More About Paul Hadley

We have some new digital information on our website about Paul Hadley (1880-1971), designer of the Indiana State Flag, watercolor artist and instructor, and long-time Mooresville resident.  Click the links below.

• Paul Hadley article (“Mooresville Claims Fame as Home of Indiana Flag,” Six County Topics: Star Courier Tribune, v. 1, #12, Wednesday, February 5, 1969).

• Representative David W. Evans (Indiana) spoke about Paul Hadley and Becky Hardin’s biography in The Congressional Record, April 14, 1976 (“Accomplishments of Citizens and Patriots“).

• The Indiana Senate passed a resolution honoring Paul Hadley following his death in 1971 (see copy).

Paul Hadley with his creation (February 1969)

(click photo to enlarge)

Learn more about Paul Hadley from our famous Mooresvillians web page or from this blog (or from another blog).

Samuel Moore's Last Will & Testament

Click image to see Samuel Moore's last will & testament

The MPL Indiana Room has the original copy of Samuel Moore’s last will and testament, which is in our vertical files.  The will was executed on July 21, 1888, and filed for probate in Morgan County Circuit Court on March 15, 1889.  The will execution was witnessed by George W. Bass and William H. Ray, and Bass filed the will for probate.

Samuel Moore (1799-1889) founded the town of Mooresville, Indiana, in 1824. The original plat (below) was recorded on February 21, 1825 in the Morgan County Recorder's Office (in Martinsville, Indiana).

Original Plat of Mooresville, Indiana (1824)

Recorded February 21, 1825

(Click image to enlarge)

The MPL Indiana Room has several of Samuel Moore's artifacts on permanent display. Drop by the library to see them sometime.  The Indiana Room is located next to the adult nonfiction stacks, adjacent to the outdoor courtyard.

Founders Found a New Home

Portraits of Samuel Moore and Eliza Worthington Moore, founders of Mooresville, Indiana, have found a new home at Mooresville Public Library.  They now hang proudly in the MPL Indiana Room.  Click the photos to enlarge.

Founders' portraits (circa 1850) facing one another

at the north end of the MPL Indiana Room

(overlooking the MPL Courtyard)

 Samuel Moore

 Eliza Worthington Moore

 Close-up

 Close-up

These portraits were drawn circa 1850.  We have blogged about the Founders before, so please feel free to take a look at our archived blog postings about the couple.  Also check out our feline roving reporter's blog posts about the Moores' last resting place in "old" Mooresville Cemetery, on land that the couple donated to the town.  It was the original site of the local Methodist Episcopal (M.E.) Church, which Eliza helped to establish.

To learn more about Mooresville's founders, please visit our famous Mooresvillians blog posts and our local history links page.

Know Your Celebrity Mooresvillians

How well do you know your celebrity Mooresvillians?  This blog and Mooresville Public Library's website offer sketches of several famous folks who hailed from Mooresville, Indiana or vicinity.  All were Morgan County residents at some time during their lives--many grew up here but left as young adults, but several spent much of their adulthoods here--before they became household names (for the biggest celebrities among them), or at least well known in the Hoosier state. Click the image below to learn more.

Do You Recognize These Famous Mooresvillians?

(Click Photos to Find Out)

Surprised that prominent persons came from our tiny town?  Mooresville is 191 years old (founded in 1824), so one would expect some denizens to hit the big time over the course of nearly two centuries.  If you ask around, you'll probably find current inhabitants who are related to some of these luminaries.  One still lives in Morgan County--you may have seen him at veterans' events or other public appearances.

If you're from here (or live here currently), you now have some great names to drop at the next party you attend.  It would probably sound something like this:

"Hi, I'm Bill, from Mooresville, Indiana."

"Where?"

"It's the town where ____________________ (fill-in celebrity Mooresvillian of choice) lived."

"Really?  Do tell."

In case they think you're making it up, direct them to this blog post.  I settle a lot of arguments about historical details such as these.

Digitized Mooresville High School Vintage Yearbooks

Thanks to the Mooresville High School Alumni Association, we now have digitized copies of vintage Mooresville High School (MHS) yearbooks available online. Click the image below to visit our local history links page to find links to the yearbooks.

MHS Digitized Yearbooks Available Online

If your family hails from around these parts, maybe you'll see your great-grandparents (or other relatives) in these photos.

Early MHS yearbooks were not called Wagon Trails, as they have been known since 1946. Titles included Senior Annual (1909), 'Levenite (1911), The Argos (1914), The '17 Packet (1917), The Cauldron (1920), White Lick Review (1923, 1925), and Arch Wisdom (1930).

Many thanks to the MHS Alumni Association for preserving these invaluable historical resources.