A Tale of Two Simons

Longtime Mooresville resident, renowned painter and Indiana State Banner designer Paul Hadley painted a watercolor rendering of Simon Moon's cabin, which now hangs along with other Paul Hadley paintings at Mooresville (Indiana) Public Library.

"Simon Moon's Cabin," by Paul Hadley

(click photos to enlarge)

 

It should be a simple matter to learn more about Simon Moon, whose cabin was commemorated in Hadley's watercolor.  But you'll find a convoluted historical trail that has confused researchers for decades.  That's because there were TWO Simon Moons associated with our local and regional history.

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 (let's call him the "Bethel" Simon Moon for sake of comparison) 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).  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.

Confusing one Simon with another was not uncommon in the 19th century.  Quakers habitually named offspring with identical Biblical names, so within an extended family tree, there could be many Daniels, Simons, Sauls, etc., all with the same surname and, perhaps, no distinguishing middle names.  Muddying the waters further was a Quaker practice (common during the early 19th century and earlier) of not marking grave sites with named headstones.

Both Simons knew each other.  It was a smaller world back then.  Many of these settlers met one another at religious gatherings or in the ordinary course of social visits or business.  These regular (sometimes everyday) interactions mix-up the historical records when one is searching for a particular person, only to discover another individual with an identical moniker who frequented the same geographical areas.

How can we sort out the two Simons?  Thankfully, Richard L. Moon, the "Bethel" Simon's fourth great-grandson, has written a short book explaining the differences between him (i.e., the "Bethel" Simon) and the "Westfield" Simon.  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.

 

Click image (above) to read a digital

copy of Richard L. Moon's book

(in PDF format)

 

Besides being available (free-of-charge) as a digital (PDF) book that you may access online, a printed copy of the book may be checked-out from Mooresville Public Library's Evergreen Indiana (E.I.) catalog, if you have an E.I. library card.