WAVERLY I 185
Waverly, too, has its memories of more ambitious and more
prosperous days. When the price of hogs was up, and the corn
crop was bumper, Waverly blossomed, for the farmer could pay
a good price for the comforts of life. Winter days brought the
leading planters around roaring grate tires to talk of making
Waverly a more prosperous place, of building a church, and of
bringing in a big mill. It was during these years that many of
the town's more lasting features were developed. The railroad ·
was woven into the picture of Waverly more than half a century
ago and St. Peter’s Catholic Church has given this picture some
dignity for three decades, while a bank has given it prestige and
more independence.
Although Waverly is not a place of imposing buildings, there
H, are those innumerable touches of personality, both of the past
J and present, that complete the picture by adding variety and .
depth. In the early days there was that-colorful ex-slave, "Old
Dread," who used to plow with a horse and a cow hitched as a
team. The two front rooms of the log house which he built are
still standing and are part of the home now owned by C. J. Cruz.
Today there is that picturesque character E. J. "Uncle Lish"
Hancock who for months went around Waverly, Corydon, Mor- p
ganiield, and vicinity salvaging bottles and tin cans to build his “
odd fairyland house. Uncle Lish, who once started a "tin-can y
house" in Desert Center, California, made his rounds in his pic-
turesque rig of a four-wheeled pony cart pulled by either one or
all of his three goats, Jiggs, Maggie, and Rose.
The Waverly community is the birthplace of Charles J. O’Mal-
ley and Ormsby McKnight Mitchel (see Biographical Sketches),
and for many years it was the home of Drs. Henry Frank Rhea
and Herman Rhea, Jr.
Dr. Frank Rhea was a provincial poet whose efforts, marred
by literary affectations, frequently appeared in newspapers in  
this section of the State. His brother, Dr. Herman Rhea, Jr., who
iirst practiced in Waverly after receiving his medical degree,
distinguished himself in his profession and later moved to
Louisville. ,
`Waverly was founded about three-quarters of a century ago
oh part of what was known as the "Big Spring Tract" which
extended along Casey Creek and from the creek to Smith Hill.
The "Big Spring" for which this tract was named was the prin-
v  cipal source of water for many of the farms before wells were