Jim Moran III and Nashville Group ca 1896

Ebenezer and Peter Calvert were painters and photographers in Nashville.  The Calverts were born in England and studied art there prior to moving to the United States.  They made their way to Nashville about 1870 and worked in several studios before setting up shop for themselves. Both taught art and worked in several mediums such as oil, watercolor and pastels.  Miniatures were exceedingly popular at that time, a medium in which Peter excelled.  They formed a partnership with Sam Taylor in 1896 to form Calvert Bros. & Taylor.  The partnership lasted just four years and they reverted back to the name Calvert Brothers.  Although they were accomplished artists their bread and butter came from photography, specifically class photographs like the one from Moran Place.  Middle row, seated, second from the left is Jim Moran III.

If you're visiting this page and happen to recognize any of the people pictured here please drop me a line so I can add their name.

Here's a closeup version.  Jim is seated in the center of the two rows.  Some of the people look vaguely familiar, perhaps I've seen them in other photo's but I don't know who they are.

Here is a larger version of the middle section.

And of course the right side folks.

A Visit with Bose Hutchcraft at Reelfoot Lake, 1936

Bose Hutchcraft and Jim Moran III, 1936

These two pictures were taken about 1936 at Reelfoot Lake. The tall lanky fellow is Percy Bose Hutchcraft and the other guy is Jim Moran III.  On the far right side at Jim's elbow you can see a small boat and that's the boathouse behind the two men.

Bose Hutchcraft was born in 1875 in Kentucky.  It appears that Bose and his siblings moved to Tennessee settling in Obion and Lake counties.

Bose married Ida Dickey May 13 1892 in Obion and they had three children: Nannie, Lottie May and Joseph Freeman Hutchcraft.  Nannie married Elbert Spicer. Lottie married Johnnie Cochran and Joseph married Mary Earl Bell.  In census records Bose's occupation is fisherman.  I think Ida died between 1910 and 1920.  Bose was living in Hornbeak when he passed away on October 6, 1944.  He and several of his Hutchcraft kin are buried at Antioch Baptist Cemetery in Hornbeak.

Pictured below, left to right, are Maibelle Shumate Harris, Jim Moran, Bose Hutchcraft and Virginia Shumate Moran.

Maibelle was one of Virginia's sisters.  She had moved to Fort Worth Texas and married Newton Temple Harris Sr., one of the founders of the Fort Worth Warehouse and Transfer Company.  It's possible that Newton was the one behind the camera that day.  Maibelle and family are interred at Oakwood Cemetery in Fort Worth.

Behind them and to the right are cabins at the Lake and I wonder if that car which can be seen through the boathouse belonged to Jim.

Updated February 2, 2013

Came across a postcard of Jim Hutchcraft's Place on Reelfoot Lake.  Jim's parents are Joseph Freeman Hutchcraft and Mary Earl Bell.  Jim is the grandson of Bose.  The postcard is dated July 3, 1958 and was sent from Jim Moran III to his infant grandson Charles Scott Moran.

Updated July 3, 2017

We recently visited Reelfoot Lake including Samburg Village and Spicer Park.  At the time I vaguely remembered having pictures of Reelfoot Lake by Sabin as well as pictures of a man named Bose Hutchcraft.  However, I didn't make the connection while we at Spicer Park that one of Bose's daughters had married a Spicer and also that Antioch Cemetery was just a hop skip and a jump down the road  We definitely would have taken the time to visit the cemetery and see if we could find the graves of the Hutchcraft family.

Here are some of the Hutchcraft goings on from newspapers of the day.

Attempted Jail Delivery-Adolphus Whipart, a white man, served his time in jail at Union City for peddling without license.  Upon gaining his freedom he went to a hardware store and purchased three fine saws and a rat-tail file.  That night he went to the jail and threw them into the jail corridor through the grated window.  The prisoners raked them into the cell with a broom handle, and Dave Collins and George Hutchcraft, two white men, were caught busily filing on one of the cell bars.  The other tools were found secreted in the cells.  Whipart had left town before the attempted delivery was discovered.
The Bolivar Bulletin (Bolivar, TN), March 23, 1900, page 4

Local and Personal-Charles Hutchcraft and Tom Deal will give a barbecue and bran dance at Reelfoot bridge, one mile north of Spout Springs, to-morrow, Saturday, August 10.
Commercial (Union City TN), August 9, 1901, page 6

Narrowly Missed Jugular Vein.  At Samburg, on Reelfoot Lake, Saturday night, a row started between Bose Hutchcraft and Mat Wallace on one side and Jim Kasacker on the other, in which it is learned the latter knocked both of his opponents down, and in turn received a serious cut on the back of the neck from a knife in the hands of Hutchcraft.  Had the cut been a little further to the front the jugular vein would have been severed.  No arrests have yet been made, at least so far as known.  The wound, though serious, is not considered necessarily fatal.--Badger.
Commercial, (Union City TN), June 27 1902, page 2

Enjoined from Fishing-John Bell and George Hutchcraft have been enjoined by J.C. Burdick, lessee of the hunting and fishing privileges for profit on Reelfoot from fishing on the lake, as they sold their catch to others than Burdick.  Mr Bell who is on Reelfoot will be officially notified at once, while Mr. Hutchcraft will have to be released from the Memphis jail before having the papers served on him, as he is awaiting trial on the charge of bootlegging.
Commercial (Union City TN), November 13, 1903, page 3

Samburg-Miss Nannie Hutchcraft is recovering from a spell of slow fever.
Commercial, (Unions City TN), November 12, 1909, page 3

Samburg-Little Freeman Hutchcraft, who has been sick of typhoid fever, is improving nicely.
Commercial, (Union City, TN), December 3, 1909, page 10

Samburg-Mrs. Ida Hutchcraft and family went to Fremont Monday to visit relatives.
Commercial, (Union City TN), April 15, 1910, page 8

Samburg-Mr. Bose Hutchcraft gave a dance Saturday night.  A nice time was reported.
Commercial, (Union City TN), April 22, 1910, page 2

Marriage Licenses-Elbert Spicer and Nannie Hutchcraft.
Commercial, (Union City TN), July 26, 1912, page 7

Circuit Court- Bose Hutchcraft and Jim Hutchcraft, felonious assault, on trial.
Commercial, (Union City TN), September 23, 1921, page 2

Photo Friday - ca 1900 University Of Virginia Football Player

In a recent post I shared a letter from Jim Moran to his father, John W. Moran.  The letter was written in November 1900 from the University of Virginia where Jim was studying law.  He told his father that for the first time in years he missed playing football although it did give him more time to put forth on his studies.

We came across a photograph of a football player from the University of Virginia so Jim obviously had friends on the team even though he no longer played. The photograph was taken at the studio of Rufus Holsinger in Charlottesville.  I've looked at photographs of the early teams that are available online but had no luck in identifying the man in the photograph.  So for now he remains unknown.

After the Death of Sophia Gunn Moran

These two letters were written by Fannie Moran after the death of her mother in October  1895.  

The first letter is dated Nov 7 1895 and is to her brothers James H. Moran and Charles Harrell Moran.  The letter has the usual sadness that a mourning letter would have but it also has interesting tidbits of information about the time period.  For instance, the street lights in Dresden were lit after 6pm.  She also references a marriage that may or may not have taken place between her cousin Sophia Irvine and Charles Ferguson.  The marriage did indeed take place but it happened later in the month.  In addition it's interesting that she notes the society marriage of the Duke of Marlborough and Consuelo Vanderbilt which had taken place the day before she wrote this letter.  It also mentions a popular medicine of the day, Paine's Celery Compound.

Dresden.

The second letter is written in December 1895 and is to Fannie's brother Harrell.  It reminds of A Christmas Carol where she talks about how they had permission from Papa to come home for the holidays rather than stay at school.  Harrell and Jim were attending the Webb School at that time.  The rest of the letter she is telling Harrell where to shop to buy the prettiest and cheapest flowers.  What to buy for their youngest sister Marion and how the train schedule had not changed that much.  She also tells him he only had two misspelled words in his previous letter.  You have to remember that Fannie was a schoolteacher.  :)

Nov. 7 1895

My dear Brothers (Jim and Harrell)

My heart bleeds afresh as I write the above date.  You know the sorrow it brings to me, and I know the sorrow you are going through.  One month since she (Sophia Riley Gunn Moran their mother) died, and what a long, dreary month it has been!  The past ten years with their days of happiness seem but half that time and it seems hard to realize that we have suffered all the agony of and lives' greatest sorrow, has been comprised into one short month.  Truly time is not measured by days but by actions and events.  From this I realize that constant action, work either physical or mental is our only report.  

The worst hour of the day for me, the hour that seems longer than all the rest is the twilight hours when the days work is finished before the lamps are lighted, from 5 to 6 the hours that her soul passed eternity.  How I wish I could say something to comfort you, but your sorrow is mine.  Hand in hand we go through the valley of the shadow, and lover for her, for God and for each other is our only comfort, and it is a comfort to know that our lives have been so rich in love.  

It was impressed on me in reading of the great Marlborough Vanderbilt marriage celebrated in all the pomp and magnificence that unbounded wealth could conceive of and yet the father and mother of the bride were further apart than if oceans separated them.  Would you exchange even the memory of our once happy home with her?

I stayed longer in N.(Nashville) than I expected, but came home as soon as I could.  I got the ?? for Papa (John Williamson Moran) so Brother may rest easy.

In return wont you promise to take broken doses of salts for your boils and get a bottle of Paines' Celery Compound and take regularly.  If you haven't the money to buy it I will send it to you.  

Twas reported that Soph (Sophia Irvine) and Charlie (Charles Ferguson) were to be married at Bump's (James A Irvine) last night, but hope tis not true as I haven't heard it verified this a.m.  She made people believe she had broken off entirely with him after Brud's (Harrell Moran) talk with her but tell Jack (Forrest Dabney Irvine) I think he'll have to write her another letter.

Mr. Bondurant is worse.  This is a dreary, rainy day and the carpenters cannot work.  Bettie is up here sewing.  Papa has not looked so well for the past few days.

With a heart full of love

Sister (Fannie Moran)

LETTER 2

Dresden

Tuesday (The envelope is dated December 17 1895)

Dear Brud (Harrell Moran)

We enjoyed your letter which came yesterday and I was so proud to know that you had been complemented by "Buck".  All the ambition that I once had for myself is now centered on you and Jim and it does my heart good to know that you are getting along so nicely.

Jim's last letter was unusually good and yours was much better only two mis-spelled words both of which I think were due to carelessness instead of ignorance, couldent for couldn't and whare for where. 

We hadn't written about your coming home because we didn't know that you were going to get to come but after many persuasions and promises exacted by Baby (Marion Moran) from Papa, he consented saying it would be his Xmas present to you and we are so glad.  At the best it will be but a lonely Christmas for us without our dear one but more so with out your two.  I have just finished a letter to Mr. Webb giving you permission to come.  Papa asked me to write and also say he would send a check tomorrow.   He went hunting this morning with Mr. ? Scott.  

He said you never wrote him about Mrs. Black's bread bill, what the amount is up to date.  Please find out.  Knowing a little extra change is always convenient I enclose $1.00 bill for your street car fare, etc. while in N. You may go around to the market house and price the flowers.  When I was there they were some cheaper than at the Florists but were faded and soiled.  If they won't do, go to Joy's on Church St almost upper site the Vendome and to Currey's near the Nicholsons toward the depot.  Buy wherever they are prettiest and cheapest which I think will be at Joy's. Carnations and hyacinths are the most seasonable flowers.  Also ask about the weeping willow. 

So that you may not get duplicates let me tell you that I am to give Ida some garter clasps and Marion paper dolls and a book.  If you can find a tiny doll brush and comb for her get it.  There has very little change been made in the R.R. schedule the 11:30 train leaving N. 1/2 hr later and getting here at 12.  

With love to Jim and Jack

I am devotedly

Sister