Smokehouses (Following Paul Hadley's Footsteps)

Another Paul Hadley watercolor painting on display at Mooresville (Indiana) Public Library is "Smokehouse."  (Click here to learn more about Mooresville's favorite son.)

Click images to enlarge

Where was this smokehouse?  There must have been a gazillion smokehouses scattered around Mooresville and vicinity during Hadley's lifetime, and this one was no exception.  He probably painted it during the 1920's, and it likely appeared at his 1924 or 1931 exhibitions at Herron Art Institute in Indianapolis, where Hadley taught art during this period.

We've reviewed dozens of old local photographs, taken by longtime residents and professional photographers J. P. Calvert (1842-1917) and Manley Brown (1894-1968) (among other photographers), but we didn't see any smokehouses resembling Hadley's painting.

Jarvis P. Calvert (1842-1917)

Methodist Episcopal (M.E.) Church, Mooresville (1914)
(photo by J. P. Calvert)

Both Brown and Calvert climbed atop the Methodist Episcopal (M.E.) Church steeple (at the corner of South Indiana and East Harrison Streets in downtown Mooresville) to take panoramic photos of the town as it looked during the late 1880's-early 1890's and circa 1910 (Calvert) and in 1920 (Brown). That is WAAAAAAY up in the air--much too high for me.  Here's what they saw.

 J. P. Calvert's photo atop the M.E. Church steeple
looking southeast (late 1880's-early 1890's)

J. P. Calvert's photo atop the M.E. Church steeple
looking northeast (late 1880's-early 1890's)

J. P. Calvert's photo atop the M.E. Church steeple
looking northwest (late 1880's-early 1890's)


J. P. Calvert's photo atop the M.E. Church steeple
looking west (along West Harrison Street) (ca. 1910);
 MPL now stands at the end of the street on the right

 Manly Brown looking west along West Harrison Street
atop the M.E. Church steeple (1920)

 Manly Brown looking southeast along East Harrison Street
atop the M.E. Church steeple (1920)

Manly Brown looking north along South Indiana Street
toward the center of downtown Mooresville
atop the M.E. Church steeple (1920)

 Manly Brown looking south along South Indiana Street
atop the M.E. Church steeple (1920);
The Village Shopping Center now stands in the
open fields beyond the trees (upper right)

There were several small structures that resembled smokehouses (and, for that matter, outhouses, or privies) in these photos, but I saw nothing that looked like Paul Hadley's painting.  Maybe we should try our sense of smell.  Good way to differentiate smokehouses from outhouses.  Sadly, you can't smell what appears in old photos.  (The pictures themselves don't smell so great, either.)

Some of my younger readers may not know what use was made of smokehouses. Through the 1930's (and even later), there were in-town residents who, like their country cousins, raised livestock. Many had barns and outbuildings in their backyards to house these animals.  Pork was cured (preserved) by smoke in smokehouses.

So, as far as Hadley's "Smokehouse" painting hanging at the Library, we have absolutely no idea where it was located.  But wait!  Hadley painted other smokehouses, and we know where they were.  Does that count?

"Full Bloom," by Paul Hadley (1942)
(Click image to enlarge)

[Excerpted from Hardin, Becky, The Indiana State Flag: Its Designer (Biography of Paul Hadley with Anthology of his Paintings), p. 28 (1976).  Click here to find links to read a digital copy of this fine biography.]

In 1942, Omri Schooley lived in the smokehouse at 154 West Harrison Street. That's less than a block east of the Library.  Let's take a quick hike down the street and see how things look there now.

154 West Harrison Street Today

The smokehouse was at the back of the property.  In Hadley's "Full Bloom" painting, you can see the fence row and an outbuilding to the left.  You can see those today in the photo below.

The smokehouse in "Full Bloom" was situated

at the closer fence corner (in front of the white

object and automobile).  The wooden outbuilding

on the left (in the painting) is where the

tan, concrete block structure now stands

 

 

Another Hadley painting captured a white smokehouse at the Samuel Moore Rooker house, constructed in 1877 and located at 30 West Harrison Street. Rooker was the first European-descended child born in Mooresville after the town was founded, so he was named after the founder, Samuel Moore.  Rooker's granddaughter, Helen (York) Cook, and her husband, Claire Cook, lived there for decades.  

Newspaper Article About the Cook/Rooker Home

by Becky Hardin, Morgan County Historian

[Hardin, Becky, ed.  Morgan County Scrapbook, Volume I (1985).
Mooresville: Dickinson Publishing Co., p. 285.]

(Click images to enlarge)

Cook/Rooker House (2009)

The smokehouse was located behind the home, as you can just barely see in the digital scan below.  The original image of this painting (used in Hardin's book) was very faint.

 

"White Smokehouse," by Paul Hadley

and smokehouse shown attached to the

Rooker/Cook residence (1976)

[Excerpted from Hardin, Becky, The Indiana State Flag: Its Designer
(Biography of Paul Hadley with Anthology of his Paintings), p. 30 (1976).

Let's see what the smokehouse attachment looks like today, shall we?

 

Rooker/Cook smokehouse was located

inside the now-screened-in porch area

on the back of the house

Paul Hadley must have been fascinated with smokehouses as watercolor subjects--or perhaps they were plentiful within comfortable walking distance.  Hadley didn't drive motor vehicles, so he either had to walk around town to paint subjects or have his friends drive him to suitable landscape painting destinations.

 

Furor Over Proposed Library Site (Spring 1913)

We continue sauntering along memory lane with more historical tidbits from a century ago, when the Mooresville Public Library was first established.

Between January and May, 1912, citizens of the Town of Mooresville, Indiana signed petitions to construct a new library building and authorizing tax levies by which to subsidize the project.  The Mooresville Town Board adopted a resolution in May, 1912 to levy a library construction tax.  At this time, the first Library Board of Trustees was also created.

Further financial developments swiftly followed.  In June, 1912, residents of Brown Township, Morgan County were invited to support the Mooresville Library (in exchange for use privileges).  In July, 1912, a $10,000 grant application was made to the Andrew Carnegie Foundation to fund building construction.  It was this grant that ultimately paid for the town's new library.

Before foundations could be laid, however, there was the important question of where the library should be situated.  Between February and April, 1913, there were public discussions on this issue, and the Town Board initially proposed to purchase the land on the east end of West Washington Street, upon which the former Methodist Episcopal (M.E.) Church had been located.  Perhaps you know the place.

Painting of the old Methodist Episcopal (M.E.) Church

(1839-1882)

West Washington Street, Mooresville, IN
(Click Pictures to Enlarge)

Photo of old M.E. Church

(From p. 28 of A Brief History of Mooresville and Vicinity,

by Almira Harvey Hadley [1918])

2007 photo of the former old M.E. Church site

When this location was initially proposed for the new library, a public furor promptly erupted.  This, presumably, was unanticipated by the Town Board, as they apparently felt that this was a "done deal."  Not so, said a critically vocal public.  Why all the fuss?  The site was well-wooded with trees that were nearly as old as the town itself (founded in 1824).  What was not to like?

Old Cemetery (active 1829-1889)

located behind the former old M.E. Church site

Behind the old M.E. Church was the old town cemetery, which was active between 1829 and 1889.  The town founder, Samuel Moore, was the last person buried there.  Proponents of the lot as a library site suggested that the building could sit approximately where the old church had been.  The immediate neighbors in the back yard were quiet, in any event, which would be ideal for a library atmosphere.  (I'm not joking; this was quite seriously offered as a justification.)

Few public proposals have sparked such vehement controversy in Mooresville.  The masses arose, if not with pitchforks and torches, then certainly in elevated voices of protest.  "Nobody wants a library next to a cemetery," one prominent townsperson declared at a public meeting.  "An air of gloom would descend upon the structure," another citizen stated, "which would both depress and discourage [the library's] use."  While everyone respected the deceased buried in Old Cemetery, few wanted a library immediately adjacent to their last resting places.

During March-April, 1913, the Town Board scrambled to secure a more suitable library location.  No public revenues were used to purchase land for the library.  All monies were privately donated.  Thanks to a significant donation from Arthur Newby (of Indianapolis 500 Brickyard fame) and Judge Smith MacPherson, as well as contributions from the general public, a lot was purchased at 30 West Main Street, directly across from the McCracken House, which was a popular inn and restaurant that drew customers from across central Indiana via the Interurban railway.

McCracken House (1912) on West Main Street, Mooresville, IN

Directly across from the new library site (1913)

The Library's postal address was subsequently renumbered as 32 West Main Street, when the local post office updated its delivery addresses to reflect later changes in the use of various properties in the downtown Mooresville area.

Having secured the land for the new library, there remained the question of providing citizens with temporary library services.  In March, 1913, a temporary reading room was established on the second floor of the I.O.O.F. Building, which was located on the northeast corner of the intersection of Main and Indiana Streets in downtown Mooresville.

I.O.O.F. Building, downtown Mooresville, IN (ca. 1885)

The townsfolk were quite pleased with the new library lot at 30 West Main Street.  But actual construction was yet to come.  Actually, the town needed first to hire an architect and general contractor.  But none of this could proceed without money, and, for that, the citizens of Mooresville had to await the decision of the Andrew Carnegie Foundation.

Burial Map to Mooresville's Old M.E. Cemetery

Thanks to Mooresville sexton Ed Bucker, the Indiana Room at Mooresville (Indiana) Public Library has a burial map for the Old Methodist Episcopal (M.E.) Cemetery on West Washington Street. A spreadsheet accompanying the map lists burial plots of many of the town's earliest pioneers and settlers.  (Click the photos below to enlarge.)

Old Methodist Episcopal (M.E.) Cemetery,

also known as Old Mooresville Cemetery,

on West Washington Street 

Old M.E. Cemetery was established in 1829

Painting of the first Mooresville M.E. Church (built in 1839)

(on West Washington Street, in front of the cemetery)

Photograph of the first Mooresville M.E. Church

(from Hadley, Almira Harvey.  A Brief History of Mooresville and Vicinity [1918])

(Click here to see a digital copy of the entire book)

The photos below show where to find the cemetery burial map.  To the left of the map (in a yellow binder) is the spreadsheet listing the names of those buried there, as noted on the map.

Although these materials do not circulate, they may be examined in the library's Indiana Room.

There are several online resources available to search burial records of the Old M.E. Cemetery.  These include:

• The Morgan County History & Genealogy Association website; and
• The Find-a-Grave website.

The MCH&GA website also lists other Morgan County cemetery burial records, among other historical and genealogical information.

Besides the Bucker burial map mentioned above, the MPL Indiana Room has several print materials that list burials in Old M.E. Cemetery.  These include:

• Cemetery records compiled by the Mooresville, Indiana White Lick Chapter of the D.A.R. (Mrs. Olin D. Keith and Mr. and Mrs. Carl C. Cowen, compilers) (click here for a library catalog entry--library call number I REF 929.5 DAR).  Other Morgan County cemetery records may be found in these reference books and related materials, all under the library call number I REF 929.5;
• Local History vertical files (under specific cemetery names).  These files are kept in locked drawers in the MPL Indiana Room.  Please ask library staff for assistance.

A digitized library handout provides these details about the Old M.E. Cemetery:

• "Samuel and Eliza Moore donated the land on West Washington Street for use as a cemetery, now known as 'Old Cemetery,' and to serve as the site of the first M.E. Church (built in 1839). Martha J. Worthington, Eliza Moore’s first cousin, became the first person buried in Old Cemetery in Mooresville. She died at age 21 on May 15, 1829."

The source for the above-quoted paragraph was page 76 of A Brief History of Mooresville, Indiana, 1824-1974, by Clara S. Richardson (1974).  Read a digitized copy of the entire book here.  The relevant page is reprinted below (click image to enlarge).

Page 76 of Clara Richardson's book

Besides these materials, there are some other online discussions about the Old M.E. Cemetery, both from this blog (click here and here and here) and the library's digitized handouts (click here).

Visit the MPL Indiana Room for more local history resources, or click here to find a quick summary of online links available.  The MPL website also has a variety of web pages devoted to local history.

11 West Main Street & Old M.E. Church

Pace Thompson’s dry goods store as it looked during the early 1900s

(Photograph by J. P. Calvert)

(click images to enlarge)

Read about Pace Thompson's businesses at 11 West Main Street, as well as the old Methodist Episcopal (M.E.) Church on West Washington Street, at the site of the Old M.E. Cemetery (est. 1829), in our online handout.

Pace Thompson's house at 40 East Main Street in Mooresville

(Above:  after renovation; below:  before renovation)

(Photographs by J. P. Calvert)

Methodist Episcopal (M.E.) Church (1914)

on the northeast corner of Indiana & Harrison Streets

in Mooresville

(Photograph by J. P. Calvert)

Methodist Episcopal (M.E.) Church of Mooresville, IN: History

We have created two videos about the history of the Methodist Episcopal (M.E.) Church in Mooresville, Indiana.

Mooresville, Indiana Local History Links

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VINTAGE MHS YEARBOOKS (DIGITAL PHOTOS)

To see digitized MHS yearbooks from 1946-2017, please visit the Mooresville Public Library website.

Click the links below to see digitized vintage Mooresville High School (MHS) yearbooks, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons:

• 1909 Senior Annual
• 1911 ‘Levenite
• 1914 The Argos
• 1917 The ’17 Packet
• 1920 The Cauldron
• 1923 White Lick Review
• 1925 White Lick Review
• 1930 Arch Wisdom

The Wikimedia scans are of the images that appear in the yearbooks, with original text from the yearbooks extracted from the original scans and typed out (like ordinary text) for easier reading.

These yearbooks were also digitally scanned (showing the entire pages as they originally appeared in print) and stored on the Mooresville High School Alumni Association Facebook page, but access might be restricted to their authorized FB group members.  You can check those links, too, to see if you can access them (click below):

• 1909 Senior Annual
• 1911 'Levenite
• 1914 The Argos
• 1917 The '17 Packet
• 1920 The Cauldron
• 1923 White Lick Review
• 1925 White Lick Review
• 1930 Arch Wisdom

MEMORIES OF MOORESVILLE (VIDEO)

The Mooresville High School Alumni Association has uploaded the complete video, Memories of Mooresville (2011), to YouTube.  Click the player (below) to watch the entire video, or visit Mooresville Public Library to checkout a physical copy on DVD (learn more from this blog post).

Memories of Mooresville (2011)

by Andrew Marine Video Productions

(courtesy of the Mooresville Alumni YouTube channel)

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TAKE THE DOWNTOWN TOUR

Take our "virtual" walking tour (click link below) of historic downtown Mooresville, Indiana.  Then, using this handout, walk the self-guided route yourself.

• "Virtual" Walking Tour of Historic Downtown Mooresville, Indiana
• "Virtual" Walking Tour (Video)
  
• Self-Guided Walking Tour of Historic Downtown Mooresville, Indiana
• Handout
  

 

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FAMOUS MOORESVILLIANS

Do you recognize these famous folks who hailed from Mooresville, Indiana? Find out here.

 

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Flash From Your Past (Historical Flashcard Series)

FLASH FROM YOUR PAST

Here's a "flash from your past," if you're a long-time Mooresville resident.  We present our local history flashcard series, featuring old photographs in and around Mooresville and northern Morgan County, Indiana.  Just click the links below to see each flashcard.

• Flashcard #1:  Farmers State Bank
• Flashcard #2:  Mooresville's First Police Car
• Flashcard #3:  Day Grocery
• Flashcard #4:  Covered Bridge on the Old Waverly Road
• Flashcard #5:  Mooresville Sanatarium (i.e., Sanitarium)
• Flashcard #6:  Sam Wade
• Flashcard #7:  Dr. William L. Thompson, M.D. (see this blog post for the flashcard)
• Flashcard #8:  Banner Flour Mill
• Flashcard #9:  Bolton Sorghum Factory
• Flashcard #10:  Comer & Scearce Lumber Company
• Flashcard #11:  Indiana Brass & Iron Bed Factory
• Flashcard #12:  McCracken House (Restaurant & Hotel)
• Flashcard #13:  Allison Grocery
• Flashcard #14:  Northside of West Main Street (1960s)
• Flashcard #15:  Pure Oil Gasoline Station
• Flashcard #16:  Henry Conduitt House (later Comer Sanitarium & Kendrick Hospital)
• Flashcard #17:  Burch Grocery
• Flashcard #18:  Scruggs Dry Goods Store
• Flashcard #19:  Methodist Episcopal (M.E.) Church
• Flashcard #20:  Mooresville Public Library
• Flashcard #21:  Samuel Moore & Eliza Moore
• Flashcard #22A:  "Old" Town Park
• Flashcard #22:  Old Settlers Picnic #1:  Origins
• Flashcard #23:  Old Settlers Picnic #2 (Rocking Chair Competition)
• Flashcard #24:  Old Settlers Picnic #3:  Parade
• Flashcard #25:  Indiana State Flag (& Paul Hadley)
• Flashcard #26:  Amos Rusie, "the Hoosier Thunderbolt" (all-star professional baseball pitcher)
• Flashcard #27:  Mooresville Town Banner (Flag)
• Flashcard #28:  Mooresville Academy School
• Flashcard #29:  Old Mooresville High School
• Flashcard #30:  I.O.O.F. (Odd Fellows) Building
• Flashcard #31:  First Christian Church
• Flashcard #32:  Fall Creek Furniture Company
• Flashcard #33:  Mooresville Friends Church
• Waverly Flashcard #1:  Waverly School #1
• Waverly Flashcard #2:  Waverly School #2

Mooresville's Honolulu Connection

The Oahu Publishing Company of 2108 Payne Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, offered music lessons and sold guitars between 1926 and 1985. Oahu's Honolulu Conservatory of Music (HCM) was franchised to provide music lessons in many cities and towns across the U.S., including Mooresville, Indiana.

HCM-Mooresville Studio (1939)

(click images to enlarge)

 

Here's a May 21, 1939 photo of the Mooresville Studio of the HCM. Unfortunately, none of the persons in this picture were identified. The photo was taken on the stage in the old Methodist Episcopal (M.E.) Church (later called First United Methodist Church) (1882-1995), which was located on the northeast corner of Indiana and Harrison Streets in downtown Mooresville (the building is now part of the Mooresville Government Center). The American flag was typically displayed above HCM students, as shown in this photo as well as in photos from various franchise studios (e.g., Tacoma, Washington's HCM studio, courtesy of the Tacoma Public Library).

Below are images of the:

• Honolulu Conservatory of Music logo (1940s). 
• Oahu piano & accordion course book (1950). 
• Oahu guitar brand (1930s). 
  

 

The history of Oahu Publishing was told in the book, Hawaiian Steel Guitar & Its Great Hawaiian Musicians (1996), by Ruymar, Lorene, & Boyd, Joe (Anaheim, CA: Centerstream Publications).

If you'd like a handout of this blog post, click here.