No history of French Lick would be complete without a discussion of Ed Ballard, the town's most famous entrepreneur.

Charles Edward Ballard was born in Hillham, Indiana on June 28, 1874. Born of hardworking people, Ed dropped out of school after the fourth grade to earn money to help support the family. Ed's first job was that of pinsetter at the West Baden Springs Hotel bowling alley. His Mother, Mary Elizabeth had a business doing laundry for area hotel guests. Ed also helped deliver laundry . At age 16 Ed was a rural mail carrier on horseback. He would ride to Orleans to pick up mail and return to West Baden to deliver the mail to the rural farms of the area. By 1893, convinced that there was no future in the mail, Ed took a position as a bartender in Paoli at a bar which featured a continuous poker game in the back room. Soon, Ed owned the bar.

A short time later, Ed took a job at the Dead Rat Saloon located in West Baden on the corner of what was to become the Homestead. Upstairs from the saloon was a poker parlor. Ed seemed to have a propensity for life as a saloon owner and was soon the proud owner of the Dead Rat.

One day in 1895, Colonel Sinclair, who owned the West Baden Hotel at the time, ran out of ice and knowing that young Ed Ballard maintained an icehouse at the saloon, asked to purchase ice. Ed was genuinely happy to assist the Colonel and offered "anything Colonel Sinclair needed." Sinclair was struck by the generosity of the young saloonkeeper and soon asked Ed to move across the street to become the Manager of the West Baden Casino.

By the turn of the century, at age 26, Ed Ballard owned an impressive amount of real estate and farmland around the Valley. After fire destroyed the West Baden Hotel, Thomas Taggart recruited Ed to set up the casino located on the second floor of the Hotel Clifton. Al Brown operated the casino across the street. When disgruntled Brown left the casino in 1908, Taggart placed Ed Ballard in charge of the entire casino operation.

Ed had a genuine knack for making money in a club setting, although he did not allow locals to gamble in his clubs due to his concern that they might be hurt by losses they could not afford. His club offered roulette, baccarat, chemin de fur, birdcage, and slot machines. There were two main seasons April through June and September through November. During the off-season, Ed traveled to other properties he owned in Hot Springs, Miami, and Havana.

On June 15, 1913 Ed married his beloved Dolly. He built his new bride a mansion he named Beechwood. Finished in 1916, it was a splendid and stately home with many wonderful features such as imported european marble floors and huge columns at the main entrance. On March 21, 1914, Edward Charles "Chad" Ballard was born. On April 18, 1916, Mary Elizabeth was born, bearing the name of Ed's mother. Beechwood was a beautiful and happy home.

Ed had a passion for books. An avid reader, history buff, and lover of trivial facts, he built a large library in their home. He was also a sportsman and owned some of the world's finest saddle bred horses. His horses were kept on a 1,100-acre farm 8 miles west of West Baden. The Ballards lived an active social life, full of friends, family, beloved pets, and dinner parties. The Ballard yard was always full of neighborhood children and no matter who came to dinner; Chad and Mary always ate at the table with the adults.

In 1913, Ed invested in the Hagenbeck and Wallace Circus. Lost River Investments, a holding company for all the Ballard properties was created in 1915. He built winter quarters for his circus on 100 acres in West Baden. The circus included 12 elephants, 53 train cars, and several animal barns. The circus wintered there for nine years.

On June 22, 1918, as the circus traveled across the country, there was a terrible train accident that killed 86 people and countless animals. Ed was devastated by the loss of life and took care of all the expenses of every family who lost a loved one in the crash. Total claims from the wreck mounted to over $300,000. After some time, the show went on and continued to build its national acclaim. Stars such as the Flying Wards, Red Skelton, and Ken Maynard joined the show. The circus went back to West Baden and was sold on December 28, 1918. Later, through his American Circus Corporation (ACC), a holding company for several circuses, Ed Ballard became a giant in the industry, renting out the West Baden winter quarters through 1928. Fire swept the grounds in 1927 but the affected buildings were quickly rebuilt by 1929. ACC then purchased Sparks and Barnes and five circus companies came together as one. Ringling Brothers had 90 railroad cars at that time, while Ed Ballard's American Circus Corporation had 145 cars. Ed then further infuriated Ringling Brothers by signing Tom Mix as the top-billing act. Finally persuaded by a most handsome offer, Ed sold ACC to Ringling Brothers just 6 weeks before the Crash of 1929.

In 1921, at Beechwood, young Chad, running to jump into a cart drawn by one of his prized ponies, became entangled as the cart tipped over. Chad's leg was badly mangled and was rushed to the hospital in Louisville by his mother and one of the family drivers. Bill and Heber Bird, great-uncles of legendary NBA player and coach, and French Lick's favorite son, Larry Bird, drove for the Ballard family for many years. Ed was on the road but got to the hospital as quickly as he could. Both parents were in silent agony as Chad's leg was amputated. Chad was a tough, strapping youngster and was soon spotted driving his bicycle down the hill at full speed just days after he returned home from the hospital. Chad fully recovered but Ed never did.

Ed's hotels, circuses, and gambling clubs continued to grow throughout the 1920s. He owned thousands of acres of real estate and owned hotels and clubs throughout the world. Locally, he owned the mansion, the Brown Club, the winter quarters, many rental properties, the Hoosier Club, the Homestead, and the Roundtop Inn. In Florida, he owned the Palm Island Club in Miami and the Tea House Plantation (which he gave to the American Legion), beachfront property in Manatee County (which he gave to the Daughters of the American Revolution). He also had interests in Havana's Casino Nationalle, a casino in Saratoga Springs, New York, the Kentucky Club in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and the Congress Hotel in Chicago. It is estimated that Ed was worth over $100 million dollars at the height of his career.

Chad and Mary went to school in West Baden, Havana, and Miami Beach. Rumored to have received kidnapping threats, the children studied abroad in Lausanne, Switzerland during the late 1920s. Ed felt extremely fortunate that his success allowed him to expose the children to travel and study abroad. On their cruise ship adventures in the mid-1920s, they met many interesting and famous people. Ed even dabbled in Broadway productions and the family purchased an apartment in New York. He backed a play called "New Faces" starring a little known actor named Henry Fonda. Also in the play was veteran actor Herbert Marshall who had an artificial leg. Marshall shared with Ed the name of a company in England where they custom made artificial limbs. Ed was excited by the possibility of making Chad's life a little easier so they quickly set off for England.

Lillian Sinclair and her MOther became the owner of West Baden Springs Hotel when Colonel Sinclair died in 1916. Married to Charles Rexford who managed the hotel, Lillian was outraged to learn that her husband had borrowed over $500,000 from Ed Ballard for renovation costs. Strapped with ever-mounting bills, Lillian leased the hotel to the U.S. Government during World War I and the Army Hospital #35 was established. It operated until 1919. Estranged from her husband over money and the mishandling of the hotel, Lillian fell in love with a soldier and ended her marriage to Charles Rexford. Lillian approached Ed about purchasing West Baden, which had been a dream of his for many years. Lillian offered shares in the hotel as a means to pay off the debt she owed him. Ed made a counter offer, suggesting that he forgive her debt of $500,000 and gave her another $500,000 in order to become the sole owner of the West Baden Springs Hotel. The new Mrs. Cooper gladly accepted the offer and Ed became the sole owner of the West Baden Hotel in 1922.

The stock market crash of 1929 greatly impacted the business at the West Baden Hotel. The once seemingly endless stream of affluent visitors now trickled to a halt. In the fall of 1931 Ed found himself in the great domed hotel with not one single guest. Having made his fortune from keen business instincts, Ed knew that the hotel should close. On July 1, 1932 the hotel closed its doors. This was particularly hard for Ed since the hospital, located on the second floor would no longer operate. Ed had vowed to bring a hospital to the Valley after Chad's accident.

After some negotiation and a reported exchange of one dollar, the Jesuits took over the hotel on Ed's birthday, June 28, 1934. The Jesuits wanted to name their new college, Ballard College but Ed requested the name of West Baden College. Ed was a great man who was unchanged by his success and shared his wealth with people in need, often anonymously. After the sale of West Baden, Ed began to sell off many of his holdings in order to simplify his life and spend more time with his wife and children.

On November 6, 1936, Ed and Dolly stopped in New York to see the children. Mary Elizabeth was showing her five-gated mare, Belle la Rose, at the championship show at Madison Square Gardens. Chad was also in town attending the show. Ed, Dolly, and close friend George Ryan, who purchased the Kentucky Club from Ed, met a former associate in the lobby of their hotel. The Ballards and Ryan invited the associate, Silver Bob Alexander up for a nightcap. Dolly went into the washroom and left the gentlemen to their business discussions. Alexander became argumentative regarding an old business deal where he felt he should have been compensated after the sale of one of Ed's clubs, where Alexander was a manager, not a partner. Ed explained that he was paid a managers salary and was in no way entitled to payment from the sale of the club. Angered by Ed's explanation, Silver Bob took out a pistol and shot Ed. Dolly ran into the room to find her husband dying on the floor. George Ryan pulled the gun away and shot Silver Bob to death, although the official ruling was that Silver Bob shot Ed and then turned the gun on himself. Dolly got Ed to the hospital and the children quickly joined her but Ed Ballard was gone.

Ed's casket lied in the center of the atrium of the West Baden College for several days. His many friends, the community, and the entire nation mourned the passing of Charles Edward Ballard. He was finally laid to rest in the cemetery at Ames Chapel near his farm in West Baden.