News From Terre Haute, Indiana

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  • Distinguished honorees: Vigo County historian Mike McCormick describes the lives of the eight new nominees for the Terre Haute Walk of Fame on Tuesday during the Terre Haute Rotary Club's meeting at the Holiday Inn. At the bottom, propped up on the podium are the plaques of Albert Ernest "A.E." Meyzeek and D. Omer "Salty" Seamon.

    MET 042412 FAME MCCORMICK.jpg

  • Dedication: William Riley McKeen is noted for his love for and dedication to Terre Haute. He is part of the latest group to be added to the Terre Haute Walk of Fame.

    MET042412 walkmckeen.jpg

  • Big star: Rose Melville, as “Sis Hopkins,” performed live for millions and made 17 movies in that role.

    MET042412 walk melville1.jpg

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April 25, 2012

Inducting Greatness

Committee introduces third class of Local Legends Walk of Fame members

Howard Greninger The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE — A U.S. president, an artist, an educator, an actress of stage and early film, a railroad president, an industrialist, a banker and a world champion boxer compose this year’s new inductees to the “Local Legends Walk of Fame.” The new inductees: former U.S. President William Henry Harrison; artist D. Omer “Salty” Seamon; educator Albert Ernest Meyzeek; actress Rosa Smock, known as Rose Melville; railroad president and banker William Riley McKeen; boxer Charles Bernard “Bud” Taylor; Terre Haute Brewing Co.’s Oscar Baur; and Jacob Baur, known as the “father of soda fountain” “All of these inductees have distinguished themselves and our community with their accomplishments during their lifetimes, and they are representative of what has always made our city great, yesterday and today and tomorrow,” said Neil Garrison, chair of the Terre Haute Walk of Fame Committee and a Terre Haute City Councilman. “Quietly benevolent seems to be a consistent theme in this Walk of Fame class, which is harmonious with many Rotary members present at this year’s induction,” Garrison said after the third class of the Walk of Fame was introduced Tuesday to the Terre Haute Rotary Club at the Holiday Inn. The inductees were selected in categories of science and technology; arts and culture; business and industry; social sciences; sports; entertainment; and civic and social services. Garrison said inductees are individuals “who have made a significant positive contribution to their field and to our Terre Haute history or culture. The requirement is also a minimum of five years of experience in their field and [that they] have either been born in Terre Haute, [been] a resident of Terre Haute or spent their formative years in Terre Haute,” he said. The walk of fame includes metal plaques set into city sidewalks, starting at Ninth Street and Wabash Avenue and going west. The walk is now up to near Eighth Street on the north side of Wabash Avenue. The walk will continue west to the Wabash River. Gartland Foundry casts the plaques, which are then powder coated at Modern Aluminum Castings. “Our committee has also added that [inductees] had to be railroaded at least 15 minutes in Terre Haute,” Garrison joked. n Harrison, who became a U.S. president, was in Terre Haute long before railroads, said Vigo County historian and attorney B. Michael McCormick, who presented the new members of the class to the Rotary Club. At the time, Harrison was governor of the Indiana Territory. Harrison established Fort Harrison along the Wabash River, north of current Fort Harrison Road. It was the site of the Battle of Fort Harrison in September 1812. Had Harrison not established the fort in October 1811, “we may not have had the village of Terre Haute for 25 or 30 years,” McCormick said. Harrison became a general during the War of 1812. “His ties to Terre Haute are really more significant than many realize,” McCormick said. His grandson, Benjamin Harrison, also became a U.S. president. Benjamin Harrison’s son, Russell Harrison, became president of Terre Haute Electric Railway. Russell Harrison’s son, also named William Henry Harrison, became a congressman from Wyoming, McCormick said. n Also of significance was McKeen, founder of McKeen Bank and president and the largest stockholder of the Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad from 1867 to 1893. The railroad line was known as “The Vandalia Line.” The railroad was the largest employer in Terre Haute for 30 years, McCormick said. “No one cared more for Terre Haute than William Riley McKeen,” McCormick said of McKeen, born in Terre Haute in 1829. His farm, Edgewood Farm, on the east side of the city is now Edgewood Grove subdivision, McCormick said. n Seamon, who died in 1997, is remembered for his water color paintings of Indiana and the Midwest. He became a freelance artist in Terre Haute upon returning from service in the U.S. Army Special Service Forces during World War II. Seamon painted people as well as covered bridges, rivers and sites such as the Vigo County Courthouse, Indiana Theatre and Church of the Immaculate Conception at St. Mary-of-the-Woods. Seamon was given an honorary doctorate in 1979 from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, which created a collection of many of his paintings. He was named a Sagamore of the Wabash in 1980. n Taylor earned the nickname “Terre Haute Terror” as he became the National Boxing Association world bantamweight champion in 1927, during the “golden age of boxing.” He was born in Terre Haute on July 22, 1903. He fought from 1920 to 1931. Taylor “comes close to rivaling the popularity we felt for [former Indiana State University basketball star and later NBA star] Larry Bird locally,” McCormick said. “When something happened to Bud Taylor, it made the front page, including a couple of divorces.” n Smock was born in Terre Haute on Jan. 30, 1867, and became known as actress Rose Melville, appearing in stage in the role of “Sis Hopkins” more than 5,000 times before more than 5 million people. She made 17 motion pictures in that role. n Oscar Baur resurrected the Terre Haute Brewing Co. after Prohibition and made Champagne Velvet “the beer with the million dollar flavor.” After the death of his first wife, his son, Oscar Baur Jr., was raised by Eugene and Kate Debs, who was Oscar Baur’s half-sister, McCormick said. n Also inducted was Oscar Baur’s older half-brother, Jacob Baur, referred to as the “father of the soda fountain,” for perfecting a method of producing and distributing carbonated water in cylinders. In 1888, he formed the Liquid Carbonic Acid Manufacturing Co., which in about 1900, also manufactured soda fountains. n Meyzeek was born in Ohio in 1862 and moved to Terre Haute in 1875. He was an African-American who was valedictorian of the class of 1884 of Terre Haute High School, later serving as principal of Terre Haute 14th District, McCormick said. Meyzeek attended Indiana State Normal School (now Indiana State University), but received a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University and master’s degree from Wilberforce University in Ohio. In 1893 he became a principal in Louisville, Ky. “Realizing there very few places for African-Americans to get life insurance, he founded a life insurance company for African-Americans in Louisville,” McCormick said, along with a motion picture theater and amusement park. Meyzeek died in 1963 at the age of 101. He has been inducted into the Gallery of Great Black Kentuckians. Members of the Walk of Fame Committee include Garrison, McCormick, Marla Flowers, Charlie Williams, Pat Martin, Roy Dressler and Fred Nation. Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com.

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