Restoring Downtown History

The Mooresville Redevelopment Commission (RDC) has restored a vital aspect of Mooresville's history downtown and plans to restore further historical tributes to this consequential site.

In Mooresville's Bicentennial Park, currently under construction downtown on the northeast corner of Main and Indiana Streets, the RDC has incorporated into a side wall the capstone of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) buildings, which memorialized the organization's founding of local Morgan Lodge #211 on July 7, 1859.  The I.O.O.F. buildings stood on this site from 1869 to 1989.  The first, three-story structure (built in 1869) was destroyed by fire in 1881, but was replaced by a second building (1881) that was partially demolished in 1964, with the remnant of the first floor finally being removed in 1989.  (The capstone had been stored in the Mooresville Academy School on Monroe Street for many years.)  The I.O.O.F. buildings housed generations of local family businesses.

I.O.O.F. Buildings Capstone

(courtesy of the Mooresville-Decatur Times)
(click photos to enlarge)

Second I.O.O.F. Building (ca. 1885)

(Photo by J. P. Calvert)

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

(Photo by Manley Brown)

Remnant of the First Floor of the Second I.O.O.F.

Building, Demolished in April, 1989

(Photo by Jack Broyer)

Recently, the "Founder Stone," a historical commemorative plaque affixed to a boulder honoring Samuel Moore (1799-1889), founder of Mooresville, was removed during construction of the new park.  Before the I.O.O.F. buildings, this was the site of Samuel Moore's first wood-frame business building (the first of its kind in Mooresville, built in 1824).  In 1989 plans were made to convert the property into a small park commemorating Paul Hadley (1880-1971), designer of the Indiana State Flag.  That park is now becoming Bicentennial Park.

The "Founder Stone"

(Photo by Shawn Stewart, February, 1998)

Janet (Griffin) Buckley with the "Founder Stone"
(October 29, 2007)

(Photo by William R. Buckley)

In addition to the "Founder Stone" and the I.O.O.F. capstone, the northeast corner of Main and Indiana Streets was the site of an official state historical marker honoring the state flag and its designer.  This marker, too, has been removed during construction but will be relocated on-site when the project is completed.

Paul Hadley/Indiana State Flag Historical Marker

(Dedicated August 6, 2016)

(Photos by William R. Buckley)

The citizens of Mooresville placed the Samuel Moore stone and plaque downtown in 1924 as part of the town's centennial celebration.  Samuel and Eliza Moore's granddaughter, Mary Ida Fogleman, was instrumental in the creation and placement of this historical tribute.

Samuel & Eliza Moore with their daughter,

Margaret Fogleman, and their granddaughter,

(Mary) Ida Fogleman (from A Brief History of the

First Methodist Church in Mooresville, Indiana [1950])

According to reporter Lauren Carpenter, "the RDC [Mooresville Redevelopment Commission] also plans to place the Samuel Moore plaque at the corner of the park as well. [. . .]  As of right now, there are no plans on where to place the stone."  ("Odd Fellows Sign Restored," Mooresville-Decatur Times, Saturday, October 21, 2017, page A6.)

This is indeed good news.  Restoration of the "Founder plaque" to its original location preserves important historical information about the origins of the town and its early pioneer days.  It is fitting that the new bicentennial park, which is designed to commemorate Mooresville's 200th anniversary in 2024, should be situated in such a significant historical location.  As to the stone itself, that's not nearly as important--it's just a boulder left in the glacial moraine that was salvaged from a nearby field--but the plaque is historically critical.

Small communities such as Mooresville need to preserve a sense of history--of continuity--connecting current residents with their predecessors.  Those who live here now stand upon the shoulders of all those who came before, including the town's progenitor.  Without Samuel Moore, there would have been no Mooresville that so many of us now call home.

Saluting Samuel Moore at the site of his first wood-frame business, as the "Founder plaque" has done for nearly a century, emphasizes the significance of the place and what has stood there.  When Samuel Moore built that wood-frame structure for his general store among the handful of surrounding log cabins, he was saying that Mooresville would become an established town, lasting long into the future.  The wood-frame business was unlike other places where log cabins were temporary abodes later abandoned.  It was at the center--the very heart--of the community Moore had established, and he wanted everyone to see that this town would endure.  And so it has, for nearly 200 years.

Original Plat of Mooresville, Indiana (1824)

(Recorded February 21, 1825, Morgan County Recorder)

What better way to honor the pioneer who created our hometown, and all the pioneers and settlers who came thereafter, than by the "Founder plaque" placed at the core of our community?  The plaque belongs on the northeast corner of Indiana and Main Streets downtown, and I salute the Mooresville RDC in its plan to restore it to its central location so that it may continue its part in our town's historical narrative.

Having the I.O.O.F. capstone in the new bicentennial park is likewise crucial to preserving Mooresville's downtown heritage.  Once the State Flag/Paul Hadley marker is also restored, we will have strong reminders of the importance of Mooresville's past in the development of it present (and future). 

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

We continue with our exploration of probable locations for watercolors painted by long-time Mooresville, Indiana resident Paul Hadley, designer of the Indiana State Flag.

As we previously blogged, an anonymous patron loaned several Paul Hadley paintings to the library, which are now on display.  Exactly where were these paintings made?  That takes a bit of exploring, both on the Internet and closer to home.

Margaret Colee's Pump House by Paul Hadley
(Click Images to Enlarge)

Hadley showed this painting at the 1939 Indiana State Fair, so it was probably painted around this time [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): 20-29].

Hadley's biographer, long-time Morgan County (Indiana) Historian Becky Hardin, detailed the history surrounding this painting:

• "Although Paul Hadley never duplicated a painting, he often painted in the same location under different conditions of light and atmosphere. This picture of Margaret Colee's pump house depicts a gray cabin, pink peach tree, and a bright blue sky.  Like most of his paintings it does not show a figure of animal or human being, but the tub, rainwater barrel, and copper bucket are necessary equipment for 'woman's work.' Owen (Tudy) Prescott, grandson of Mrs. Colee, says she hung milk and butter down in the well to keep [them] cool, and he thinks one of her uncles may have stored his 'home brew' there to keep it cool.  (Mooresville was a local option town before prohibition.) Prescott saw this picture in Lieber's window and tried to buy it but it was the property of Dr. Norris who moved to [the] Mooresville community to retire.  He had gone to Spain and lived with a family there to learn how to make frames and framed this one.  When Dr. Norris died his niece, Mrs. McMillin, gave the painting to the Prescotts.  He [Hadley] did a[nother] painting of this pump house with a gray sky which was purchased by John Herron Art Museum in October 1939 for its permanent collection."  [Hardin, Becky (1976). The Indiana State Flag, Its Designer (Biography of Paul Hadley with Anthology of his Paintings), p. 37. Mooresville, Indiana : B. Hardin.]

Grave Marker of Margaret Elizabeth Colee

Mooresville (Indiana) Cemetery

(Photo courtesy of Find-a-Grave)

(Note Death Year Discrepancy)

Margaret Elizabeth Colee (née Spoon) (1859-1951) is buried in section 7 of Mooresville Cemetery, but her grave marker lists her year of death as 1952. However, mortuary records from Harvey Funeral Home, which operated on South Indiana Street in Mooresville (and handled Colee's funeral arrangements), clearly state that Colee died of bronchial pneumonia on March 21, 1951, at the home of her son, O. W. Colee, in Terre Haute, Indiana, and that her services were held at Harvey Funeral Home on March 23, 1951.  This is confirmed by the newspaper obituary from the Mooresville Times, March 22, 1951 (front page).

Margaret Colee's Obituary

Mooresville Times, March 22, 1951, p. 1, col. 3

Front Page of the Mooresville Times, March 22, 1951

(Colee obituary is in column three near the bottom)

Enlarged Masthead of the Mooresville Times,

March 22, 1951

But let's return to the question of location:  Where did Margaret Colee live when Hadley painted her pump house?  According to the 1940 U.S. Census, Margaret Colee rented an unnumbered house on East High Street in Mooresville.  The 1940 Mooresville City Directory confirms this, indicating that she was a "housekeeper" by occupation.  She had lived there for many years.  Upon closer inspection, the 1940 Census stated that her house was situated between 204 and 222 East High Street.

Excerpt from the 1940 U.S. Census for

Mooresville, Morgan County, Indiana

Listing Margaret E. Colee living between

204 and 222 East High Street

The house no longer stands, but we can confirm its location by comparing existing structures' addresses.

 Westerly view from 222 (parking lot) to 218 East High Street

(red brick house), Mooresville, Indiana (March, 2016)

 Easterly view from what would have been

204 (tan building) to 218 East High Street

(red brick house), Mooresville, Indiana (March, 2016)

 From left to right:  (1) what would have been approximately

204 (tan building); (2) 218 (red brick house); and

(3) 222 East High Street (Edward Jones building),

Mooresville, Indiana (March, 2016)

Edward Jones Building

222 East High Street

Mooresville, Indiana

 (March, 2016)

Margaret Colee's house was probably to the right of the red brick house at 218 East High Street, approximately where the white garage now stands.  The pump house Hadley painted would have been located at the back of the lot.

Hadley was most helpful when he named this painting using the resident's name. Margaret Colee rented a house there for decades, and so it was fairly easy to locate in the historical record.

Next time, we'll search for another location from a Paul Hadley painting, which will take us about one block south of Margaret Colee's home to the house of Matthew Comer.