BOUTIQUE
Open Daily at 11 a. m. at Abe’ s Corner
Large Selections of Women’ s and Children’ s Clothing Handmade Purses
58 E. Main St.( next to courthouse) and 60 N. Van Buren St.( Colonial bldg.) Nashville, IN
Abe’ s Corner
2 Locations
Open Daily 9:00 – 7:00
HIDDEN GETAWAY
Apartment for Daily Rental
Inquire inside boutique
$ 90 on the weekdays $ 100 on the weekends
812-720-7071
Open Year-Round for Lunch & Dinner Fresh made to order starters, salads, sandwiches and house specialties
Brown County’ s only“ Husband Day Care” Guinness on tap • Full bar • Specialty drinks • Bloody Mary • Islander • Margarita Full menu available in Bar • Large TV
Out of the Ordinary Restaurant & Hickory Sports Bar
61 South Van Buren St. • Nashville, IN Across the street from the Brown County Playhouse
( 812) 200-1999 • OutOfTheOrdinaryRestaurant
TRAMP STARR continued from 49
For 25 years Wilson was a regular in the Indianapolis Star, Sunday edition, and changed the title of his column to“ Jokes and Jingles From Curly Shingles Farm, Moores Hill, Indiana.” Along with his published columns and poetry, he also received fees for speaking engagements at conferences, seminars, commencements, and meetings around the state.
In the early 1940s, Wilson and his wife moved to Brown County, buying the former home of Ival McDonald located just west of Nashville, calling it“ Curly Shingles, Jr.” They purchased Dinty Moore’ s Restaurant in the former Charlie Genolin house. Local legend persisted it was won in a card game, but in actuality, the details of a sale were negotiated during a game. They renamed and ran it as the Old Hickory Restaurant and Bar.
Wilson continued writing until his death just three years later, falling to a massive heart attack at the Old Hickory in 1946.
He was buried in Greenlawn Cemetery in Nashville. The granite memorial records both his pen name, Tramp Starr, and his given name, William Carl Wilson.
Marjorie moved to a house next door to the Old Hickory and continued as proprietor and operator for more than 30 years. Old Hickory Restaurant and Bar was in the building where Out of the Ordinary is now on Van Buren Street, and was a restaurant of Andy Rogers known as the Ordinary before that.
William Carl Wilson’ s collection of original poetry and column manuscripts— composed by Wilson on a manual typewriter and with his own handwritten edits— plus correspondence, clippings, scrapbooks, and other materials, are preserved at the Lilly Library in Bloomington. The caned chair, where he sat at his writing table, is on display at the Brown County History Center in Nashville. Thanks to the generosity of his family, these cultural and literary treasures are preserved. Two grandsons, Michael Kummerer and Tom Birdsong, and their families, continue to call Brown County home. •
50 Our Brown County • Nov./ Dec. 2024