Coxville was the home of "Doc wheat" whose story is one of the most colorful In the county. Doc graduated from medical school In Cincinnati at the head of his class, even though he finished the course in three years instead of the four that was required at that time. He then returned to his home county to practice his profession. Doc settled first in Mecca, operating a combination pharmacy, dimestore and medical practice. Doc made the children of Mecca penny sodas and gave them "Kiss Me" gum every sunday after church. But he kept a skeleton named John Gilbert that the children were terrified of.
After a few years in Mecca, Doc gave up the dimestore business, moved his office to Coxville and turned more and more to natural medicine, using roots, herbs and figs. He gathered quantities of these materials and what he couldn't find he bought in Terre Haute.
Once, Doc was invited to give a speech before a medical convention in St. Louis. He walked the entire distance, gathering roots and herbs as he went. Doc was a brilliant man and a renowned healer. Some still say he knew the cure for cancer. People would come from as far a way as Chicago to be treated by Doc Wheat.
His standard charge was $1.00 no matter what ailed you. After so many years of practice Doc accumulated a great deal of money. He never drank or gambled and spent only what was necessary to support himself. He never trusted banks and it was a well known fact that money was hidden all over the place. One night, two thugs broke into his office and demanded all his money. Doc refused to give it to them so they tied him up and tortured him, burning his feet with lamps- Soon, the night freight train approached blowing its whistle. Doc told them that the train always stopped (although it never did) and this frightened them away. After his death, cans and jars of money, mostly gold and silver coins, were found everywhere; in the barn, the greenhouse, the cinder pile and buried in the pasture.
Once, after his brother died, the brother's family was left destitute. So the wife and young son sold tickets to Doc's office door to assure everyone their fair place in line. Although the tickets were only 10 cents, the practice was plenty large enough to support the family.
Doc never married but was known to have one romance. In the course of his business he had an occasion to talk repeatedly with one telephone operator. Though they had never met in person, a romance budded. Finally, Doc made a date to meet the young lady.
For the special occasion he bought a fancy buggy. No one really knows exactly what happened on their date but when he got hone he was so disgusted that he dismantled his buggy and stacked it in his office and there it stayed until he died.