The state survey observed that it "seemed to fall into two groups: those whose ability as storytellers found scope in tales of romantic days gone by, and those who saw beauty in everyday life, and charmingly recorded it."
There were two women and eleven men on this list. The women were Sarah T. Bolton and Gene Stratton-Porter. The men were James Whitcomb Riley, Gen. Lew Wallace, John Finley, Albert J. Beveridge, Charles Major, Meredith Nicholson, Booth Tarkington, George Ade, Kin Hubbard, Maurice Thompson and Edward Eggleston.
It was noted that they were all important figures who "gained for Hoosierdom fame in literature."