April 22, 1857 - Paul Dresser (April 22, 1857 – Jan 31, 1906)
By Dr. Dipa Sarkar
Vigo County Historical Society
This little treasure—a miniature model of the Paul Dresser Memorial Park entrance—is carefully and neatly tacked away in the attic at the Historical museum of the Wabash Valley, along with countless other invaluable treasures.
Paul Dresser was born in Terre Haute to Paul and Sara Mary Schneppes Dreiser on April 22, 1858 (as recorded in St. Joseph Church baptism records).
He died in 1906 and was buried in St. Boniface Cemetery, Chicago, by the graves of his parents.
His grave was unmarked 16 years, but now a large boulder with a metal plate marks the resting place of this great songwriter and famous son of the Wabash Valley. His most famous song was “On the Banks of the Wabash,” adopted as the state song by the Indiana Legislature in 1913.
On Sept. 13, 1968, the Terre Haute Tribune-Star wrote, “A historical marker designating the Paul Dresser home as a state shrine and a memorial has been erected by the Indiana State Highway Department at the late composer’s residence in Fairbanks Park here.”
A memorial association was founded in 1913. In November 1922, Theodore Dreiser, Paul Dresser’s famous author-brother, sent the memorial association his recommendation for the design of the monument. He wrote, “I favor a fountain with an urn on top containing Paul’s ashes.”
He also communicated to Governor McCray the family’s wishes that a memorial be erected in Terre Haute and no where else (Lafayette was another choice then). Gov. McCray signed the proclamation on April 24, 1922.
By 1931, the memorial remained a vague idea. The memorial association worked rigorously with an idea of improving the river front and building a Paul Dresser Memorial Park and Drive.
They raised $30,000 to erect the memorial at the west entrance to the city with two huge candle lights and an arch.
On Jan. 29, 1941, the Terre Haute newspaper wrote enthusiastically about the first phases of development and landscaping. The idea of the park appeared to be a very good one. Since it was placed near the school, the Dresser playground was full of children very happy with the supply of equipment provided by the memorial association.
In the summer of 1940, the association turned the responsibility over to the Terre Haute Park System. Later, the park system transferred it to the Church Federation with a 25-year lease for the park.
However, the park never was completely developed with its original plan of the Paul Dresser Drive, a monument, landscaping, and a park with all recreational facilities. Gradually, through lack of care and supervision, the place fell prey to vandalism. It was removed to make way for the approach to the new river bridge.
Whether it was lack of money, interest or local politics, a beautiful dream became only a memory. Only a model of a memorial remains.
My hope is that a traveler coming to Terre Haute will share the poet’s dream, visit his home and ponder “a gleam of candle through the sycamores” and watch the “waters of the Wabash gliding past.”