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.
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.
Jarvis P. Calvert (1842-1917)
(photo by J. P. Calvert)
J. P. Calvert's photo atop the M.E. Church steeple
looking southeast (late 1880's-early 1890's)
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)
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
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)
atop the M.E. Church steeple (1920)
Manly Brown looking southeast along East Harrison Street
atop the M.E. Church steeple (1920)
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)
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)
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)
(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.
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.]
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).
(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.
