Lanier Mansion: Madison, Indiana James Franklin Doughty Lanier was one of the benefactors who helped the North win the Civil War. He did so as an investment banker who moved to New York City from Madison in 1851. His close ties with the state became even closer when he made an unsecured loan of one million dollars (over $26 million today). The loan helped the governor Oliver P. Morton to outfit troops in support of the North and kept Indiana from becoming a Confederate state and supported interest payment on the state’s debt. State legislators and Southern sympathizers wanted Indiana to take a neutral stance in the Civil War. This loan was repaid by the state with interest by 1879. The home overlooking the Ohio River in Madison, Indiana was built for the family and completed in 1844. Lanier lived in the mansion and was the community’s banker and had interests in the railroad. The home was surrounded in those days by a railroad station, warehouses, a wharf and even iron foundries. Lanier moved to New York City, where he died in 1881. The Lanier Mansion remained in the family until 1917 when it was donated to the Jefferson County History Society. Later it was transferred to the state and operated as a State Historic Site. The Greek Revival architecture has Corinthian columns and original window panes, glass, crowns and cresting. An impressive spiral staircase is also in this mansion. The mansion is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is a designated National Historic Landmark. Flash flooding prior to February 25, 2018, had caused the Ohio River between Madison, IN and Louisville, KY to crest at nearly 35 feet, nearly breaking the record of the 1997 flood when it crested at nearly 39 feet. If you look through the window of the Lanier Mansion facing the Ohio River, the water nearly reached the walkway before the garden area. Two other photos show logs on top of two barge standards, a former waterfront food shop and debris on the sides of the river. This photo program shows some of the interesting and beautiful rooms in the mansion. Antique cellarette, sarcophagus style, mentioned and shown at the Mansion. Used to store bottle of alcoholic beverages. Believed to have been made by an 18th century cabinet maker. acuri.net John R. Vincenti Madison, Indiana on the Ohio, Lanier Mansion Sources: https://www.indianamuseum.org/lanier‐mansion‐and‐state‐historic‐site#about, https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/madison/Lanier_Mansion.html, http://visitmadison.org/listing/lanier‐mansion‐historic‐site/, and https://www.gardenconservancy.org/open‐days/garden‐directory/lanier‐mansion‐state‐historic‐site‐and‐gardens. .