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The birthplace of Hoosier author Maurice Thompson is a lesson in domestic simplicity.
This one-room dwelling stood in Fairfield, Indiana near Cincinnati when Thompson was born
in 1844. Thompson’s father was the minister for the Fairfield Primitive Baptist
Church and this was the home provided for the minister. It stood behind the church. It was really a good house for its day---sort of a 19th century efficiency apartment. It was made with frame construction instead of logs. And, instead of a drafty fireplace, it had the ultramodern cast iron stove for cooking and heating. Among the period furnishings are a bed with feather mattress held up with ropes. Below the bed is a trundle bed for the children. On the wall is a ladder leading to the guest accommodations---straw ticking in the loft. Nails also surround the room so that furniture could be placed out of the way when not in use. Thompson was the author of the best-selling romance novel of 1900, Alice of Old Vincennes. Set in Vincennes at the time of the American Revolution, the novel tells the story of Alice, a spunky French orphan girl who falls in love with one of George Rogers Clark’s men. The novel created a sensation when it was published. There was also a hit Broadway play which toured the nation. At one time there were two different places claiming to be the site of her home, even though she was a fictional character. There was an Alice Hotel, an Alice Park, an Alice movie theater, an Alice Restaurant and an Alice Soda Shop. Finally, the Lincoln High School basketball team was named the Vincennes Alices, a name which they still proudly bear. |
