James Whitcomb Riley, sign painter (ca. 1872)
(Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Public Library Riley Collection)
Although famous Hoosier poet James Whitcomb Riley (1849-1916) grew up in Greenfield, Indiana, in Spring 1874 he moved to Mooresville to live with his aunt and uncle, Jim and Ann Marine, while he worked as a sign painter in a shop located at 25 South Indiana Street downtown. The building is known as the Perce Building (for owner Dr. B. H. Perce, who had it constructed around 1865). Our video (below), this slideshow, and this blog post, elaborate.
In addition to sign painting, Riley wrote articles and humorous quips for the local newspaper, the Mooresville Enterprise, as well as for other Morgan County newspapers. When trade was slack, Riley would slip around the block to hang out with local photographer and Civil War veteran Jarvis P. Calvert at his art and photographer studio on East Harrison Street.
James Whitcomb Riley (ca. 1874)
(Photo possibly taken by J. P. Calvert)
(Image courtesy of James Whitcomb Riley Old Home Society)
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