Published: October 31, 2009 02:52 pm         

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: It was an elegant party at 128-acre More Park in 1888

At about 8 p.m. on Saturday, June 23, 1888, a line of horse-drawn busses departed William T. Beauchamp’s livery stable at 117 — 125 S. Sixth St. and headed east.

Marching in front of them was Jacob Breinig’s Ringgold Band.

Their destination was a 128-acre farm boasting an attractive lake affectionately known as Lake Fluvanna, situated on the east side of South Fruitridge near College Avenue.

The farm had been acquired in 1887 as a summer retreat from the Curtis Gilbert family by Benjamin Guille and Elizabeth (Naylor) Cox. A principal in the Hulman & Cox wholesale grocery firm, Cox resided with his wife and family at 318 S. Fifth St.

Cox named his provocative haven, “More Park,” to honor his mother Laura Elizabeth More, and her family, all natives of Wales.

It rained off and on all day on June 23 but more then 100 participated in the procession.

By the time the parade reached the avenue of old locust trees heading east from Fruitridge Avenue, up a slope toward the lake, the passengers had alighted from livery vehicles and formed a line behind Major Frank C. Crawford.

An officer in the 85th Indiana Regiment during the Civil War, Maj. Crawford was a brigade adjutant under Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman during his famous March to the Sea. When Atlanta capitulated, Crawford rode ahead of the skirmish line and is credited with being the first Union solder to enter the southern capital.

A Roman candle was distributed to each man. By the time the participants reached the top of the knoll, the undulating terrain appeared to be ablaze in red fire that was visible for a considerable distance.

The procession was directed to the west bank of Lake Fluvanna, surrounded by lighted torches, where each man fired a Roman candle. Meanwhile, a dazzling fireworks display was ignited from a rustic bridge across the lake.

After nearly 30 minutes, the cavalcade of guests marched to a second hill where the Coxes had erected a temporary summer residence. The Magnolia Quartette, four African-American singers with a statewide reputation, broke into song and received an enthusiastic ovation. The men doubled as waiters.

The well-decorated dinner tables were arranged in the form of a cross. A large Japanese parasol at the intersection protected an array of flowers. Candles were on the tables and multiple Chinese lanterns hung from the limbs of every tree.

The banquet was distinctive. Lucy Sanders was the chef. Everything was served in a wooden vessel. Even the programs were printed on birch bark.

Lawyer Frank C. Danaldson, to be elected mayor of the City of Terre Haute in the 1889 election, was master of ceremonies. He initiated toasts to the hosts and read regrets from those unable to attend, including Merrill N. Smith, Clerk of the Vigo Circuit Court.

The Ringgold Orchestra provided music and, between sets, witty and profound remarks were delivered from the podium. Terre Haute lawyer John G. Williams, vice president and general counsel of the Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad, popularly known as “The Vandalia Line,” was among the speakers.

Perhaps the best speech of the evening was presented by Terre Haute native Eugene V. Debs, Grand Secretary-Treasurer of the Brotherhood of Railroad Firemen. In an stirring oratory, he told the More family history and gave an eloquent tribute to Cox’s mother.

“It was a speech worthy of the occasion,” Publisher Wiliam Creighton Ball wrote in the Terre Haute Gazette. “It would have attracted attention or won applause in any assemblage of men no matter how large or distinguished.”

John Ross “Dok” Hager, insurance agent, dentist and cartoonist, appropriately toasted the topic of amusements. Dok Hager did not become famous for creating the “waddles” of Dippy Duck and the Umbrella until relocating to Seattle in 1899.

Major Crawford, paymaster for the Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad, spoke about “the pleasures of life” in camp and on battlefields while Edward Gilbert, vice president of Phoenix Foundry & Machine Works, lauded “Our Wives and Sweethearts.”

As the evening concluded, toastmaster Danaldson sought attention from the crowd to introduce the last speaker, poet James Whitcomb Riley. During the introduction, he inadvertently asserted that poet Robert Burns had “wroten” (sic) poems “for Scotia.” The slip of the tongue brought so much laughter Danaldson could not finish his introduction.

Riley responded well, turning Danaldson’s embarrassment into light humor. He thanked the emcee for saying his poems were “wroten rather than rotten” and then recited “Good-bye Jim,” one of his popular dialect pieces about a non-complaining farmer. It earned an extended standing ovation.

When Riley sat down, there were calls for “side show recitations by Edward C. Sage.” A travel agent, Sage could mimic nasal calls by carnival barkers, including “Remember, folks, you’re here today and gone tomorrow. The whole exhibit for a dime and a half.”

Current mayor Jacob C. Kolsem (1885-1889), George Farrington, secretary and general agent of the Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad, and Dr. Benjamin Swafford, co-founder of Union Hospital, added significant remarks. The affair broke up at midnight.

Though Cox apparently has no intention of turning More Park into a business, it happened nonetheless after he acquired the prize dairy cow Bessie Russ and a herd of registered American Jerseys.

Assisted by his pharmacist brother David, B.G. Cox innovated a unique patented milk purification process. Before milk was dispensed into sterilized coolers and hermetically sealed bottles, it was aerated by blasts of cold air from atomizers filtered through absorbent cotton, avoiding exposure to the outside air.

More Park soon became the envy of the dairy industry. Food scientists and trade journalists came to Terre Haute from all over the world to observe.

Cox died at age 51 on Aug. 31, 1898. His son Wilson Naylor Cox managed the dairy for awhile but soon focused on law and banking, becoming the president of Terre Haute First National Bank.

In 1904, Patrick Malone bought More Park Dairy, operating it for several years. He closed it in 1915 but continued to operate a dairy farm. He died in 1951.