosiers – New Richmond was the film-site for “Hickory” in the 1986 film https://roadtrippers.com/stories/the-real-story-behind-the-movie-hoosiers-told-by-the-leading-scorer
Horse Thief Detective Society – first meeting of this organization held in Coal Creek Township http://historicindianapolis.com/friday-favorites-the-national-horse-thief-detective-association/
Hovey, Edmund Otis – professor, geologist
Indian Trails through Montgomery County
Industry in Montgomery County
Interurban – the Ben Hur line http://blogs.wabash.edu/dear-old-wabash/2011/01/26/a-hundred-years-ago/
Jupiter crash site – first airmail attempt August 17, 1856 via hot air balloon
Krout, Caroline Virginia – author http://landandlit.iweb.bsu.edu/Literature/Authors/kroutcv.html
Krout, Mary Hannah – journalist, suffragist
Lake Harney – prehistoric lakebed
Lambert, Janet – young adult fiction author
Lane, Henry Smith – U.S. Representative (1839-42), Indiana governor, U.S. Senator (1861-67), One of the founders of the Republican Party - www.lane-mchs.org
Manson, Mahlon Dickerson – Civil War general, U.S. Representative (1871-73)
McDonald, Joseph Ewing – U.S. Representative (1849-50) & Senator (1875-1881)
McMullen murders – resulted in the county’s first execution (Rotary Jail Museum) 
Mills, Caleb – author of the free school bill of Indiana, State Superintendent, first professor at Wabash College http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/382978/Caleb-Mills
Montgomery Guards – antebellum militia unit
Morgan, William H. - Civil War brevet brigadier general 
Mount, James Atwell – farmer, state senator, Indiana governor (1897-1901) http://www.in.gov/history/2705.htm
Newspapers in Montgomery County
Nicholson, Kenyon – playwright http://cdpl-history.blogspot.com/2011/01/kenyon-nicholson.html
Nicholson, Meredith – author, diplomat, born in Crawfordsville http://iwp.iweb.bsu.edu/IndianaAuthors/Pages/Nicholson,%20Meredith.html
Offield, William – Montgomery County’s first Anglo settler
Patterson, Thomas MacDonald – U.S. Rep. (1877-79) and Senator (1901-07) from Colorado, grew-up and practiced law in Crawfordsville http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=p000130
Peirce, Robert Bruce Fraser – U.S. Representative (1881-83) http://indianagenweb.com/inmontgomery/bios/p/pierce-robert-bruce-fraser.htm
Pine Hills Nature Preserve – the first nature preserve dedicated in Indiana, 1969 http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/indiana/placesweprotect/pine-hills.xml
Poston Paving Brick Company – produced the first textured face brick in the U.S., contributed bricks to pave the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
R. R. Donnelly & Sons – commercial printing plant est. in 1921, printed Harry Potter 
Railroads of Montgomery County
Rice, Luther V. – construction chief for the Ferris Wheel at 1893 Columbian Exposition
Ristine, Richard O. – state senator, lieutenant governor
Saunders, Allen – cartoonist, wrote “Mary Worth,” Sugar Crick School of Art Dean
Shades – steeped in legend and lore, popular resort, established as a state park in 1947
Shortz, Will – New York Times crossword editor
Speed, John & Margaret – Underground Railroad conductors
Steele, Theodore Clement – artist, spent boyhood in Waveland
Stillwell, William A. – former county resident, murdered during Bleeding Kansas
Sugar Creek – a Wabash River tributary, Sugar Creek powered many mills along its banks, and is this day a good recreation destination
Sugar Crick School of Art – name given to a group of comic strip artists with county ties, included: Allen Saunders, Dave Gerard, Bandel Linn, Bill Holman, Frank Beaven.
Summers, Oron Edgar “Kickapoo Ed” – Detroit Tigers baseball pitcher (1908-1912)
Thompson, J. Maurice – author, poet, naturalist, State Geologist, popularized archery
Thompson, Will Henry – author, archery enthusiast
Travis, Charles M. – U.S. Consul to Brazil
Tribe of Ben-Hur – national fraternal and insurance organization
Tuttle, Joseph Farrand – Wabash College professor and president
Underground Railroad in Montgomery County
Vaughan, Robert E. “Pete” – 1909 Walter Camp All-American full-back at Notre Dame, later a coach and administrator for Wabash College athletics
Wabash College – founded in 1832, one of the few all male colleges left in the United States
Wallace, Lew – soldier, author of Ben-Hur, diplomat target Wallace, Susan – author
Ward, Phil – member of E Company 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines, the first company to raise the flag on Iwo Jima during World War II
Watkins, Maurine Dallas – play and screen writer, author of Chicago http://www.literalmedia.com/?option=com_content&view=article&id=74&Itemid=85
White, Michael D. – U.S. Representative (1877-79)
Whitlock, Ambrose – Army veteran, Land Office receiver, Crawfordsville founder
Williams, Howard – Purdue U. basketball star, member of 1952 U.S. Olympic basketball team
Willson, Anna - educator 
Wilson, Henry Lane – U.S. Minister to Chile (1897-1905), Ambassador to Mexico (1909-1913)
Wilson, James – U.S. Representative (1857-60), U.S. Minister to Venezuela (1868)
Wilson, John Lockwood – U.S. Representative (1889-1895) & U.S. Senator (1895-98)
WPA projects in Montgomery County – Darlington National Guard Armory, Alamo Gym, Waveland Armory Portions of Ladoga Road
 

Montgomery County Military History
Revolutionary War veterans pensioned or buried in Montgomery County
War of 1812 veterans buried in Montgomery County
Mexican-American War soldiers
Civil War soldiers
Spanish-American War soldiers
World War I soldiers
World War II soldiers
Korean War soldiers
Vietnam soldiers

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National Register of Historic Places properties in Montgomery County
Abijah O'Neall II House, 1848
Ashby House, 1883
Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, 1892
Colonel Isaac C. Elston House, 1882
Crawfordsville Commercial Historic District, 1836-1940, district includes the
Montgomery County Court House and Indiana’s first Carnegie library.
Crawfordsville High School, 1914
Culver Union Hospital, 1929, 1940-42
Darlington Covered Bridge, 1868
Elston Grove Historic District, 1835-1935
General Lew Wallace Study, 1898
George Seybold House, 1895
Henry S. Lane Home (Lane Place)  c. 1830, 1845
Linden Depot, 1905
McClelland-Layne House, 1869
Montgomery County Jail and Sheriff’s Residence, 1882
Normal Hall, 1878
Otto Schlemmer Building, 1854
St. John’s Episcopal Church, 1837
T. C. Steele Boyhood Home, 1852-1870
William Fisher Polygonal Barn, 1914
Yount’s Woolen Mill and Boarding House, 1851, 1864

Indiana Register of Historic Sites and Structures
Montgomery County Bridge #49

Montgomery County Townships, Towns and Communities, past and present
Brown Township
Browns Valley
Waveland

Clark Township
Ladoga
Connettsville
Forest Home (Ashby Mills P.O.)

Coal Creek Township
Elmdale (originally Boston Store)
New Richmond
Wingate (originally Pleasant Hill)
Round Hill P.O.

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Franklin Township
Darlington
Shannondale

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Madison Township
Kirkpatrick
Linden
Cherry Grove

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Ripley Township
Alamo
Lane P.O.
Yountsville

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Scott Township
Lapland
New Market (town also lies in South Union and Brown Townships)
Parkersburg (originally Somerset)

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Sugar Creek Township
Bowers
Potato Creek P.O.

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Union Township (North and South)
Balhinch
Crawfordsville (county seat)
Doherty Heights
Durham
Fairview
Fiskville
Garfield (originally Binford Flag Station)
Hillside
Lake Holiday
Longview
North Union
Smartsburg
Troutman’s Station
Whitesville

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Walnut Township
Beckville
Clinesville
Linnsburg
Mace (originally Fredericksburg)
New Ross (originally Valley City)

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Wayne Township
Waynetown (originally Middletown)
Wesley