Terre Haute Postcards - Birthplace of Paul Dresser
More postcards from my collection...
Birthplace of Paul Dresser
This unused postcard has the following printed text...
Birthplace of Paul Dresser 1859 - 1906 Terre Haute, Indiana
Composer of "On the Banks of the Wabash" State song of Indiana 1913
Color photo by Brock
Pub. for Wabash Valley News Agency, Inc., Terre Haute, Ind.
Curteichcolor 3-D Natural color Reproduction (Reg. U.S.A. Pat. Off.)
8DK-1149 [1968]
Birthplace of Paul Dresser
This unused postcard has the following printed text...
116741
K
Color Photo by: Mitchell
Pub. by Floyd Mitchell, Bridgeton, Ind. 47836
Birthplace Paul Dresser (1859 - 1906) - composer of On The Banks Of The Wabash, Indiana's State Song...1963 moved from 318 So. 2nd. to Fairbanks Park, 1st and Farring, on Dresser Drive. Open April through October, 2 to 4 p.m.Wed. & Sun. Groups by appointment.
Birthplace of Paul Dresser
This unused postcard has the following printed text...
CP3630
Printed in U.S.A.
0107199
Penrod / Hiawatha Co. Berrien Center, Michigan, 49102 Phone 616-461-6993
Photo by John Penrod
P-6104
Terre Haute, Indiana
Birthplace Paul Dresser
(1859 - 1906)
Composer of Indiana's State Song "On The Banks
Of The Wabash" and other songs popular in the
Gay Nineties. His famous brother, Theodore
Dresser, wrote "An American Tragedy" and other
novels.
Birthplace of Paul Dresser
This unused postcard has the following printed text...
16014-C
Made by Dexter Press, Inc.
West Nyack, New York
Pub. by Vigo County Historical Society, Inc.,
1411 South 6th St., Terre Haute, Ind.
Birthplace Paul Dresser (1859 - 1906) composer
of On The Banks Of The Wabash, Indiana's
State Song... 1963 moved from 318 So. 2nd to
Fairbanks Park, 1st & Farrington, on Dresser Drive,
Terre Haute, Ind. Open April through October,
Wed. & sun. 2 p.m. until 4 p.m. Groups by
appointment.
Birthplace of Paul Dresser
This used, linen-faced postcard, stamped in Terre Haute on 11th October 1946, has the following printed text...
Birthplace of Paul Dresser,
Author and Composer of Indiana's Official State Song,
"On the Banks of the Wabash"
Terre Haute, Ind.
OB-H1088 [1940]
Wabash Valley News Agency,
Inc., Terre Haute, Ind.
Genuine Curteich-Chicago "C.T. Art-Colortone" Postcard (Reg & U.S. Pat. Off.)
Home of Paul Dresser
This unused postcard has the following printed text...
"On The Banks of the Wabash, Far Away
Home of Paul Dresser
E. N.
From the painting by Elizabeth Newell
Paul Dresser - On the Banks of the Wabash at the Country Club, Terre Haute
This postcard, posted in Terre Haute on May 30th, 1934, has just the printed text 4492
Paul Dresser was born Johann Paul Dreiser to John and Sarah Dreiser at 318 South Second Street in Terre Haute on April 22, 1857, 1858 or 1859. Wikipedia says 1857, Indiana Historical Society says 1858 and Vigo County Historical Society says 1859. Running away from home at age 16 he later became a famous songwriter and was one of the most popular of the 1890's. He wrote "My Gal Sal" and "On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away" which on March 14, 1913 became Indiana's state song. Despite his fame he was not very careful with his money and died a poor man at his sister's home in Brooklyn, N.Y. on January 6, (or the 30th ,again according to the source) 1906. His younger brother, Theodore Dreiser, became famous as an author.
The single story house, seen in the fourth, probably romanticized, postcard view was constructed in 1850 and purchased by the Dreisers in 1859. The original brick structure consisted of a living room, bedroom, and lean-to kitchen. Paul's father added a front porch and second story to the house. Access to the upper story is an outside stairway, an arrangement typical of houses of the era. The house is significant as the Dresser birthplace, but also as an example of how 90 percent of Hoosiers lived in the pre-Civil War period of the 1850's. In 1963, the house was moved to Dresser Drive in Fairbanks Park and now stands as depicted in the first postcard.. In 1967, the Indiana General Assembly designated the home a State Shrine and Memorial, and the National Music Council listed it as "A Landmark of American Music". The home is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
"On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away"
Round my Indiana homestead wave the cornfields,
In the distance loom the woodlands clear and cool.
Oftentimes my thoughts revert to scenes of childhood,
Where I first received my lessons, nature's school.
But one thing there is missing in the picture,
Without her face it seems so incomplete.
I long to see my mother in the doorway,
As she stood there years ago, her boy to greet!
Chorus
Oh, the moonlight's fair tonight along the Wabash,
From the fields there comes the breath of new mown hay.
Thro' the sycamores the candle lights are gleaming,
On the banks of the Wabash, far away.
Many years have passed since I strolled by the river,
Arm in arm with sweetheart Mary by my side.
It was there I tried to tell her that I loved her,
It was there I begged of her to be my bride.
Long years have passed since I strolled thro' the churchyard,
She's sleeping there my angel Mary, dear.
I loved her but she thought I didn't mean it,
Still I'd give my future were she only here.
This page created 26th January 2008, last modified 3rd January, 2010
