"A Waveland Letter" - Montgomery InGenWeb Project

“A Waveland Letter” – Correspondence of the Star – After making a tour of observation from Crawfordsville southwestward, over the Logansport, Crawfordsville and Southwestern Railroad, looking at the rich coal mines lately opened up in Parke County on the line of the road and getting a squint at the almost countless saw mills and piles of walnut lumber to be seen at various points, I brought up for a little rest and a good deal of information at this quiet, well-ordered and well-education village.  Waveland is situated about 14 miles southwest of Crawfordsville in Montgomery County, and is surrounded by a country which cannot anywhere be excelled.  Beautifully undulating, well-watered, well timbered, rich in soil, rich in varied mineral reserved, brought to a high degree of agricultural improvement divided into reasonably sized farms, inhabited by a people whose intelligence and morality raise them almost as much above ordinary civilized communities as ordinary civilized communities are above the milder states of barbarism, this neighborhood has, in the true sense of the term, enjoyed a glorious past, possess a glorious present and looks with just hope to a more glorious future.  The place illustrates the immeasurable importance of making the right start.  At an early day the foundations of good society were here laid deep in religious principle and the means of intellectual culture.  Over 20 years ago the Presbyterians who had gained a strong foothold, founded a high school which directly attained a state reputation and which has grown into the WAVELAND INSTITUTE – the bottom dollar has at all times been spent for support of this school.  The best teachers have been employed and no requisite encouragement has been withheld.  Showing to the world so willing a disposition of the noble enterprise have elicited a sympathy which has brought much help from aboard.  Wealthy men of Terre Haute and at other points have recently offered it liberal donations and it is proposed to immediately put in course of construction a new building to cost at least $20,000 and to procure all the apparatus and other facilities necessary to the completion of a full college course.  The undertaking is none than justifiable; for in addition to the immense local patronage now enjoyed, there is every reason to expect a large outside patronage.  The long established good name of the institution, the beauty, the retirement and superior morality of the location, the progressive character of the school, the fact that it gives girls an equal chance with boys in the curriculum are inducements that few of its competitors can offer.  BUSINESS -- Waveland controls a local trade covering an area of about 25 square miles of as productive farming country as can be found within Hoosier limits.  The former remoteness of the town from railroad centers and the concentration of means and energies on the Collegiate Institutes have retarded to some extent the development of manufactories.  Nevertheless there is, here, a large wagon shop that sends its works all over the northwest.  The place contains a number of first-class business men, who have only needed an opportunity to distinguish themselves.  Among these I may mention – DAVIS & HANNA, who by their energy, tact, industry, perseverance and fair dealing, have not only earned an enviable reputation but have accumulated an immense capital.  In the goods trade, in the woolen manufacturer, in the encouragement of all home enterprise, in their efforts to attract developmental agencies from abroad, they have ever stood foremost and shown a liberal spirit. They have greatly honored themselves in that they have gilded their own success by promotion success of others.  I may also mention – Z M BALL, the druggist, a young man who has been here only three years and who in that time has established one of the best trades in this quarter of the state.  The good taste he exhibits in the selection of his stock and the manner in which he arranges and keeps his store room add not a little to the results of his fine business qualities.  Prospects of the Place – the future of Waveland ought to be good.  In addition to its rich agricultural surroundings, there are in its immediate vicinity  boundless stores of mineral wealth – coal, iron and sandstone.  Already the last named article is being quarried by Chicago capitalists and shipped over the LC&SWRR which road will, since its purchase of the Rockville and Terre Haute line not only be the making of itself but of the entire stretch of country through which it passes.  But there is one fearful obstacle in the way of Waveland – the fact that nearly all the land adjoining the town is owned by a few men who are to some extent wanting in point of progress and public enterprise; so much so, that men coming here with a view of investing their capital and experience in manufactories are frequently deterred from even making an attempt to purchase, on account of high prices asked for lots.  It is hoped that the time is not far-distant when a different feeling may possess these wealthy land holders and that we may yet see this prosperous little town “bloom and blossom as the rose!”  HOTELS – Waveland contains two hotels – My stay here has been at the Thornton House and a fat and pleasant stay it has been.  For good grub, clean beds, good rooms, general and genuine old-fashioned comfort, commend me to the Thornton.  The landlord is as faithful to the wants of his guests as our friend, Pruett of the Depot Boarding House at Crawfordsville.  POLITICAL – I can hear of only two Greeley men in this place, and they are both Democrats.  The Montgomery County Republican ticket is considered here one of the strongest that could have been made.  Mr. Kelsey, the candidate for Sheriff is particularly popular, holding the solid Republican vote and having many friends among Democrats who will support him, whether the Baltimore Convention indorses him or not?  More than a foot – Major LA Foote of Crawfordsville is more than a foot, i.e. the results of his business energies greatly exceed a foot.  To see the books, the wall paper, the pictures, the picture frames, the toys, the holiday presents etc etc that have found their way from his store to his vicinity is all the proof required to establish this assertion.  In the promotion of a popular taste for the beautiful, the Major is unquestionably a benefactor.  HOME MANUFACTURES – In addition to its reputation for the manufacture of plows and other agricultural implements, Crawfordsville is making an impression upon the surrounding country in the chemical and patent medicine line as is shown in the popularity, hereabouts of EJ Binford & Bros Quick Yeast, Pearl Drops (for the complexion) and condition powders, for horses.  These preparations are in fact making the same impression everywhere that Binford’s immense stock of drugs in making at home – P. ENCILL    ~~~transcribed by kbz