A Likely Story

Although Indiana ("India") E. Parker Likely (1845-1928) spent nearly all of her life in Mooresville, she was born in Greenwood.  When she was an infant, her parents moved the family here.  She spent the next 80 years living in a house built by her uncle at 19 East Harrison Street.  India graduated from Indiana Female College with a liberal arts degree, and she devoted the majority of her life to learning, education, and civic participation.  Her husband, James Likely (1837-1914), was a Methodist minister, whom she married in 1879.

India was best known for the Likely Literary Club, Mooresville's oldest non-ecclesiastical, civic organization.  The club was founded in 1890 by Elinor Palmer Mills, a teacher who came to town four years earlier.  Elinor worked closely with India to attract local ladies interested in fine literature, intellectual stimulation, and community-enhancing projects.  In 1994 Morgan County historian Dale Drake wrote an excellent article about the Likely Literary Club that provided wonderful details about the group and its participants.

Click images to enlarge

To learn more about India Likely, you can't do better than reading her obituaries (click "view image" under "obituary file" and "other file").  In the outstanding history of Morgan County, Morgan County Scrapbook (Mooresville : Morgan County History-Genealogy Club, 1985-    ), longtime Morgan County historian Becky Hardin (1908-1995) included sketches about India and the literary club.  Another enlightening source is Clara S. Richardson's A Brief History of Mooresville, Indiana, 1824-1974 (Mooresville : Dickinson Printing Co., 1974).  These (and other) local history books are available to checkout from Mooresville Public Library's Indiana Room.  Richardson's book is also digitized.

Video Eight

Eight years ago today (January 9, 2010), Mooresville Public Library launched its YouTube channel.  Since then, the library has uploaded 799 videos and has 800 subscribers (at last!--more subscribers than videos!)  More tellingly, the library's videos have been viewed 1,206,333 times.  That's an amazing statistic for a small township public library that serves a community under 15,000.

Videos were part of the library's social media initiative, which began in January, 2010.  Suzanne Walker, MLS, who was then MPL youth services director, spearheaded the project.  A couple of days before MPL YouTube was launched, Suzanne asked me to create a book trailer that she could show to a library school class at which she was guest-lecturing.  I'd never heard of a book trailer, but some quick research and experimentation with now-defunct Windows Movie Maker software produced the following video.

MPL Book Trailer #1

True Ghost Stories, by the

Marchioness Townshend of Raynham

and Maude ffoulkes

I hope there's been some improvement in our book trailers since then.  Here's one we particularly like, using (also now defunct) Windows Movie Maker Live.  (We're now using Wondershare Filmora video editing software.)

MPL Book Trailer #322

A Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman

What really makes these videos stand out is the soundtrack music.  The library has its own composer, who writes original compositions for its videos.  (He's willing to grant other libraries a free license to use his music in their videos, too, as explained here.)

The library's YouTube channel became the platform to which staff could upload videos for public viewing.  Over the years, MPL created book trailers, program trailers, promo trailers, local history videos, music parodies, readalouds, singalongs, readers' advisory blogs, puppet shows, how-to instructional videos, and probably some other types I've forgotten.  Check out these playlists to see examples.

Making library videos is relatively easy and inexpensive--otherwise, we certainly wouldn't be doing them.  Who has a budget for such things?  Last year we started a media blog to share some of our ideas to help colleagues make their own library videos, as well as sharing some of our experiences using social media or technology.  One approach we particularly liked is the use of "spokescritters" to promote libraries through video, blogs, and other social media.  Our "spokescritter" is Cauli Le Chat, MPL feline roving reporter (now retired).  Cauli's blog has been viewed 437,356 times.

MPL YouTube reached a million viewings last March and is now nearly a quarter million views closer to two million.  The wide variety and quantity of viewing material explains some of the appeal, but ultimately it's simply a matter of resonance.  Some videos connect with large numbers of viewers, who share their finds, thereby delivering more viewership statistics.  The result is a global footprint.  Through its videos, MPL has truly reached a worldwide audience.

Northeast Corner Changes

In 1824, Samuel Moore constructed his general store on the northeast corner of the intersection of Indiana and Main Streets in downtown Mooresville.  Let's see how that corner has changed over the years.

Situated on the northeast corner were the following:

• Samuel Moore's general store (1824-1869);
• First I.O.O.F. building (1869-1881);
• Second I.O.O.F. building (1881-1989);
• Paul Hadley memorial park (1990-2017);
• Mooresville Bicentennial Park (2017-    )

Let's see some images, courtesy of the Indiana Room at Mooresville Public Library.

Original Plat of Mooresville, Indiana (1824)

(showing the northeast corner of Indiana and Main Streets)
(Section B4, Lots 1-2 & 15-16)

(Recorded February 21, 1825, Morgan County Recorder's Office)

After the fire (July 8, 1881) that destroyed

the first I.O.O.F. building (photo by J. P. Calvert)

(photo donated to MPL by Ernest L. Hadley [1891-1972])

Back of 1881 photo

MPL photo report for 1881 picture

I.O.O.F. Morgan Lodge #211 members parade in front of

the second I.O.O.F. building (circa 1885)

(photo by J. P. Calvert)

Second I.O.O.F. building is in the upper center

of this photo (circa 1885) by J. P. Calvert

East Main Street (circa 1890)

(Second I.O.O.F. building is at front left)

(photo by J. P. Calvert)

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

(photo by Manley Brown)

2-22-22 celebration

(second I.O.O.F. building in background)

from the Mooresville Times, January 22, 1976)

2-22-22 celebration

(original photograph by Manley Brown)

Demolition of Hundley building

(just east of the second I.O.O.F. building)

(Mooresville Times, October 24, 1963)

Removal of top floor of second I.O.O.F. building

(Mooresville Times, July 23, 1964)

The second I.O.O.F. building's demolition began in 1964, with the top floor being removed; the entire second floor was removed, leaving a first-floor "sliver" remaining, so that Citizens Bank could extend its new building's parking lot in 1965-66.  The article headline (above) declares the Odd Fellows building to be 105 years old (in 1964), but that's mistaken.  The second I.O.O.F. building (built 1881) was 83 years old in 1964.  Even if the reporter had been dating to the first I.O.O.F. building (built 1869, burned down in 1881), the age would only have been 95 years old.  The reporter's error arose from the I.O.O.F. capstone (dated 1859), which was installed atop the first Odd Fellows building in 1869, and subsequently placed upon the second Odd Fellows building in 1881.  The capstone commemorated the establishment of Mooresville's I.O.O.F. chapter (Morgan Lodge #211), which was founded on July 7, 1859.  The capstone was being removed during the 1964 upper-story dismantlement, and the reporter had incorrectly assumed that the capstone's 1859 date corresponded with the building's age.

After the Odd Fellows capstone was removed in 1964, it was housed at Citizens Bank for a number of years. Some time later, it was kept at the Academy School Museum on North Monroe Street.  Since 2017, the capstone has been part of a wall in Mooresville Bicentennial Park (on the site of the Odd Fellows buildings).

I.O.O.F. Capstone

Mooresville-Decatur Times

October 21, 2017

Last day of the second I.O.O.F. remnant (April, 1989)

(photo by Jack Broyer)

Planning Paul Hadley mini-park (1989)

(Mooresville Times, July 21, 1999)

Janet (Griffin) Buckley sits atop the

"founder's stone" in Paul Hadley mini-park

with "Flat" Cauli Le Chat & "Flat" Dovydas

during Mooresville's Victorian Christmas

(December 3, 2011)

(photo by William R. Buckley)

State historical marker commemorating Paul Hadley

& the Indiana State Flag being unveiled

(August 6, 2016)

(photo by William R. Buckley)

Mooresville Bicentennial Park

(December 5, 2017)

(photo by William R. Buckley)

New Local History Video Series

Mooresville Public Library has begun a new video series (see playlist) called Mooresville Moments: Our Local History, based upon its collection of local history postcards and flashcards.  The title is borrowed from the popular newspaper column, "Mooresville Moments" (1999), written by town historian Wanda Potts (1921-2012), who served as MPL's Indiana Room librarian from 1966 to 2002.

In this first installment, we feature the official Mooresville Town Banner, designed by Bonita Marley, who served as library director from 1961 to 1984. The flag commemorated the 150th anniversary of the town's founding. You can see it flying downtown in Bicentennial Park.

Mooresville's Town Banner (video)

(Mooresville Moments #1)

by Mooresville Public Library

Thanks to Wanda and Bonita, the library has an extensive local history collection preserved to share with the public. We hope this new video series does justice to their treasure trove of Mooresville history.

Downtown Mooresville's New Bicentennial Park

Mooresville's new Bicentennial Park is now substantially completed and open to the public.  The park is downtown on the northeast corner of Main and Indiana Streets, where Samuel Moore's general store was situated (built in 1824), and where the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) buildings were located (the first was built in 1869, replacing Moore's wood-frame/brick structure; the second in 1881).  The I.O.O.F. capstone (dated 1859) has been incorporated into the new park (see photo below).  (As always, click the images to enlarge them.)  The capstone commemorated the founding of I.O.O.F. Morgan Lodge #211 in 1859, NOT the date the first building was constructed, but the capstone was incorporated into the structure in 1869 when the first building was erected.

The park's sculpture reminds us of the flames atop the torch shown on the Indiana State Flag.

Alongside the American and Indiana flags flying in the park is Mooresville's official town banner, designed in 1974 as part of the town's sesquicentennial celebration by Bonita Marley (1906-2002), director of Mooresville Public Library (1961-1984).

  

The state historical marker commemorating Paul Hadley and the Indiana State Flag was relocated a few feet north of its original location.

 

Landscaping and final touches will be completed in Spring 2018, according to an article in the Mooresville-Decatur Times, Saturday, December 2, 2017, pages A1-A6.

New street lights, brick sidewalks, and signage surround downtown on Main and Indiana Streets, as can be seen in the photos above and below.