In the Painter's Shoes (Paul Hadley Paintings), Part Three

Since Paul Hadley did not drive motor vehicles, he often roamed Mooresville and the surrounding countryside on foot in search of landscapes to paint. Consequently, many of his best subjects were drawn within the vicinity of the three Mooresville homes in which he lived for much of his life.

Warren Z. Ayers house (built in 1890)

35 East South Street, Mooresville, Indiana

Residence of Paul Hadley (until 1950)
(2009 photo)

(Click images to enlarge)

Paul Hadley's mother, Ella Hadley, bought the Ayres house in 1907, with title passing to Paul in 1930.  This was where Paul lived when he designed the Indiana State Flag in 1916. Paul used a second floor bedroom as his painting studio, which had both north and south windows. Paul and his brother Evan lived there until 1950, when he sold the property to Mr. and Mrs. Horace Adams.

The Ayers house was not the first Mooresville home for Paul Hadley's family, however.  The first was on West South Street.

Paul Hadley designed this house at the west end

of South Street in Mooresville for his parents

(constructed in 1902-1903)

On October 14, 1902, Dr. Evan and Ella Hadley, Paul's parents, purchased land at the west end of South Street from Robert and Livisa Scott.  Paul designed the house constructed there for his parents.  His father died in 1903.  On March 9, 1907, the property was sold to Theodore and Margaret Romine, whose daughter, Becky Hardin, was Paul Hadley's biographer, as well as the Morgan County Historian for many years.

Paul Hadley, who was architecturally, as well as artistically, educated, apparently was not a huge fan of his house design:

• "Paul Hadley designed his first home in Mooresville which was owned by his parents. He once said he wasn't proud of the house and didn't think it is attractive.  Single dormer windows, a central hall, and full length west porch with white columns may have been inspired by a variety of [architecture types], and could be called a Victorian eclectic design.  Four outside doors, one on each side [of] the house, provided easy exit to a lawn planted with peonies, oriental poppies, iris, and flowering shrubs. [. . .] About 1926 the house was moved north to 320 Lockerbie Street, and the west side was turned east to face the street. The large white columns were replaced with ornamental iron." [Hardin, Becky (1976). The Indiana State Flag, Its Designer (Biography of Paul Hadley with Anthology of his Paintings), p. 7. Mooresville, Indiana : B. Hardin.]

The last house in Mooresville in which Paul Hadley resided was located at 23 East Washington Street, where he and brother Evan lived until 1956.  It was close to the Indianapolis-Vincennes bus line, which Paul rode regularly.

Paul Hadley's last Mooresville home

23 East Washington Street

(1950-1956)

Each of these houses was proximately located to many interesting places that Paul Hadley would immortalize on canvas.  In our last installment, we visited the site of Margaret Colee's home, where Paul painted a watercolor of her pump house. This was roughly ten blocks from his house at 35 East South Street.  About two blocks due south of Colee's residence was another of Hadley's watercolor subjects, the Matthew Comer house, which once stood near the corner of South Madison and East South Streets, across from Old Town Park.  As was typical of Hadley watercolors, there is a delicate simplicity in the portrayal, making an everyday scene vibrant and beautiful.

Tree in Front of Matthew Comer House

by Paul Hadley

Matthew Comer, who owned a saw and planing mill and lumber yard on East High Street, moved to Mooresville with his family in 1865 following his Civil War service.  In 1871 he constructed his home at 218 East South Street (near the corner with Madison Street).  The structure stood for 125 years until it was demolished in 1996.

Matthew Comer house (built 1871)

218 East South Street (along Madison Street)

(Note front porch, which was added sometime after

Paul Hadley painted his watercolor)

Notes on back of undated photo of Matthew Comer house

indicating some of the subsequent ownership

218 East South Street (at Madison Street) as it appeared in 2009

There was some controversy concerning the razing of the Matthew Comer house in 1996, as noted in the local newspaper.

"Comer Home Fate Looks Bleak,"

Mooresville-Decatur Times, October 30, 1996, p. 14B.

Matthew Comer (and subsequently his son, Stewart Comer) operated the saw mill and lumber company for decades by the railroad tracks crossing East High Street at South Madison Street.  The business was diagonal to Margaret Colee's property, which was another of Paul Hadley's painting subjects.  Comer & Scearce later became Haltom-Scearce Lumber Company, which was sold in 1950 and became Newcomer Lumber & Supply Company.

Comer & Scearce Company (1902)

Corner of East High & South Madison Streets

Mooresville, Indiana

Next time, we'll consider the location of another Paul Hadley watercolor on loan to (and on display at) the library.

East Fork of White Lick Creek (Following Paul Hadley's Footsteps)

Another Paul Hadley painting on display at Mooresville (Indiana) Public Library is "East Fork of White Lick [Creek]."

 Click Photos to Enlarge

According to long-time Morgan County Historian Becky Hardin (1908-1995):

• "Mrs. Claude (Mary) Stokesberry's family asked artist Paul Hadley to paint a picture for her birthday present.  At that time she was living in Hadley's former home on Lockerbie Street.  He called one day making an excuse that he wanted to see how they had remodeled the house.  The painting was designed to fit over the fireplace, and is wider than it is high.  Since Mrs. Stokesberry has moved to a retirement home her son John has the painting."  [Hardin, Becky, The Indiana State Flag: Its Designer (Biography of Paul Hadley with Anthology of his Paintings), p. 17 (1976). Click here to read a digital copy of this fine biography.]

John Stokesberry subsequently donated the painting to MPL.

The East Fork of White Lick Creek runs along what was once the eastern edge of Mooresville (when Hadley painted it) and then flows south until eventually merging with the White River near Centerton, Indiana (north of Martinsville, in Morgan County).  It is along the portion of the East Fork just past the intersection of state roads 67 and 144 that presents one likely location at which Hadley painted the Stokesberry gift.

Click the map images to enlarge.

Map Excerpts Courtesy of Google Maps

Note the bend in the creek immediately north of Rooker Park.  That resembles the same perspective in Hadley's painting.  Here's an aerial view:

East Fork of White Lick Creek

Near Rooker Trace

(Early 19th Century Primitive Road)

Southeast of State Roads 67 & 144

I'm not sure if we can reach this point on the creek--it's private property--but I'll check it out, along with MPL's feline roving reporter, Cauli Le Chat.

North end of Rooker Park

(Probable Hadley painting spot is in the woods at the far end) 

Getting close to the creek now--

Hadley may have been standing up ahead

Where Cauli Le Chat would have been,

if Hadley had painted her into the picture

The trees are bigger and more plentiful, and the underbrush is overgrown, but the bend in the creek looks strikingly similar to Hadley's landscape.

Why is this location likely to have been where Hadley painted the creek scene?  It was within easy walking distance--Hadley never drove motor vehicles--and the area was heavily wooded near the creek, then as now. The land east of the creek was farmed in Hadley's day, but it is now residential subdivisions.  Admittedly, Hadley could have painted other bends in the East Fork, but many of these were not sufficiently wooded, even in his time.  Our candidate is as likely a location as any of the other possibilities.  Still, let's consider other options.

The East Fork of White Lick Creek also runs along the eastern edge of Pioneer Park in Mooresville, in a heavily wooded region.  Unfortunately, there aren't any sharp bends in the creek that resemble Hadley's painting.

 East Fork of White Lick Creek

along rear of Pioneer Park

However, if we move downstream toward Bridge Street, then we find an excellent bend that easily could have been Hadley's painting spot.

 East Fork of White Lick Creek

East of Samuel Moore Parkway (Old State Road 67)

and North of Bridge Street

Once again, we have the difficulty of reaching the creek bend on private property.  So these aerial views may be the best we can do.  We couldn't get close to the creek without traipsing through folks' backyards.

 
Paul Hadley was often inspired by Hoosier landscapes and nature, and he captured them beautifully in watercolor.

Simon Moon's Cabin (Following Paul Hadley's Footsteps)

In July and August, 2014 my little band of local history explorers embarked upon another adventure following in the footsteps of Paul Hadley (1880-1971), designer of the Indiana State Flag, artist, teacher, curator, and longtime Mooresville, Indiana resident.  It was really hot, humid, and, periodically, raining.  That slowed us a bit but didn't stop us.

At either Hadley's 1931 or 1924 art exhibitions at Herron Art Institute in Indianapolis, at which he taught during the period, Hadley's watercolor, "Simon Moon's Cabin," was displayed.  It was donated to Mooresville Public Library, where it hangs today in its Paul Hadley gallery.

"Simon Moon's Cabin," by Paul Hadley

(click photos to enlarge)

Here's a clearer image of the painting (borrowed from page 28 of this magazine article: Perry, Rachel Berenson. "Paul Hadley: Artist and Designer of the Indiana Flag." Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History 15(1) [Indiana Historical Society, Winter 2003]), pp. 20-29 (click here to find links to the full article.)

(Image courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society)

Since Hadley did not drive motor vehicles, his friends drove him around to various places where he could paint landscapes and structures.  Carl Harris, whose estate donated this (and another) Hadley painting to MPL, was one of Hadley's neighborly "chauffeurs."

Simon Moon (1786-1879) was a Quaker (Society of Friends) who, during the 1830's, settled land in Morgan County, Indiana (first in Gregg Township, then in Brown Township). He lived near Long Ridge, a few miles southwest of Mooresville.  "Our" Simon Moon (call him the "Bethel" Simon Moon) is often mistaken for a relative, also named Simon Moon (1784-1835), who, on May 6, 1834, founded the town (now city) of Westfield, Indiana (in Hamilton County, north of Indianapolis), along with fellow Friends Asa Bales (Mooresville's first postmaster in 1826) and Ambrose Osborne.  All had relocated to Indiana from North Carolina.  We know that the "Westfield" Simon Moon was married to Hannah (Stout) Moon (1789-1844), and both are buried in the Old Friends Cemetery Park in Westfield, while the "Bethel" Simon Moon and his wife, Lydia Moon, are both buried in the Bethel Friends cemetery (see grave markers below).  This has confused historians for many years, since the "Westfield" Simon Moon had once lived with Asa Bales in Mooresville before moving to Hamilton County.

 

The "Bethel" Simon Moon's fourth great-grandson, Richard L. Moon, has written a short book explaining the differences between him (i.e., the "Bethel" Simon Moon) and the "Westfield" Simon Moon.  Richard's book presents the evidence persuasively and compellingly, showing land ownership, deeds, maps, Friends meeting records, family trees, and other documentation that clearly indicate two separate individuals who happened to share the same name.

Inset showing "S. Moon's" land immediately

west of the Bethel Friends church

(from W.W. Richie's 1875 Map of Morgan County, Indiana)

(courtesy of the Library of Congress)

Simon Moon's cabin sat atop a hill immediately west of the Bethel Friends Meeting, founded in 1842.  The church and cemetery are still located there. Simon Moon, along with his wife, Lydia Harvey Moon (1798-1878), daughter Elmima Moon Lindley (1827-1859), and other family (daughter-in-law, grandchild), are buried in the back row of Bethel Cemetery. Most of the Moon's children, however, are buried in other Morgan County cemeteries.  Simon and Lydia share the same grave stone.

 Bethel Friends Meeting & Cemetery

(a few miles southwest of Mooresville)

Greenwood Public Library's Technical Services Director, Janet Buckley,

and "Flat" Cauli Le Chat posing at Bethel Friends Meeting

Simon Moon's grave marker (August, 2014)
on the back of Lydia Moon's grave stone

Close-up of Lydia Moon's grave marker (July 2014)
(Simon's is on the other side)

The Moon burial plots sit along an ancient fence row at the back of the cemetery, all hidden beneath weeds and brush, and we were unable to reach all of them.

Elmima Moon Lindley's grave marker (July 2014)

But let's get back to Paul Hadley's painting of Simon Moon's cabin. Looking west of the church beyond the old section of the cemetery, which rests behind the building, there stands heavy underbrush and woods.  From this vantage you can't really see the hill upon which Simon Moon's cabin once stood.

Looking west toward the Bethel Friends Meeting & Cemetery

(note heavy brush & woods behind)

Here's where Richie's 1875 map really helps us orient the Moon land and cabin, which is clearly marked almost due west of the Bethel Friends church.

Cabin location indicated on Simon Moon's land

(red line orients cabin with Bethel Friends church)

(note crook in road as shown in Hadley's painting)

(from W.W. Richie's 1875 Map of Morgan County, Indiana)

(courtesy of the Library of Congress)

Modern aerial photos place the cabin along North Bunker Hill Road.  The street view from 2013 shows the hill upon which Simon Moon's cabin once stood, although Paul Hadley was standing further away (and downhill) when he painted his watercolor.

Aerial view orienting Simon Moon's cabin

with the Bethel Friends Meeting

(image courtesy of Google Maps, 2016)

 Close-up of aerial view (above)
(image courtesy of Google Maps, 2016)

Location of Simon Moon's cabin
(photo by Steve Saucerman, March, 2016)
(note slight swale in front of hill, as shown
in Paul Hadley's painting)

Google street view from N. Bunker Hill Road

(looking South) also shows knoll

upon which Simon Moon's cabin once stood

(courtesy of Google Maps, Sept. 2013)

Paul Hadley's painting (again)

Simon Moon's cabin was torn down well over half a century ago.  In her history of the Bethel Friends Meeting (1958), Dela Lindley stated:

• "Simon Moon was one of the outstanding Quakers in his day, being a farmer, tanner, shoe cobbler, herb doctor, and was believed by some to be a conductor for the 'Underground Railroad.'"

"When the cabin was destroyed," wrote longtime Morgan County historian Becky Hardin, "Mrs. Lindley said there were two closed spaces [that] were discovered on either side of the fireplace large enough to hold two people. The only entrance was from the attic.  It is thought this may have been a place to hide runaway slaves, or as they were described, at that time, 'Men of Color.'"  [Hardin, Becky, The Indiana State Flag: Its Designer (Biography of Paul Hadley with Anthology of his Paintings), p. 15 (1976). Click here to find links to read a digital copy of this fine biography.]

When you're next visiting the Library, take a look at this and all of the other Paul Hadley paintings.  History in watercolor.

2016 Update:  Many thanks to MPL trustee Steve Saucerman for determining the location of Simon Moon's cabin based upon a comparative analysis of modern topographical maps and Richie's 1875 map.  Here's a photo of Steve on the MPL Carnegie Library's last day (January 1988).

Steve Saucerman (left) checked out items on MPL Carnegie's last day

(January, 1988), assisted by MPL Director Pat Vahey (middle)

and MPL Staffer Theresa Lucas (right)

Northeast Corner Changes

In 1824, Samuel Moore constructed his general store on the northeast corner of the intersection of Indiana and Main Streets in downtown Mooresville.  Let's see how that corner has changed over the years.

Situated on the northeast corner were the following:

• Samuel Moore's general store (1824-1869);
• First I.O.O.F. building (1869-1881);
• Second I.O.O.F. building (1881-1989);
• Paul Hadley memorial park (1990-2017);
• Mooresville Bicentennial Park (2017-    )

Let's see some images, courtesy of the Indiana Room at Mooresville Public Library.

Original Plat of Mooresville, Indiana (1824)

(showing the northeast corner of Indiana and Main Streets)
(Section B4, Lots 1-2 & 15-16)

(Recorded February 21, 1825, Morgan County Recorder's Office)

After the fire (July 8, 1881) that destroyed

the first I.O.O.F. building (photo by J. P. Calvert)

(photo donated to MPL by Ernest L. Hadley [1891-1972])

Back of 1881 photo

MPL photo report for 1881 picture

I.O.O.F. Morgan Lodge #211 members parade in front of

the second I.O.O.F. building (circa 1885)

(photo by J. P. Calvert)

Second I.O.O.F. building is in the upper center

of this photo (circa 1885) by J. P. Calvert

East Main Street (circa 1890)

(Second I.O.O.F. building is at front left)

(photo by J. P. Calvert)

Second I.O.O.F. building (July 18, 1920)

(photo by Manley Brown)

2-22-22 celebration

(second I.O.O.F. building in background)

from the Mooresville Times, January 22, 1976)

2-22-22 celebration

(original photograph by Manley Brown)

Demolition of Hundley building

(just east of the second I.O.O.F. building)

(Mooresville Times, October 24, 1963)

Removal of top floor of second I.O.O.F. building

(Mooresville Times, July 23, 1964)

The second I.O.O.F. building's demolition began in 1964, with the top floor being removed; the entire second floor was removed, leaving a first-floor "sliver" remaining, so that Citizens Bank could extend its new building's parking lot in 1965-66.  The article headline (above) declares the Odd Fellows building to be 105 years old (in 1964), but that's mistaken.  The second I.O.O.F. building (built 1881) was 83 years old in 1964.  Even if the reporter had been dating to the first I.O.O.F. building (built 1869, burned down in 1881), the age would only have been 95 years old.  The reporter's error arose from the I.O.O.F. capstone (dated 1859), which was installed atop the first Odd Fellows building in 1869, and subsequently placed upon the second Odd Fellows building in 1881.  The capstone commemorated the establishment of Mooresville's I.O.O.F. chapter (Morgan Lodge #211), which was founded on July 7, 1859.  The capstone was being removed during the 1964 upper-story dismantlement, and the reporter had incorrectly assumed that the capstone's 1859 date corresponded with the building's age.

After the Odd Fellows capstone was removed in 1964, it was housed at Citizens Bank for a number of years. Some time later, it was kept at the Academy School Museum on North Monroe Street.  Since 2017, the capstone has been part of a wall in Mooresville Bicentennial Park (on the site of the Odd Fellows buildings).

I.O.O.F. Capstone

Mooresville-Decatur Times

October 21, 2017

Last day of the second I.O.O.F. remnant (April, 1989)

(photo by Jack Broyer)

Planning Paul Hadley mini-park (1989)

(Mooresville Times, July 21, 1999)

Janet (Griffin) Buckley sits atop the

"founder's stone" in Paul Hadley mini-park

with "Flat" Cauli Le Chat & "Flat" Dovydas

during Mooresville's Victorian Christmas

(December 3, 2011)

(photo by William R. Buckley)

State historical marker commemorating Paul Hadley

& the Indiana State Flag being unveiled

(August 6, 2016)

(photo by William R. Buckley)

Mooresville Bicentennial Park

(December 5, 2017)

(photo by William R. Buckley)