Cemetary Walking Tour Booklet

Walking
Tour
200 S. Church St.
Mooresville, NC 28115
1

Table of Contents
History...................................................................................................3
Map ......................................................................................................4
Headstones ..........................................................................................5
James William Walter Brown ................................................................6
John Vastine Barger, Sr. .......................................................................7
Harrison Nathaniel Johnston, Sr. ..........................................................8
George Caldwell Goodman ..................................................................9
David Elmer Turner, Sr........................................................................10
Watson Whorton Melchor.................................................................... 11
Robert Washington McKey .................................................................12
John Franklin Moore ......................................................................13.14
Isaac Harris ........................................................................................15
Cyrus Alexander Johnson ..................................................................16
Augustus Leazar ...........................................................................17,18
Zebulon Vance Turlington ...................................................................19
Samuel Alexander Lowrance .........................................................20,21
Rufus Washington Freeze ..................................................................22
Cora Levina Freeze ............................................................................22
Mary Agnes McNeely Rogers .............................................................23
Clara Dunreath Starrette Cavin ..........................................................24
John Pressley Cavin ...........................................................................25
Burette Augustus Troutman ...........................................................26,27
Samuel Chalmers Rankin ...................................................................28
Espy Watts Brawley ............................................................................29
Minos McCall Culp .............................................................................30
Lily H. Johnston Melchor.....................................................................30
Ralph Morrison Brawley, Sr.................................................................31
Dr. John Rockwell McLelland .............................................................32
Gray Sloop .........................................................................................33
Ernest Henry Miller..............................................................................34
Samuel Dennis Dingler .......................................................................35
William Plato Carpenter ......................................................................35
John Mack ..........................................................................................36
Side Mack, Sr......................................................................................37
Charles Mack .....................................................................................38
Mooresville’s Humble Beginnings .......................................................39
2

History
John Franklin Moore was the son of James and Esther
Moore. Their children were: Jane Moore (c1805-1836),
Matilda Moore Boyd (c1806-unknown), Ephriam Moore
(c1808-unknown), Esther Melissa Moore Templeton (1810-
1881), James H. Moore (1815-1861), Mary (Polly) Moore
Lowrance McNeely (1818-1833), John Franklin Moore
(1822-1877), and Robert Moore (c1826-unknown).
The land upon which the cemetery was laid out belonged to
John Franklin Moore, the man for whom the town is named. Mr.
Moore was exceedingly generous and he gave the town many
sites and streets, but he did not give the cemetery tract to the
Town. A controversy about the amount of money the Town
should pay for this tract went on for a number of years with
Eliza Moore, Mr. Moore’s widow. The issue was finally settled
between the Town Commissioners and Mr. Moore’s widow.
John Franklin Moore was not the first person buried in the
cemetery. He allowed people to be buried at the back of
his property prior to the land being sold to the Town for a
cemetery. The earliest burial documented is Samuel Dennis
Dingler who was buried in 1855. Because there are a number
of monuments that can’t be read and some graves have no
monuments, there is a possibility that an earlier grave exists.
In 1915, a group of women founded the Civic League (later
known as the Woman’s Club). Among the club’s first acts
was a program for cleaning up the cemetery. A contest was
initiated for naming the burying ground, with a cash award of
$5 offered to the winner, Estelle Houston Hawthorn.
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James William Walter Brown............1
John Vastine Barger, Sr....................2
Harrison Nathaniel Johnston, Sr.......3
George Caldwell Goodman..............4
David Elmer Turner, Sr.....................5
Watson Whorton Melchor.................6
Robert Washington McKey...............7
John Franklin Moore.........................8
Isaac Harris......................................9
Cyrus Alexander Johnston.............10
Augustus Leazar............................ 11
Zebulon Vance Turlington...............12
Samuel Alexander Lowrance..........13
Rufus Washington Freeze..............14
Cora Levina Freeze........................15
Mary Agnes McNeely Rogers.........16
Clara Dunreath Starrette Cavin........ 17
John Pressley Cavin......................... 18
Burette Augustus Troutman.............. 19
Samuel Chalmers Rankin................. 20
Espy Watts Brawley.......................... 21
Minos McCall Culp........................... 22
Lily H. Johnston Melchor.................. 23
Ralph Morrison Brawley, Sr.............. 24
Dr. John Rockwell McLelland........... 25
Gray Sloop....................................... 26
Ernest Henry Miller........................... 27
Samuel Dennis Dingler..................... 28
William Plato Carpenter.................... 29
John Mack........................................ 30
Side Mack, Sr................................... 31
Charles Mack................................... 32
4

James William Walter Brown
John Vastine Barger, Sr. Harrison Nathaniel Johnston, Sr. George Caldwell Goodman
David Elmer Turner, Sr.
Watson Whorton Melchor Robert Washington McKey John Franklin Moore
Isaac Harris
Cyrus Alexander Johnston Augustus Leazar Zebulon Vance Turlington
Samuel Alexander Lowrance
Rufus and Cora Freeze Mary Agnes McNeely Rogers Clara Dunreath Starrette Cavin
John Pressley Cavin
Burrette Anderson Troutman Samuel Chalmers Rankin Espy Watts Brawley
Minos McCall Culp
Lily H Johnston Melchor Ralph Morrison Brawley, Sr. Dr. John Rockwell McLelland
Gray Sloop
Ernest Henry Miller Samuel Dennis Dingler William Plato Carpenter
John Mack Side Mack, Sr. Charles Mack
5

James William Walter Brown
Born: 2/11/1863 Died: 3/11/1944 Plot ID: A_R_11 Map # 1
James William Walter Brown was the son of William Osborne Brown
(1841-1906) and Elizabeth Amanda Madden Brown (1838-1911). He married
Minnie R. Troutman Brown (1869-1955), and they had six children.
As early as 1900, Mr. Brown was making brick for new churches and
businesses, including George C. Goodman’s new drug store at the town
square. He built many of the downtown buildings including Belk’s Department
Store which stood where the Charles Mack Citizen Center now stands, and
W.C. Johnston Hardware Company on the corner of North Main Street and
West Moore Avenue.
Mr. Brown was a proponent of infrastructure for the community and placed
special emphasis on providing running water for the citizens. He worked with
Mort McKnight and Moses White to lay pipe for the Seminole Water Works.
By 1906, the town’s cotton-weighing platform moved to the new Lorene Oil
Mills. The new railroad siding brought trains to the loading dock to ship cotton
to mills in the northern states. The cotton gin and warehouse brought farmers
with their cotton to be processed and sold. The mill processed cotton into
its component parts, with the cottonseed oil being a valuable commodity.
Mr. Brown named the mill for his daughter Lorene (Minnie Lorene Brown,
1896-1933). He sold the mill to Steve Hart in 1922.
In 1907, Mr. Brown joined forces with Burette Augustus Troutman (1862-1947)
to finance the construction of the heaviest steel bridge in North Carolina,
on the road out of Mooresville over the Catawba River near Sherrills Ford.
Construction began on the Iredell County side in 1907 and ended with a
celebration, picnic and Good Roads meeting in 1910. The bridge officially
opened in 1911 but was swept away in the Great Flood of 1916.
Warehouse and wagons loaded with cotton
North Broad Street and West Iredell Avenue
Mr. Brown’s house
Corner of North Main Street and East
Iredell Avenue
6

John Vastine Barger, Sr.
Born: 10/13/1881 Died: 9/27/1937 Plot ID: A_127_11 Map # 2
John V. Barger was the son of Monroe Barger (1828-1886) and Louisa
Marriah Sifford Barger (1846-1932). He married Bessie Flowers Barger (1882-
1943), and they had two children.
Mr. Barger and his brothers organized a firm to process hardwood and pine
lumber in Mount Ulla in 1902. They began their business with one sawmill.
In 1906, they moved to a location on North Main Street. Their six sawmills
shipped more than two million board feet of lumber from the Mooresville
railroad station in 1913, putting an average of $75,000 into the local economy.
The Barger operation joined a group of manufacturing plants that included the
Big Oak Roller Mill (later Mooresville Flour Mill), the Mooresville Cotton Seed
Oil Mills and B.A. Troutman’s expansive operation of lumber mills, furniture
manufacturing and iron works.
Barger lumber was used to build some of the first Mill Village homes in 1916,
and the Barger company worked with mill president John Matheson to expand
the South Main Street operations to include new machine shops and a rayon
mill.
A construction division was developed in 1923. Barger built homes,
businesses and public buildings. Only two years later, with L. Young White
in the lead, the construction business overtook the lumber division leading in
1947 to the organization of the Barger Construction Company.
Barger Construction was awarded the contract to build the War Memorial
Center in the 1940’s.
Barger Construction Office
North Main Street
Barger Lumber Mill
Looking south, Broad Street to far right
circa 1939
7

Harrison Nathaniel Johnston, Sr.
Born: 10/26/1868 Died: 5/19/1958 Plot ID: A_N_4 Map # 3
Harrison Nathaniel (Nat) Johnston, Sr. was the son of William Newton
Johnston (1836-1915) and Sarah Hart Johnston (1844-1873).
Mr. Johnston married Annie Louise Harbin Johnston (1874-1915), and they
had seven children. He later married Mary Stewart Johnston (1889-1984).
Mr. Johnston was born three miles east of Mooresville on what was known
as the James Harris place. He came to Mooresville with his parents in 1875
at the age of six years. He entered the grocery business in 1894 when
Mooresville was a struggling community of approximately 400 residents.
In addition to his grocery business, Mr. Johnston brought the first ice plant to
Mooresville just after the turn of the century, and he installed Mooresville’s
first freezer locker plant. He was the first coal dealer in town, and his first
shipment was nine tons, which was considered a lot of coal in those days.
W.N. Johnston Sons Co., Inc. was one of Mooresville’s leading stores for
more than half a century.
Being a skilled carpenter, Mr. Johnston made pine coffins above his store. In
addition, he sold furniture and undertaker’s goods such as robes (shrouds)
and felt bedroom slippers. When a death occurred a member of the family
of the deceased would drive a wagon to town, whether day or night, to get a
coffin, robe and slippers for the corpse. They always came with a stick the
length of the deceased, notched at the shoulders and hips so that the coffin
could be properly made.
Mr. Johnston continued in the funeral business until embalming was
introduced in Mooresville, likely by J.P. Cavin, who opened Cavin’s Funeral
Home in 1925.
Mr. Johnston was an active and lifelong member of the First Presbyterian
Church.
Exterior view from 1970’s
North Broad Street, behind the depot
Interior of W.N. Johnston Sons Co.
8

George Caldwell Goodman
Born: 5/31/1856 Died: 6/19/1934 Plot ID: A_37_9 Map # 4
George Goodman was the son of Jacob Fisher Goodman (1823-1869)
and Mary Brandon Knox Goodman (1816-1874). He married Annie Wilfong
Goodman (1873-1935), and they had one daughter who died in infancy.
Mr. Goodman spent his early years in Missouri and Texas. When Mooresville
was only four years old, he became interested in the drug business started
by Dr. John Rockwell McLelland and Dr. Samuel W. Stevenson. It was in
1877 that this firm became known as George C. Goodman & Company. Mr.
Goodman was granted a license as a registered pharmacist in 1881, and was
one of the first registered pharmacists in the state of North Carolina.
This was the only drug store in the area for more than 20 years and it
prospered over the years. After the death of Dr. McLelland in 1905, the
business was known as Goodman Drug Company. Mr. Goodman continued
as the owner of this firm until his death in 1934, at which time George
Templeton was the new owner until the business was sold to John Gardner in
1946.
Goodman’s Drug Store stood on the northeast corner of North Main Street
and East Center Avenue. The Goodman home stood on the southeast corner
of South Main Street and East McLelland Avenue, one block south of the
store.
The first Mooresville telephone book was published on a single sheet of
cardboard with 31 subscribers listed. George C. Goodman Drug Company
had the first phone with the number 1. The US Post Office, which stood
beside the drug store at the time, had the number 2.
Mr. Goodman was one of the founders of the Mooresville Cotton Mills. He
donated a portion of the property for the Lowrance Hospital to be built on East
Center Avenue and East Statesville Avenue. He served as the first president
elected by the Mooresville Building & Loan and was President of the First
National Bank from 1909-1934. He was President of the Mooresville Building
& Loan Association and served as a deacon of First Presbyterian Church.
G.C. Goodman
Postcard depicting Goodman Drug Store
North Main Street and East Center Avenue
9

David Elmer Turner, Sr.
Born: 2/21/1876 Died: 5/18/1965 Plot ID: A_18_9 Map # 5
David Elmer Turner, Sr. was the son of William W. Turner (1843-1926) and
Margaret Elizabeth Knox Turner (1846-1916). He married Minnie Lee McNeely
Turner (1880-1972), and they had three sons.
About 1898, Mr. Turner came to Mooresville from Statesville to work for
Tomlinson & Company, a hardware firm that was housed at 170 North Main
Street. On September 8, 1899, Mr. Turner and his father William W. Turner,
who was Register of Deeds of Iredell County, bought the Tomlinson firm and
started operations as D.E. Turner Company. In 1902, they purchased land at
111 North Main Street from C.P. and S.E. McNeely for $830. The hardware
store was built in 1909 at a cost of $3,000.
The first service station (a gas tank) in Mooresville was a part of the hardware
store and was located in front of the building. It is said that Thomas Alva
Edison refueled his horseless carriage when he passed through Mooresville
in May of 1906.
Mr. Turner served as Deputy Register of Deeds under his father. He was a
member of the North Carolina General Assembly from Iredell County for a
total of five terms. He served as Chairman of the Iredell County Draft Board
during the war years. He was a pioneer builder of Mooresville and Iredell
County, having served on the Board of County Commissioners, the County
Board of Education and the Town of Mooresville Board of Commissioners. He
was one of the charter members of the Mooresville Fire Department and was
a former Fire Chief.
In the early 1900’s, skilled leatherworker and harness maker Beverly
Robinson operated a leather-working shop on the second floor of Turner’s
Hardware. Mr. Robinson left Turner’s in 1911 to become the toll collector of
the newly-erected Brown and Troutman bridge over the Catawba River near
Doolie.
D.E. Turner & Company and Hardware Store
North Main Street
10
Original phone for Turner’s

Watson Whorton Melchor
Born: 8/19/1862 Died: 10/30/1928 Plot ID: A_21_3 Map # 6
W.W. Melchor was a son of Julius Alexander Melchor (1827-1916) and Mary
E. Kennerly Melchor (1828-1898). He married Mary Ellen Ludwig Melchor
(1869-1935), and they had seven children.
The Melchor family started the Big Oak Roller Mill in the late 1890s. The
mill operated in a wooden frame building with a large oak tree in the front
yard. The Melchor family believed this oak tree was located near a trail used
by Native Americans, leading from the mountains southward. Later, stage
coaches used that particular spot as a rest stop.
The Big Oak Roller Mill had a well and water tank that were powered by a
windmill. Mr. Melchor was able to pump water to the mill and to his house
located directly across the street. In 1914, the mill was purchased by a group
of local businessmen who turned it into a flour and feed mill.
The mill was steam-powered with boilers fired by wood. Farmers brought their
harvest to the mill where flour, corn meal and meal feed were manufactured
and sold to local stores. After a fire in 1924, Espy Brawley bought the property
and rebuilt the company as the Mooresville Flour Mill. In 1926, the present
brick building was constructed and is still in operation today as Bay State
Milling.
The Melchor house still stands on the corner of Institute Street and North
Main Street. The house was built in 1855 and additions were made over the
years as the family grew. In the early 1900’s, it was used by the Melchor
family as a boarding house.
Big Oak Roller Mill
North Main Street
W.W. Melchor home
Corner of North Main Street and Institute Street
11

Robert Washington McKey
Born: 11/24/1838 Died: 8/27/1921 Plot ID: A_4_10 Map # 7
Confederate Veteran of the Civil War
Robert Washington McKey (pronounced Mackey) was the son of Abraham and
Nancy Brawley McKey. In 1865 he married Catherine Isabelle Moore McKey
(1846-1890), daughter of John Franklin and Rachel Summerow Moore, and they
had 12 children.
At the age of 14, Mr. McKey began working for John Franklin Moore. As a
young man, he plowed ground in the center of Mooresville, and he lived to
see it become a bustling town. During the Civil War, he served four years as a
teamster in Co. I, Seventh Regiment, Lane’s Brigade. He was a charter member
of First Presbyterian Church.
Mr. McKey’s last years were spent with his youngest daughter, Eugenia McKey,
living quietly at the old Moore homestead which was built by his father-in-law,
John Franklin Moore. This was the first residence erected in Mooresville.
John Franklin Moore’s daughter, Catherine McKey, was the great-grandmother
of Erskine Smith, former Town Manager, and Robert McKey was Mr. Smith’s
great-grandfather.
Obituary courtesy of Robert F. Delay.
THE LANDMARK.
VOL. 48 STATESVILLE, NC, MONDAY, AUGUST 29, 1921.
THE NEWS OF SOUTH IREDELL.
Mr. Robert Washington McKey, one of Mooresville’s oldest and most highly
respected citizens, died Saturday, August 27, 1921 at his home on Main Street.
Mr. McKey had been a sufferer from Bright’s disease for a number of years but
was not confined to his bed until two weeks before his death.
Mr. McKey would have been 83 years old in November. He was a son of the
late Abraham and Nancy McKey, and was born and reared within two miles of
Mooresville. At the age of 14 he came here and hired himself to Mr. John F
Moore. The lad who plowed ground in the center of Mooresville lived to see it a
city, and died one of its most honored and substantial citizens. He was married
in 1865 to Catherine Isabella Moore, a daughter of Mr. John F Moore, who
died 30 years ago. During the war he served four years as a teamster in Co I,
Seventh Regiment, Lane’s Brigade. He was a charter member of the old First
Presbyterian Church, of whom there are now but two surviving members, Mrs.
Stephen Frontis and Mr. Houston Brown.
Practically all of Mr. McKey’s life was devoted to farming until his late years
when he settled down to enjoy a peaceful old age. With his youngest daughter,
Eugenia McKey, he lived quietly at the old Moore homestead which was built by
his father-in-law, and was the first residence erected in Mooresville.
12

John Franklin Moore
Born: 8/13/1822 Died: 7/26/1877 Plot ID: A_5_3 Map # 8
John Franklin Moore was the son of James and Esther Moore. He married
Eliza Rachel Summerow Moore (1818-1900) in March 1846, and they had five
daughters: Catherine Isabelle Moore McKey, Esther Jane Moore McNeely,
Nancy Victoria Moore Shepherd, Mary Josephine Moore Connelly and Alice
L. Moore, who died at age two and is buried at Prospect Presbyterian Church.
Catherine McKey, Nancy Shepherd and Mary Connelly are buried at Willow
Valley Cemetery. Jane McNeely is buried at Centre Presbyterian Church.
John Franklin Moore bought much land, and the place we know as
Mooresville was born from a large farm he owned.
In 1856, after a rally at Shepherd’s Crossroads failed to inspire land owners
to donate land for a depot, Mr. Moore offered the Atlantic, Tennessee & Ohio
Railroad a site for the depot. Railroad officials named the area Moore’s Siding.
The name was changed to Mooresville when the town was incorporated in
1873.
John Franklin Moore, his son-in-law John Robert McNeely, Isaac Harris,
John V. Melchor, Robert McPherson and Joseph A. Templeton organized
the Town Charter. The legislature appointed these men as Mooresville’s first
commissioners.
Mr. Moore donated land for Central United Methodist Church on North
Academy Street. In 1875, when a group decided to leave Prospect
Presbyterian Church and build a church in town, he donated the property
for their Presbyterian Church on the corner of South Church Street and East
McLelland Avenue. John and Rachel Moore were members at Prospect
Presbyterian Church before the group left in 1875, and their daughter Alice is
buried there.
J.F. Moore home
North Main Street
John Franklin Moore
13

The Presbyterians soon moved from the location on South Church Street to
the corner of West McLelland Avenue and North Academy Street, and the
South Church Street property was purchased by the Baptists. First Baptist
Church now occupies the property. Mr. Moore also donated land for a school
to be built at the corner of West Moore Avenue and North Academy Street.
It has been said that Mr. Moore was the first merchant in Mooresville. He had
a store known as Moore-McLean Company, and it was located across the
street from the depot.
His home, said to be the first one built in Mooresville, was located on North
Main Street across from the present Town Hall. He insisted that when Main
Street was laid out it remain exactly where the wagon trail ran. That is why
there is a curve in the street at Town Hall. This enabled him to sit on his front
porch and have a clear view of his store.
Mr. Moore died on July 26, 1877 and was buried near the back of property
he owned. Mrs. Rachel Moore sold that land for Mooresville Cemetery to the
Town of Mooresville after Mr. Moore’s death. Contrary to popular belief, Mr.
Moore was not the first person to be buried in Willow Valley Cemetery, but he
is likely the highest-profile person buried there.
Postcard depicting Depot
Corner of North Main Street and West Center Avenue
14

Isaac Harris
Born: 1/3/1823 Died: 4/28/1906 Plot ID: A_59_7 Map # 9
Isaac Harris was the son of Alexander Wilson Harris (1790-1870) and
Penelope Morrison Harris (1797-1859). He married Mary Morrison Burns
Harris (1826-1908), and they had three children. Their longtime housekeeper,
Mary Jane “Jennie” Miller (1853-1926) is buried nearby in plot A_59_4. Mr.
Harris provided funds for her in his will if she remained with his widow for the
remainder of her life.
Isaac Harris was one of the original members named in the Charter to
incorporate the Village of Mooresville. He served on the first Town Board
which was established in 1873. John Robert McNeely, son-in-law of John
Franklin Moore, served as the first mayor until elections were held in May
1874, and 10 eligible voters out of a population of 25 elected Isaac Harris as
mayor. He was elected nine times and served as commissioner many terms.
Often when the Town ran low on funds, Mr. Harris would loan money to the
Town for operating funds, refusing to accept any interest on repayment.
When plans were underway to have a connecting line from Mooresville
to Barber’s Junction to provide rail service from Winston Salem to Iredell
County, a meeting was held in Mocksville. Both Statesville and Mooresville
wanted this railroad line. Mr. Harris paid a cash deposit of several thousand
dollars at that time, and Mooresville received railroad service to Winston-
Salem.
Before the first bank in Mooresville opened in 1900, Mr. Harris acted as a
depository for many of his friends. He had a big safe in his home and kept
cash for many residents, giving them a receipt showing their remaining
balance. The Cam McNeely family graciously donated the safe that once
belonged to Mr. Harris to the Mooresville Museum, located at 132 East Center
Avenue.
Mr. Harris was one of the founders of Harris, Sherrill & Co., which was later
known as Mayhew, McNeely Co. H&R Block currently occupies this building
in the 100-block of North Main Street.
Mr. Harris built a home at 330 South Main Street, the current location of
Homesley and Wingo Law Group. His granddaughter, Lutelle Sherrill Williams,
lived next door on the site of the Mooresville Public Library. Lutelle married S.
Clay Williams, the president of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. In 1939 she
built the Mooresville Public Library on the site of her homeplace and donated
it to the Town of Mooresville.
William Benton Harris (1867-1945) bought the property for Harris Dairy Farm
from his great uncle, Isaac Harris in 1903.
15

Cyrus Alexander Johnston
Born: 9/15/1834 Died: 9/17/1912 Plot ID: A_80_10 Map # 10
Confederate Veteran of the Civil War
Cyrus Johnston was the son of William Cook Johnston and Margaret McKee
Johnston. He married Mary M. Neel Johnston (1835-1905), and they had
eight children. He was a Private in Company F 9, NC Cavalry.
Mr. Johnston’s home was close to the center of town, across North Main
Street from the depot. The home faced toward North Church Street, and the
back of the house was visible from North Main Street. He also had a farm
east of town.
His daughter, Lily Johnston Melchor (1865-1945) returned to his home with
her three children after the death of her husband, John Angus Melchor (1863-
1890). Railroad employees and passengers began stopping at the home
asking for food. Lily began selling lunches, and eventually served meals in the
family dining room.
By 1900, Johnston expanded the home by eight rooms, added a balcony and
renovated to accommodate guests. Named the Central Hotel, it was a popular
gathering place for locals and visitors. It was located near the current location
of the Wells Fargo Bank on North Main Street.
Central Hotel
North Main Street
16

Augustus Leazar
Born: 3/27/1843 Died: 2/18/1905 Plot ID: A_77_8 Map # 11
Confederate Veteran of the Civil War
Augustus Leazar was the son of John Leazar (1804-1887) and Isabella
Jamison Leazar (1810-1897).
He married Cornelia Frances McCorkle Leazar (1842-1873), his childhood
sweetheart, and they had three children. Cornelia was the granddaughter
of the Revolutionary Patriot, Francis McCorkle. After her death, he married
Clara L. Fowler Leazar (1868-1895) in 1888 and they had one son. Clara died
of typhoid fever at the age of 26.
Mr. Leazar was born six miles east of Mooresville in Rowan County at
Leazarwell Plantation. He received his education at Davidson College,
graduating with first honor in the class of 1860, at the age of 17.
After graduating from Davidson College, he helped organize Company G of
the 42nd Regiment of the North Carolina Troops in the Confederate Army,
and fought under General Johnston. His regiment fought at or near New Bern,
Richmond, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Fort Fisher, Kinston, Bentonville and
other areas. On March 16, 1862, he was commissioned with the rank of First
Lieutenant and served in that capacity until the Confederacy collapsed. He
was paroled on May 2, 1865.
Mr. Leazar owned the Leazar building on the corner of North Broad Street
and West Center Avenue, which now houses an antique store. The “Hello
Girls” from the local telephone company operated out of the second floor.
Beginning in 1866, Mr. Leazar taught at Prospect, Coddle Creek and
Mooresville. He was co-principal of a school with his brother-in-law, Stephen
Frontis. He also taught at a summer normal school established at the
University of North Carolina to train common school teachers in educational
methods.
Augustus Leazar
17

In 1870, Mr. Leazar received an honorary degree from Davidson College, and
when the college celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1887, he delivered the
address to the Alumni and Literary societies. For many years he served on
the Davidson College Board of Trustees, and was recognized as one of the
leading educators in the state.
Augustus Leazar’s political career began in 1882, when he was elected to
the North Carolina House of Representatives from Iredell County. He served
four consecutive terms, 1883-1891, serving as Speaker of the House his final
term. He was co-author of a bill to establish the Agricultural & Mechanical
(A&M) College, and a Trustee of the University of North Carolina, Davidson
College and A&M College.
Mr. Leazar’s most distinguished position was as superintendent of the state
penitentiary from 1893 to 1897. The penitentiary became self-supporting for
the first time in its history in 1896.
For years, Mr. Leazar served on the North Carolina Board of Agriculture and
the University of North Carolina Board of Trustees. He was a director of the
Bank of Mooresville, and of the Home Insurance Company of Greensboro.
Deeply religious, he joined the Presbyterian Church at age 14, and for 40
years he was an elder in the church. He served on the First Presbyterian
Church building committee with S.C. Rankin and Samuel A. Lowrance.
Contemporaries regarded him as a man of strong convictions who was
unwilling to compromise his principles.
Leazar Hall at NC State University is named for Augustus Leazar.
18
Leazar Building with phone company “Hello Girls” in window
Corner of North Broad Street and West Center Avenue

Zebulon Vance Turlington
Born: 1/8/1877 Died: 11/16/1969 Plot ID: A_103_4 Map # 12
Zebulon Vance Turlington was the son of Eli Turlington (1829-1887) and Sarah
Woodall Turlington (1837-1910). He married Mary Howard Rankin Turlington
(1878-1960), and they had four children. They lived on West Center Avenue in
a home built in 1906.
After attending Turlington Institute, a noted school operated by his brother
in Smithfield, North Carolina, he taught for several years. He studied law at
the University of North Carolina from 1898 to 1899 and on August 21, 1900,
opened an office on the corner of North Main Street and East Center Avenue
to practice law in Mooresville. He served as clerk and treasurer of the Town of
Mooresville and was the town attorney for 60 years.
Mr. Turlington married Mary Howard Rankin, and Claude Tate Carr married
Annie Rankin, both daughters of Sylvester Chalmers Rankin (1848-1902) and
Alice Elvira Alexander Rankin (1845-1917) in a double wedding ceremony on
December 23, 1902.
In the legislature, Mr. Turlington was chairman of the house committee
on appropriations in 1911, and represented Iredell County in the General
Assembly. He was the author of a prohibition bill in 1923 known as the
Turlington Act that made North Carolina legally dry. It remained in effect
until 1967. An active Presbyterian, he was an elder and a Sunday School
superintendent for 19 years. He was president of the Board of Regents of
Barium Springs Presbyterian Orphanage.
Z.V. Turlington
19

Samuel Alexander Lowrance
Born: 6/1/1846 Died: 10/31/1925 Plot ID: A_104_7 Map # 13
Samuel Lowrance was the son of John M. Lowrance (1799-1876) and
Elizabeth Lowrance Lowrance (1802-1857). He married Deborah Greene
Lowrance (1840-1928), and they had no children.
Samuel Lowrance enlisted in the Confederate Army at the age of 16 and
served for the duration. He moved to Mooresville from Rowan County in 1881,
and shortly thereafter he joined with T.J. Williams, John Young Templeton,
and W.N. Johnston to form the Mooresville Flour Mills. He was actively
engaged in this business for 35 years. He was also a Director of Mooresville
Cotton Mills, First National Bank, Mooresville Telephone Company and other
minor businesses.
In the summer of 1925, while recovering from surgery, Mr. Lowrance donated
his two-story frame home on West Center Avenue to the Town for use as
a hospital. He instructed Zebulon Vance Turlington to draw up the papers
necessary to turn his home into Lowrance Hospital. The property was worth
$12,000 and was deeded to the Lowrance Hospital, Inc. A hospital board of
directors comprised of Dr. A.E. Bell, Dr. Marvin Lackey, Dr. Allen Sloan, Dr.
Davies McLelland and Dr. George Taylor was formed, and the decision was
reached to raise $12,000 to finance repairs and to purchase equipment for the
hospital. In September 1925, the hospital corporation issued $20,000 in stock
($25 per share), and when Mr. Lowrance died in October 1925, it was made
known that in addition to giving his home, he had subscribed $10,000 worth
of stock in the corporation. Additional funds from Mr. Lowrance enabled a
brick annex to be built next door to the Lowrance homeplace with an enclosed
walkway connecting the two buildings. Lowrance Hospital and the annex
opened on April 20, 1926, and served the community for four years.
Mr. Lowrance’s home become the original Lowrance Hospital. The brick
annex and enclosed walkway were added on the left side and the facility
opened on April 20, 1926.
20

In August 1929, the hospital directors accepted the offer of a new hospital site
in Eastern Heights from Mr. and Mrs. George C. Goodman. The property was
bounded by Statesville Avenue, Evergreen Street and Carpenter Avenue.
The hospital purchased the property bordering East Center Avenue, making
the entire block available for a hospital. The formal opening of the four-story
hospital was held September 22, 1930. In 1938, a nurses’ home was built to
accommodate the hospital nursing school which had been in operation since
October 1926. The nursing school closed in 1971.
There were expansions in the 1950’s and again in the 1970’s. In the 1980’s,
the name was changed to Lake Norman Regional Medical Center, and a new
facility was opened south of town in 1999. Today, the building on East Center
Avenue houses the Iredell County Courthouse and several Iredell County
divisions.
Lowrance Hospital on East Center Ave.
21

Rufus Washington Freeze
Born: 7/4/1856 Died: 1/10/1920 Plot ID: A_133_3 Map # 14
Rufus Freeze was the son of Jacob Andrew Freeze (1826-1897) and Ann
Elizabeth Woodside Freeze (1830-1922). He married Sallie Templeton
Freeze (1866-1936), and they had four children. Rufus Washington Freeze
came to Mooresville in 1880 and embarked on a business career. He was
a leading merchant in Mooresville for 35 years. In 1886, he was appointed
Town Clerk and Treasurer and served for many years. He was known as a
man of honesty and integrity, both as a businessman and as a citizen and
was elected as Director of both First National Bank and Merchants & Farmers
Bank.
Cora Levina Freeze
Born: 5/22/1902 Died: 11/5/1987 Plot ID: A_133_1 Map #: 15
Cora Freeze was the daughter of Rufus Washington Freeze (1856-1920) and
Sallie Templeton Freeze (1866-1936). She had three brothers. “Miss Cora,”
as she was affectionately called by her students, taught in the Mooresville
schools for 40 years.
John Franklin Moore was Cora’s great-great uncle. His sister, Esther Melissa
Moore (1810-1881), married Ephriam Templeton (1807-1844). Their son,
Joseph A. Templeton, (1837-1897) married Mary Ann Gray Templeton (1844-
1912). Their daughter, Sallie Templeton Freeze, (1866-1936) married Rufus
Washington Freeze (1856-1920), and they were the parents of Cora Freeze.
Miss Freeze lived at 228 South Main Street, just south of What-A-Burger.
MHS ladies basketball team in 1919
The Freeze’s home
South Main Street
22

Mary Agnes McNeely Rogers
Born: 5/2/1901 Died: 8/25/1980 Plot ID: A_189_3 Map # 16
Mary Agnes was the daughter of David Kilpatrick McNeely (1867-1935)
and Mary Annette Johnston McNeely (1867-1950). Mary Annette Johnston
McNeely’s parents were Cyrus Alexander Johnston (1834-1912) and Mary
M. Neel Johnston (1835-1905). Cyrus owned and operated the Central Hotel,
with assistance from his daughter, Lily Johnston Melchor.
Mary married Harding Winslow Rogers (1901-1986), and they had three
children. Their son, Dr. Harding Rogers, Jr., was a dentist in Mooresville for
many years.
Mrs. Rogers taught for ten years at Shepherds School and 30 years in the
Mooresville School system. She was a lifelong member of First Presbyterian
Church.
Mary Agnes McNeely Rogers as a young woman and later in life
23

Clara Dunreath Starrette Cavin
Born: 4/29/1880 Died: 10/23/1984 Plot ID: A_221_6 Map # 17
Clara Dunreath Starrette Cavin was the daughter of Frances Salah Starrette
(1851-1921) and Kate Dunreath Alexander Starrette (1854-1938). Mr. Starrette
was the editor of the Mooresville Enterprise, the local newspaper. She
married John Pressley Calvin (1880-1935), and they had five children.
Her husband, J.P. Cavin, opened Cavin’s Funeral Home in 1925 in a house
on the corner of North Broad Street and West Moore Avenue. After J.P. Cavin
died in 1935, the business was moved to a large home on North Main Street,
just north of the present-day location of Bank of America.
“Miss Clara” carried on the Cavin’s Funeral Home business until the Cavin
children were old enough to take over. She was assisted by Worth Goodrum,
who had been associated with Mr. Cavin for a number of years, and by Joel
Vincent Brawley, Sr., who was married to Clara’s daughter, Dorothy Dunreath
Cavin Brawley.
Cavin Funeral Home was the first in the area to have ambulance service.
The first ambulance was a 1928 Buick. With stricter regulations imposed in
1968, Cavin Funeral Home discontinued the ambulance service. In May 1972,
the business moved to East Plaza Drive. Mike Cook and James V. Houston
purchased Cavin Funeral Home in 1990. Five years later, Mike Cook became
sole proprietor, and the name was changed to Cavin-Cook Funeral Home.
Cavin-Cook Funeral Home & Crematory is now located at 494 East Plaza
Drive.
Postcard depicting Cavin’s Funeral Home
24

John Pressley Cavin
Born: 9/9/1880 Died: 6/29/1935 Plot ID: A_221_7 Map # 18
John Pressley Cavin, Sr. was the son of George Washington Lafayette Cavin
(1850-1913) and Barbara E. Ostwalt Cavin (1852-1881). He married Clara
Dunreath Starrette Cavin (1880-1984), and they had five children.
Mr. Cavin helped organize the Citizens Savings & Loan Association and
was the first Secretary-Treasurer. Mr. Cavin purchased Nesbit, Pressley &
Company in 1914, and reorganized it as Peoples Home Furnishing Company.
Mr. Cavin graduated from the Renouard School of Embalming in New York
in 1917, and became Mooresville’s first licensed embalmer. Cavin’s Funeral
Home opened in 1925 in a house on the corner of North Broad Street and
West Moore Avenue. It is said that the house once belonged to one of John
Franklin Moore’s daughters, Nancy Victoria Moore Shepherd, who passed
away in 1917.
J.P. Cavin
People’s Home Furnishing Co
Corner of North Main Street and
East Moore Avenue
Cavin’s Funeral Home
North Main Street
25

Burette Augustus Troutman
Born: 2/2/1862 Died: 12/13/1947 Plot ID: B_141_4 Map # 19
Burette Augustus Troutman was the son of John Sidney Troutman
(1827-1895) and Isabella McCrary Troutman (1842-1898). He married Martha
Louisa Jones Troutman (1859-1939), and they had five children.
Mr. Troutman moved to Mooresville in 1890 to work with James William Walter
Brown, who operated a sawmill and lumber yard. About 1891, he went into
business for himself on the corner of North Main Street and Mackey Street,
opening a sawmill, cabinet shop and shingle mill. He soon added a cotton gin
and built a wooden water tank to supply water for his workers, his business
and his home which stood in the 500 block of North Main Street. The former
A&P Grocery Store later occupied the property where his home stood. The
vacant grocery store building still stands. Mr. Troutman built houses and
owned Mooresville Furniture Company which produced solid oak bedroom
suites and other furniture. The store stood on the corner of Mackey Street and
North Main Street between the site of his home and the northern-most grain
elevators of Bay State Milling. Mackey Street was closed when the flour mill
added grain elevators and silos several decades ago.
Mr. Troutman and James William Walter Brown built a bridge across the
Catawba River, which officially opened in 1911. This bridge was responsible
for the “splendid central highway from Salisbury to Asheville, passing through
Mooresville.” It was a toll bridge since no government money was used in the
project. The bridge was swept away in the Great Flood of 1916 and was later
rebuilt.
Mr. Troutman led the development of most of the 100 block of North Main
Street. He was responsible for the construction of several large brick
buildings, including Carolina Theater, Raylass Department Store in 1939 and
Delk’s Five and Dime Store. J.J. Wasabi now occupies the Delk’s building.
Mr. Troutman was one of the original investors in the Mooresville Ice Cream
Company, incorporated in 1924, along with Charles Mack, Side Mack and Joe
Ikall.
Mr. Troutman and a group of businessmen opened Stewart Park at West Park
Avenue and Oak Street in 1920. It had a concrete pool and picnic areas. By
1921, dressing rooms for the pool were added, as well as baseball grounds,
a covered pavilion and tennis courts. When a school was built nearby, it was
named Park View School. The park closed in the 1930’s. A house was later
built over a portion of the pool so that it became the basement for the home.
26

B.A. Troutman’s house
North Main Street
Troutman and son, Lester Love Troutman
Mooresville Furniture Co.
on North Main Street
L.L. Troutman on left
C.A. Troutman on right
circa 1925
Bridge over Catawba River
Contract to build a house for Neal
Burke, father of Selma Burke
27

Samuel Chalmers Rankin
Born: 11/14/1848 Died: 7/25/1902 Plot ID: B_62_3 Map # 20
Samuel Chalmers Rankin was the son of Dr. Samuel Davies Rankin
(1821-1860) and Mary E. Gillespie Rankin (1821-1909). He married Alice
Elvira Alexander Rankin (1845-1917), and they had nine children. Two of
their daughters married local gentlemen in a double wedding ceremony on
December 23, 1902. Annie Rankin married Claude Tate Carr, and Mary
Howard Rankin married Zebulon Vance Turlington.
Samuel’s father, Dr. Samuel Davies Rankin, was a doctor and community
leader. He passed away in 1860, and his widow and children continued to
live in the home that had been built in the mid-1850’s. In 1876, Mrs. Rankin
deeded the house to her eldest surviving son, Samuel Chalmers Rankin, who
sold the house and its land in 1886 to A.E. Sherrill. The two-story house,
located in Mount Ulla, has stayed in the Sherrill family. The Rankin-Sherrill
house is listed as a Historic Place on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1982.
Mr. Rankin was the first president of the Bank of Mooresville. He was a
farmer, merchant and business man and was one of the first directors of
the Mooresville Cotton Mill. He served one term as Mayor of Mooresville,
1890-1892. He was an elder in the First Presbyterian Church and
superintendent of the church’s Sunday School. He was actively interested in
promoting the causes of the church in the Synod of North Carolina, and was
especially active in promoting the Presbyterian Orphanage at Barium Springs.
S.C. Rankin
S.C. Rankin’s house
corner of NC Highway 801 and Centenary
Church Road
28

Espy Watts Brawley
Born: 2/15/1867 Died: 9/10/1934 Plot ID: B_44_3 Map # 21
Espy Brawley was the son of Confederate Veteran Daniel Carmi Brawley,
Jr. (1836-1914) and Harriet “Hattie” Elvira Kennerly Brawley (1838-1908). He
was the only one of three children to reach adulthood. He was born on the
homeplace of his grandfather Daniel Carmi Brawley, Sr. (1789-1861) which
later became the site of Dixie Cotton Mills.
Mr. Brawley graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1894. He
married Katie Patterson Brawley (1879-1953), and they had five daughters.
Mr. Brawley was the Director of Merchants & Farmers Bank, served as a
deacon in the First Presbyterian Church and was a member of the board
of trustees of the Mooresville Graded School District for a number of
years.
Dixie Cotton Mills was organized in 1906 with a capital stock of $100,000, and
began operations in yarn manufacturing in 1907. A village of homes quickly
sprang up around the mill. In 1923, there was a reorganization of operations
and the plant was renamed Cascade Cotton Mills. The business fell on hard
times at the beginning of the Great Depression, operations ceased and the
area was all but abandoned. Burlington Industries purchased the mill in 1933,
renamed it Cascade Weaving Company and re-opened the plant in January
1934.
The Espy Watts Brawley House was known as “Lawndale.” It was a Sears
catalog “kit home.” These homes were sold by Sears & Roebuck between
1908 and 1940. It is said that Mr. Brawley chose features that he liked from
several different kits so his house would be unique, and he had the railroad
build the tracks around his house so he could see the trains coming and going
from Dixie Cotton Mills. The grand home still stands at North Broad Street
and Williams Street, and has most recently been used as an event venue.
Espy Watts Brawley house
Williams Street
Dixie Cotton Mills
corner of Cascade Street and
Brookwood Drive
29

Minos McCall Culp
Born: 10/14/1840 Died: 1/29/1914 Plot ID: B_10_7 Map # 22
Confederate Veteran of the Civil War
Minos McCall Culp was the son of Andrew R. Culp (1807-1851). He married
Rachel Aurelia Johnston Culp (1839-1914), and they had eight children.
Mr. Culp was a co-owner of a store at Beatty’s Ford. He and his business
partner decided to move it to the village that had prospects of becoming
incorporated as Mooresville.
Mr. Culp was named Town Clerk at the first meeting of the commissioners
and Mayor after the Charter was issued on March 6, 1873, and later served
as a commissioner and Post Master. In appreciation for his work, Culp Street
was named after him.
Mr. Culp owned a large amount of land, known as the Culp farm, in the
northeast portion of Mooresville. Mr. Culp helped organize and build the
Methodist Church here in 1878.
His son, Fred McCall Culp, built a Queen Ann house in the 700 block of North
Main Street in 1904, and it can still be seen near the corner of East Park
Avenue and North Main Street.
Lily H. Johnston Melchor
Born: 3/28/1865 Died: 3/11/1945 Plot ID: B_87_6 Map # 23
Lily H. Johnston Melchor was the daughter of Cyrus Alexander Johnston
(1834-1912) and Mary M. Neel Johnston (1835-1905). She married John
Angus Melchor (1863-1890), and they had three children.
Mrs. Melchor and her three young children returned to her father’s home after
the death of her husband in 1890.
The home of Cyrus Alexander Johnston was close to the center of town,
across North Main Street from the depot. The home faced toward North
Church Street, and the back of the house was visible from North Main Street.
Railroad employees and passengers began stopping at the home asking for
food. Lily began selling lunches, and eventually served meals in the family
dining room.
By 1900, Mr. Johnston expanded the home by eight rooms, added a balcony
and renovated to accommodate guests. Named the Central Hotel, it was a
popular gathering place for locals and visitors. It was located near the current
location of the Wells Fargo Bank on North Main Street.
30

Ralph Morrison Brawley, Sr.
Born: 11/19/1881 Died: 6/25/1948 Plot ID: B_68_9 Map # 24
Ralph Morrison Brawley, Sr. was the son of Joel Vincent Brawley (1838-1907)
and Harriet Sarah Brown Brawley (1852-1929). Ralph married Bessie Bell
McNeely Brawley (1884-1960), and they had five children. One of their
sons, Boyce Albert Brawley (1920-1970), served as Mayor of Mooresville in
the 1970’s. Another, Pressley Bell Brawley (1905-1993), was an attorney in
Mooresville.
Mr. Brawley established a contracting business in 1911. In 1914, he built 40
houses for the Mooresville Cotton Mills. His business continued to grow, and
he added a lumber yard and millwork supplies. In 1920, he was awarded
the contract by James Donald to build the Elizabeth Apartments on West
McLelland Avenue.
Ralph Brawley was a real estate developer, farmer, Director of the Citizens
Building & Loan, a Town Board member, Rotarian and a devoted member of
First Presbyterian Church.
Elizabeth Apartments built
by Ralph Brawley
West McLelland Avenue
Family of Joel Vincent and Sarah Harriet Brawley
Front Row: Joel Brown Pratt Brawley, Harriet
Ella Brawley, Sarah Harriet Brawley, Junie Lee
Brawley, Parley Vincent Brawley
Back Row: Benjamin Neill Brawley, Ralph
Morrison Brawley, Ruth Adelaid Brawley, John
Robert Brawley, Albert Zennie Brawley, and
Samuel Stevenson Brawley
31

Dr. John Rockwell McLelland
Born: 9/30/1860 Died: 1/30/1905 Plot ID: B_120_7 Map # 25
John Rockwell McLelland was the son of Dr. John Armstrong McLelland
(1815-1867) and Rhoda M. Rankin McLelland (1818-1898).
He married Mary Davies Rankin McLelland (1859-1885), daughter of Dr.
Samuel Davies Rankin (1821-1860) and Mary E. Gillespie Rankin (1821-
1909). Mary was a sister of Samuel Chalmers Rankin. Dr. McLelland and
Mary had three children. After Mary’s death, he married Emma T. Rankin
McLelland (1857-1949), daughter of Dr. W.W. Rankin (1814-1857) and Sarah
Alexander Rankin (1827-1873). Dr. McLelland and Emma had one son, Dr.
William Davies McLelland (1888-1956).
John Rockwell McLelland followed in the footsteps of his father and became
a physician. He attended private schools in this area, then attended Davidson
College. He graduated from the Washington University of Medicine in
Baltimore, Maryland in 1873. He came to Mooresville, and joined Dr. S.W.
Stevenson in a partnership in the practice of medicine. These men were
classmates and brothers-in-law. Dr. Stevenson’s first wife was a sister of Dr.
McLelland.
Dr. McLelland was prominent in local, county and state politics. He was twice
elected as a Representative to the General Assembly from Iredell County.
He was a director of the Agricultural and Mechanical College and was state’s
proxy for the North Carolina Railroad. Dr. McLelland was known as a friend to
all who never turned away anyone. It has been said that Dr. McLelland was a
man who typified the ideals of the old South: he was learned and benevolent,
and in his bearing to everyone he was gentle and left the impression of a rare
nature and a refined and ennobling personality.
McLelland Aveue was formerly named McNeely Avenue. The name was
changed to McLelland sometime after the death of Dr. McLelland.
32

Gray Sloop
Born: 1889 Died: 11/26/1914 Plot ID: B_205_8 Map # 26
Gray Sloop was the son of Adolphus Jeremiah Sloop (1848-1904) and Dovey
Ann Shuford Sloop (1856-1927). He had three sisters and the family lived on
Academy Street.
Mr. Sloop developed a strong passion for motorcycles, and by 1913 he had
established himself as a top sportsman in motorcycle racing. He made a
name for himself on the Indian motorcycle. He set a speed record for covering
the 400-plus-mile distance from Birmingham, Alabama to Atlanta, Georgia in
a little more than 12 hours. Around this time, Mr. Sloop began riding Harley-
Davidson motorcycles, which were still very new.
In 1913, he participated in the Elgin, Illinois Motorcycle Race, which was held
on July 4. It was a 250-mile race over an eight-mile course and is known as
the first nationally sanctioned motorcycle race in the United States.
In 1914, he was not only riding Harley-Davidsons, but was also selling them
at his shop on Main Street in Mooresville. His life was tragically cut short on
Thanksgiving Day, 1914, while competing in the Savannah 300 Road Race in
Georgia.
Gray Sloop and his motorcycle
33

Ernest Henry Miller
Born: 6/15/1872 Died: 2/19/1955 Plot ID: B_266_3 Map # 27
Ernest Henry Miller was the son of John W. Miller (1848-1897) and Martha
Albertine Miller (1846-1905). He married Ola Cochran Miller (1880-1962), and
they had four children. They lived on West Center Avenue in a home built in
1898.
Mr. Miller worked at a drug store in Statesville for a brief period before
entering the University of Maryland, where he graduated from the School of
Pharmacy and was President of his class in 1898. He opened Miller Drug
Company in 1898. The first prescription filled at Miller Drug Company was
written March 5, 1898, by Dr. James Young. It called for boric acid, 24 grains,
and vasoline, 3 ounces. The cost was 25 cents.
The first location of this business was on South Broad Street, next door to the
Town Hall. In 1909, a new building was erected on North Main Street, and the
business moved there under the name of Miller-White. Joe White had become
a partner. In 1919, the partnership was dissolved, and the name was changed
back to Miller Drug Company.
In the early 1920’s, Mr. Miller became a land agent for what is now Duke
Energy. In that capacity, he conducted the business affairs of farm owners,
supervising the farming of the property by farm laborers and/or tenants
and collecting rents or other payments. Samuel Howard Price (1893-1973)
purchased the business in 1921.
Miller Drug Store
Miller Drug Store
North Main Street
34

Samuel Dennis Dingler
Born: 7/9/1796 Died: 1/1/1855 Plot ID: B_123_9 Map # 28
Confederate Veteran of the Civil War
Samuel Dingler was the son of Johannes Dingler (1758-1816) and Nancy
Paschall Dingler (1766-1837). Johannes was born in Germany, and was a
Revolutionary War veteran. Samuel Dingler was a Private in Harris Company
1st Georgia Militia in the War of 1812. Mr. Dingler had one son, William M.
Dingler (1827-1905), who was a Civil War veteran, having served as a Private
in the Confederate States Army.
Before Mooresville had a cemetery, John Franklin Moore allowed citizens to
be buried on a small portion of land that he owned. This land later became
Mooresville Cemetery. Mr. Dingler’s grave is the earliest found in Willow
Valley Cemetery, excluding approximately 100 un-readable gravestones.
William Plato Carpenter
Born: 4/4/1866 Died: 11/10/1938 Plot ID: C_152_6 Map # 29
William Plato Carpenter, Sr. was the son of Phillip W. Carpenter (1834-1914)
and Camila Eleanor Yount Carpenter (1837-1923). He married Nancy
Margaret Melchor Carpenter (1866-1929), and they had four children.
Mr. Carpenter opened a store on North Broad Street in 1901. In 1909, he
erected a brick store on North Main Street, where the Charles Mack Citizen
Center stands today. There was a large grocery department in the basement,
as well as dishes and kitchen utensils. The main floor featured furnishings and
dry goods, and the balcony was used for millinery, rugs, trunks and suitcases.
The store operated until about 1940, when it was sold for the expansion of
Belk’s Department Store.
35

John Mack
Born: 1867 Died: 10/19/1945 Plot ID: E_386_A_4 Map # 30
John Mack was born in Roum, Lebanon in 1867. He came to America from
Lebanon as Hannah Mahcool Fakoury through Ellis Island, where a clerk
misunderstood his pronunciation and registered him as John Mack. He left
his wife and five children, and came to America at the urging of a friend
who lived in Marion, South Carolina. He had not yet learned to speak any
English. When he went to Pennsylvania Station, he was sent to Marion, North
Carolina, instead of Marion, South Carolina. The station agent then sent him
on a train to meet F.A. Joseph, a Lebanese acquaintance in Charlotte.
Mr. Mack bought merchandise from wholesalers and began selling wares
door-to-door. He walked from Charlotte to Mooresville, Kannapolis, China
Grove, Cooleemee and Salisbury.
In 1905, he decided to return to Lebanon and get his family. He stayed a
couple of years, and a sixth child, Bahia, was born. Mr. Mack wanted to return
to the United States but his wife wasn’t ready to go to a strange place. He
returned to the United States with his children Nora and Charles. Several
weeks later, his wife decided she wanted the family to be together. Sadly, she
fell from the roof of the house, where she was drying wheat, and died. Mr.
Mack sent Charles to Lebanon to bring back the remaining children. They
opened a store in Charlotte, but it was destroyed by a fire several years later.
Mr. Mack opened John Mack & Son in Mooresville on December 24, 1912,
and the family lived upstairs in the building. The premise of the store was
to offer exceptional service. While some of his children ran the store, Mr.
Mack continued to sell door-to-door until about 1920. He sold ladies lingerie,
piece goods, and men’s shirts and pants, as well as linens. The Mack family
continued to live in Mooresville as merchants and community builders. The
store remained open and continued to thrive until the family decided to close
the business in 1993 to retire.
John Mack’s family
John Mack & Son Store
North Main Street
36

Side Mack, Sr.
Born: 2/22/1892 Died: 5/14/1971 Plot ID: E_417_4 Map # 31
Side Mack was a son of John Mack (1867-1945) and Naceem Shedeed Mack.
Side was born in Roum, Lebanon. He was a brother of Charles Mack, Nora
Mack, Sophia Mack, Lucille Mack Ikall and Bahia Mack Weaver. Mr. Mack
married Tabetta Ikall (1885-1964), and they had four children. Tabetta was
a sister of Joe Ikall, who was a business partner of Side’s brother, Charles
Mack. Joe Ikall married Mr. Mack’s sister, Lucille Mack.
Mr. Mack was one of the original investors in Mooresville Ice Cream
Company, along with Charles Mack, Joe Ikall and Burette Augustus Troutman.
He ran John Mack & Son after it opened on December 24, 1912.
Mr. Mack taught himself to speak flawless English and became a wellrespected
member of Mooresville. In addition to leading and supporting local
Boy Scouts, he served as a volunteer fireman and was a member of the
Masons for more than 50 years.
Mr. Mack’s son, Side Mitchell Mack (1921-2017) did custodial work in the
store growing up and ran the elevator at age 12. After college and a tour of
duty in World War II, he returned home, married, had children and managed
the men’s department in the family store. He bought his sister’s share of the
business over a period of time and became the third-generation owner of the
business.
Mooresville Co-Operative Creamery, established in
1914, South Broad Street and West Moore Avenue
Mooresville Ice Cream Company, established 1924,
later occupied this building and built an addition
Side Mack with John
Mack’s bags
37

Charles Mack
Born: 12/15/1893 Died: 6/28/1966 Plot ID: D_468_5 Map # 32
Charles Mack was a son of John Mack (1867-1945) and Naceem Shedeed
Mack and was born in Roum, Lebanon. He was a brother of Side Mack, Nora
Mack, Sophia Mack, Lucille Mack Ikall and Bahia Mack Weaver. Charles
married Fredie Shakier Assaf Mack (1892-1936), and they had four sons:
Theodore, Phillip, George and Lewis. After the death of Fredie, he married
Alice Azouri, and they had two sons: Frank and John.
Mr. Mack was one of the original investors in the Mooresville Ice Cream
Company, along with Side Mack, Joe Ikall and Burette Augustus Troutman.
Mr. Mack was a prominent wholesale merchant. After opening a shoe store,
he and Joe Ikall became partners in a confectionery store. When Charles
wanted to go wholesale, Joe left the business to open a restaurant known
as City Café, and later a bowling alley and pool hall. Charles continued to
successfully run the wholesale business on his own. Sons Phillip and Lewis
eventually joined him in the business.
The Charles Mack Wholesale building, located on East Center Avenue,
behind D.E. Turner & Co. Hardware Store, was built in the 1890’s as a
lumber drying house for Barger Brother’s Construction Company. In 1937,
Charles Mack bought the building to move his wholesale business from Main
Street into a larger building. Charles Mack Wholesale was a very successful
business for more than 40 years. Charles Mack’s son, John, donated the
building to the Town of Mooresville in 2006. The building now houses the
Mooresville Museum.
Charles Mack
Charles Mack Wholesale
East Center Ave.
Now Mooresville Museum
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Mooresville’s Humble
Beginnings
The area that would develop into the town of Mooresville was
originally settled by English, German, and Scot-Irish families who
moved into the area from nearby Rowan County, as well as from
Virginia, Pennsylvania and elsewhere. Many were seeking new
lands on which to establish farms. Many of the families came to the
area as early as the mid-1700s. They formed small neighborhoods
that eventually grew into the community known as “Deep Well,”
which took its name from a large natural well found in the area.
In 1856, a railroad was placed on a ridge which crossed the
land of a local farmer by the name of John Franklin Moore.
A small-scale planter, Moore set up a depot on his land and
encouraged others to help establish a small village on the
location in the late 1850s. The little village, known as “Moore’s
Siding,” was born. The Civil War hampered development, with
the railroad tracks being removed to aid the Confederate efforts
in Virginia. After the war, the tracks were returned, and Moore’s
Siding slowly began to prosper.
Shortly after the Civil War, John Franklin Moore saw the need for
the village to incorporate into a town. The town was incorporated
as Mooresville in 1873. Moore helped to establish the first brick
factory in the town of Mooresville, and he built some of the first
brick buildings on Main Street. He died in 1877, and his wife,
Rachel Summerow Moore, continued the development of the town.
In 1883 the railroad lines were run back through the town with the
addition of a new depot. The railroad brought growth to the town,
which continued with the addition of the first water plant in the
early 1890s, a phone company in 1893, the establishment of a
library in 1899, and the first of many textile mills in 1900.
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Today you have walked through and visited only a few stories
of Mooresville’s past. You are cordially invited to return often.
We encourage you to learn more about the citizens who made
Mooresville what it is today. Walk among the graves, read
some of the many books about Mooresville, do some research
online or at the local library. You might be surprised
at what you discover!
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Published 2019
Mooresville Parks and Recreation
With special thanks to Jill Newton for her research and
compilation of this guide.