Moorman's in Hardin County Kentucky about 1800.  This was probably around Big Spring and Bewleyville area.

return to Stith Valley front page, return to Big Spring page

From an old newspaper clipping  about 1960?  Probably the Quincy, Illinois daily,  the Herald-Whig?
Notes on this Article

The Women's Page
Blanket will be displayed

Visitors to the annual open house of the Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County Sunday will have the opportunity to see one of its latest acquisitions, a blanket spun and woven by Mrs. Lucy Robinson from wool raised on her plantation in Hardin County, Ky., around 1800.  The blanket has been given to the society by Mrs. C. A. Moorman, shown pictured with it. Mrs. Robinson was the great-grandmother of Miss Virginia Moorman and the late C. A. Moorman, the late E. V. Moorman and the late Miss Vennie Moorman.

Arrangements for the annual open house of the Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County Sunday from 2 to - 5 at the Historical building, 425 South Twelfth, have been made by Mrs. Louise Weems Abbot president of the society's Women's association board.   Guides from 2 to 3 will he Mrs. James N. Keefe and Mrs. Everett Windsor on the first floor, Mrs. William J. Dieterich and Mrs. William S. Black on the second floor, and Mrs. Roxanna Peine and Mrs. Matt J. Peterson in the lower level exhibit room. From 3 to 4 Miss Mary Louise Kidney and Miss Ruth Bywater will be in charge of the first floor and Mrs. Robert L. Wilson and Mrs. Howard Mosher of the second floor.  Mrs. John Maxwell and Mrs. Charles A. Heidbreder will be in the  downstairs exhibit. room. Mrs. James P. Nielson and Mrs. Wal1ace P. Elmslie will be on the first floor from 4 to 5 and John R. Fick will he the guide on the second floor. Mr. and Mrs. Russell F. Lahl will be in the lower-level room.  Mrs. Bryson M. Blackburn will serve refreshments from 2 to 3. Mrs. James R. Reed from 3 to 4 and Mrs. W. C. Swallow from 4 to 5. Mrs. Abbot, Mrs. J. Emmett Wilson and Mrs. Jack E. Hafner comprise the refreshment committee.

Three special exhibits have been set up in the lower - level display area. A blanket made by Mrs. Lucy Robinson, great grandmother of Mrs. Virginia Moorman and the late C. A. Moorman, the late E. V. Moorman and the late Miss Vennie Moorman, is one of the society's latest acquisitions, given by Mrs. C. A. Moorman.

An exhibit of Mettlach porcelain from the collection of Russell F. Lahl will be of great interest. The pieces were manufactured by Villeroy. and Boch in their Mettlach factory in Germany, established in 1841.  Another feature of the lower level exhibits will be an early Edison phonograph, in working condition, loaned by John Maxwell for the open house.  Visitors will also see two cast iron miniature cannon, childhood toys of the late Lawrence E. Emmons, Sr. These are on loan from Mrs. Lawrence E. Emmons, Jr.   A collection of books and periodicals read by Quincyans in the 19th century has been assembled by Miss Ruth C. Holum, librarian of the society, for display in the Memoriam room on the first floor.  The public is invited.

Notes from David Hupp, December 2003
Regarding the Qiuncy Historical Society article:

1. Moormans were in Breckinridge County (formed from Hardin County in 1799) by 1809, when James Venable Moorman (1777 Louisa Co. VA-1867 Breckinridge Co. KY) and wife Catherine “Katy” White Moorman (d. 1821) settled there.

James Venable Moorman’s uncle and aunt, Jesse Adams Moorman (1762 Bedford Co. VA-1843 Brandenburg KY) and Elizabeth Buckner Stith Moorman (1762 Campbell Co. VA-1823 Brandenburg KY) moved to Hardin County sometime between 1803-12, as ascertained from the scanty information I have about the birthplaces of their children.

I don’t yet have information about other Moormans who might have settled in the area during those years or earlier but the Jesse/Elizabeth move and destination likely were influenced by the migration of her brothers Richard Jr., William B. and Thomas Stith to the (later-named) Meade area of Hardin Co. (These are among the 12 children of Richard Stith, Sr. and
Lucy Cocke (Cox) Hall. jbs)

2. James Venable Moorman was my great x3 grandfather; Jesse Adams Moorman was my great x5 grandfather.  The lines from James Venable and Jesse Adams are complicated and I won’t go into the complications here. Instead, I’ll just summarize the line from James Venable Moorman:

James Venable Moorman and Catherine Moorman’s son, Pendleton Chapman Moorman (1799 Campbell Co. VA - 1892 Big Spring, Breckinridge Co. KY) married Susan G. Robinson (1816 Breckinridge Co. KY - 1891 Big Spring, Breckinridge Co. KY), Jesse Adams Moorman and Elizabeth Buckner Stith Moorman’s granddaughter.

Pendleton Moorman and Susan Moorman’s son Thomas Robinson Moorman (1849 Big Spring, Breckinridge Co. KY - 1928 Quincy, Adams Co. IL) married Lucy Moreman McKay (1852 Big Spring, Hardin Co. KY -1917 Quincy IL), who was Susan G. Robinson Moorman’s niece.

Thomas and Lucy’s children were: Hamilton Chapman Moorman (1873 Big Spring - 1937 Chicago IL); Lizzie Moorman (b. 1875 d.y.); William Clay Moorman (1876 Big Spring - 1927 Big Spring); Edgar Vaugh Moorman (1878 Big Spring - 1961 Quincy IL); twins Venable “Vennie” Moorman and Virginia “Verdie” Moorman (1880 Big Spring - after 1940 Quincy IL); and
Charles Aaron Moorman (1887 Big Spring - 1948 Quincy IL).

3. Of these children of Thomas and Lucy Moorman:  Hamilton Chapman was my maternal grandfather; William Clay became a well-known preacher in Kentucky; Edgar ran for Vice President of the United States in 1940 on the prohibition ticket;
Hamilton and Edgar, along with their father Thomas founded the Moorman Manufacturing Company in Big Spring in 1885 and moved it subsequently to Gorin, Missouri, then to Quincy, Illinois. My grandfather sold his interest in the company to his brothers sometime in the teen decade of the 20th century; and younger brother Charles Aaron ran the company from
some time in the 1930s until his death in 1948. The company ceased to exist in 1998, when it was sold to Archer Daniels Midland.

4. There are several connections to Stiths in these lines; for the purposes of the newspaper article, the rug-maker, Lucy McKay Moorman is the great x3 granddaughter of Richard Stith, Sr.

5. Thomas Robinson and Lucy McKay Moorman donated the land for Big Spring Methodist Church.  See:  Big Spring Methodist Church History

6.  Credit goes to Judy Canant who provided me with key data to help me figure out the complexity.