Robert C. Kriebel's sympathetic biography of the prominent nineteenth-century Lafayette family weaves the story of four fascinating individuals into the web of state and national history and culture. The family members include John A. Stein, the distinguished state politician who devoted years to the founding of Purdue University; the indomitable mother, Virginia, who pursued a career in the local library when left widowed and penniless; the talented, albeit disreputable, Orth Stein, who achieved prominence as a journalist and illustrator but was also tried for murder; and the sheltered Evaleen Stein, who achieved local fame as a poet and author of children's books.