Mooresville's Founding Feline

Nearly a year ago, Scowl-Face gave a program (motto: At least there was cake served) at the library about Mooresville, Indiana's founder, Samuel Moore, and his wife, Eliza Worthington Moore.  He's also blogged about the couple.  We have a ton of stuff about them on our website.

"Narration" of Samuel Moore at the Old Settlers Picnic (1885),

by Mooresville Public Library

Those who attended Scowl-Face's program will back moi up here ("booorrring!"), so I thought you might be interested in learning more about Mooresville's founding feline, who happened to be an ancestor of yours truly.  His name was Hippolyte, who was Samuel Moore's cat.

Hippolyte (1817-1828) travelled with the Moore family from North Carolina when they migrated to Indiana (in 1819), and (in 1822) Hippolyte accompanied Samuel Moore when he moved to Brown Township in Morgan County.  Mooresville was founded in 1824.

We have no artist renderings of Hippolyte, but we do have a reenactor photo showing my feline pioneer ancestor.

Reenactor photo of Hippolyte, my feline pioneer ancestor, as Hippolyte may have looked on the Moore family's northern migration to and within Indiana (1819-1822)

Hippolyte was a "mouser" who had earned a reputation for clearing rodents from Samuel Moore's trading post and storage cabins where he kept perishable supplies, dry goods, and assorted items for sale to the public.  The trading post was situated atop a hill approximately where today's V.F.W. Post #1111 now stands on South Indiana Street, a few hundred feet east of White Lick Creek.  Moore's storage cabins were also nearby this location.

VFW Post #1111

411 South Indiana Street

Mooresville, IN 46158

(visit their Facebook page)

In 1824, when Samuel built his wood-frame general store in downtown Mooresville (on the northeast corner of Main and Indiana Streets), Hippolyte took up service there. Rattermeeses (sometimes also spelled rattermeeces) go where the food is, so there's always a need for good feline hunters to keep edible merchandise safe for folks to buy.

As a proud descendant of Hippolyte, I am another in a long line of pioneer kitties who have called Mooresville home.  (Take a peek at my feline genealogy to learn more about my family history.)  Our town's humans should hold a parade in our honor sometime.  At least we deserve a float in the annual Old Settlers' parade.  Just saying.

Your (Retired) Roving Reporter On The Go,

Cauli Le Chat