Published: November 18, 2009 11:11 pm         

First seven inducted into ‘Local Legends’ Walk of Fame

TERRE HAUTE — Seven plaques awaiting placement on North Ninth Street bear familiar names to history.

But it might surprise the schoolchildren of 2009 to know that these people all once lived in Terre Haute.

The hardwood floors of Clabber Girl’s street-level museum were filled with feet as dozens gathered Wednesday for the 2009 “Local Legends” Walk of Fame introductions. Seventy-pound plaques were on display, awaiting placement in the sidewalk along North Ninth Street and Wabash Avenue as local organizers explained the significance of commemorating a past full of achievement.

Terre Haute City Councilman Neil Garrison, (D-5th), explained that the project began two years ago as he and others commented on the number of famous Hauteans throughout history. A list of names grew as hundreds of suggestions poured in, combed over by a committee and culminating in what organizers hope will be an annual induction process to a Walk of Fame worthy of tourist stops.

Committee member Fred Nation called it an “exciting day in Terre Haute,” noting the shared hope that children here realize they can reach any level of success in a wide range of fields despite not hailing from New York or Washington D.C. The seven inaugural inductees range from industrialists to a Hall of Fame pitcher. But, “what they all have in common is accomplishment in their respective fields,” he said.

The plaques are accompanied by a Web site detailing the history of each inductee. Vigo County historian Mike McCormick joined Nation as they took participants on a quick tour of Valley history dating back to the 19th century’s earliest years up to “Twilight Zone, The Movie.”

Theodore Dreiser, “father of American novels,” was born just down the street from where his plaque will rest, at 523 S. Ninth St. in 1871. His older brother, known to the world as Paul Dresser after a name change, is the venerated composer of “On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away.” But Dreiser himself was not always appreciated at home, McCormick noted, explaining the author’s socialist leanings and political views. Still, novels such as “Sister Carrie,” “The Financier,” and “American Tragedy” solidified his place in American literature, and the Wabash River Bridge is named after him, McCormick said.

Standing in the large Hulman & Co. facility for the ceremony, it was remarkable to hear of its namesake’s immigration to America in 1854 from Hanover, Germany. Herman Hulman crossed the ocean to join his older brother Francis in a small wholesale grocery business in Terre Haute, a city with considerable rivals already in that trade. Hulman started in sales while his brother managed the store at Fifth Street and Wabash Avenue. This changed when Francis and his family died on a ship returning from a visit to Germany. The younger Hulman persevered, branching into the distillery business and eventually growing that wholesale grocery into what is now Hulman & Co. A lifelong philanthropist, after his death his sons donated a portion of their eastern Vigo County farm to a small engineering school then known as Rose Polytechnic — now Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology — and paid off the mortgage owed on the Calvary Catholic Cemetery.

But the engineering school would have never been born had it not been for Chauncey Rose, who moved to a small village along the banks of the Wabash River in 1817 and began his career in logging and timber before branching into railroads and land. Rose, whose own education never passed elementary levels, founded the Terre Haute Indianapolis Railroad as well as the Prairie House Hotel and would donate more than $3 million to charities before his death in 1877. While engaged in the railroad industry, it occurred to Rose that the area needed more workers with an engineering background. In 1874 he formed the Terre Haute School of Industrial Science near what would later become Gerstmeyer Technical High School. It was later re-named Rose Polytechnic.

Around the same time Hulman and Rose were building financial empires, a 42-year-old nun was sailing to America from France. The woman would eventually become known as St. Mother Theodore Guerin. But in 1840, western Indiana was a wilderness, and the nun’s epic journey from France lasted 102 days. Her work for the Sisters of Providence lives on today at the school she founded now known as St. Mary-of-the-Woods College. During her lifetime, Mother Theodore founded dozens of orphanages, schools and missions while inspiring others with the true tale of a middle-aged woman’s ventures through untamed woods and wilderness. She is one of the few Americans to be canonized a saint by the Roman Catholic Church.

But the inductees named were not all limited to early American history. One, in fact, would wind up flying over the cuckoo’s nest and into the “Twilight Zone.”

Benjamin Sherman “Scatman” Crothers was born at 1470 S. 13th St. in 1910, and would begin singing in speakeasies, developing his music into the “scat” form of the day and entertaining legendary gangster Al Capone himself. The “Scatman” already has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in “Meet Me At The Fair,” “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest,” “Twilight Zone The Movie,” “The Shining,” and “Bronco Billy,” among other films. His voice work included Disney’s “The Aristocats” and he appeared on television in “Charlie’s Angels,” “Bewitched,” “Sanford and Son,” “Chico and the Man,” “Dragnet” and “Magnum P.I.” Crothers was also the voice of the Autobot “Jazz” on the 1980s cartoon series “Transformers,” he sang with Bob Dylan and produced numerous albums before his death in 1986.

In the field of science, Herald Cox was one of America’s top bacteriologists whose work helped lead to the polio vaccine as well as a vaccine for Rocky Mountain spotted fever. His father owned an auto garage on Terre Haute’s northside. Cox graduated from Garfield High School in 1924 before going on to Indiana State Normal School, now Indiana State University, and eventually Johns Hopkins University, where he earned his doctorate. Cox’s work in the field of vaccinations and bacteriology was widely heralded throughout the 20th century, ranging from public sector medals to private sector recognition.

And if the Chicago Cubs ever want to win the World Series again, something they haven’t done since their back-to-back wins in 1907 and 1908, they might remember it was a three-fingered pitcher from Terre Haute who got them there.

Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown mangled his hand in a childhood farming accident, but it didn’t stop him from a baseball career. Rising up through the mining town minor leagues, the Nyesville native and Terre Haute resident eventually made it to the Chicago Cubs as a pitcher earning $7,000 a year in 1912. His career included four National League pennants and two World Series wins in a five-year spread and seasons with earned run averages of 1.04, 1.39 and 1.31. Inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame as well as the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame, Brown was a member of the Cubs team which hosted Ty Cobb’s Detroit Tigers in an exhibition match in Terre Haute, which according to McCormick, drew a bigger crowd than that which attended the World Series that year.

Nation said the group has numerous nominations in line for future inductions and explained that the committee’s choices are based on a number of considerations, including a desire to demonstrate diversity of achievement.

“I think it’s a model for a lot of things we can do in this community,” Nation said.



Brian Boyce can be reached at 812-231-4253 or brian.boyce@tribstar.com.



CHECK IT OUT

• For more information on the Walk of Fame, visit www.terrehautewalkoffame.org.