-by Lucianne Shoffner; photos by Amy Sanders, Nathan Garner

Built in 1895 by JW Moran for his wife, Sophia Reilly Gunn, this home had a tragic start.  Moran’s wife never lived to see the home finished, but her touches and ideas live on in the home, even to the point of having a ‘trunk room’ so her guests would be close to their trunks while visiting.  The house is a modified design of George Barber's Cottage no. 36 from Book No. 2. Construction began in 1894 but was put on hold when Sophia became Ill and died Oct 7 1895. Construction resumed a few months later and Mr. Moran occupied the home with their children.  

After Mr. Moran died in 1912, the home had been passed down to heirs from generation to generation and eventually resulted in the building growing old and weak.

Enter Connie and Richard Killebrew, with a nudge from Judge Tommy Moore who told them, “If you don’t buy it, the town’s going to tear it down.”  It took Richard Killebrew, with the help of David Todd Construction nine months to ‘rebuild’ the home, keeping as much of the original wood, flooring and walls as possible.  Connie was then able to take over, and a year later, the home was ready to begin a new life.

“I used to walk by here every day, going to school.”  Connie told us, “I always loved this house, and of course, the castle in the back was always mine.”  As children do, Connie always said, that’s going to be mine someday, and she was right!

The Moran house now is filled with wonderful antiques, some original to the home, but most collected by Connie to fit the home’s original time period.  “The dining room is all original to the house, I loved it and felt it really belonged in the home, so I bought it from the sale.” Connie continued, “The wall paper in the dining room was a real find, I just love it!”  All of the furniture had been stored, so Connie had a blank slate and she started with the walls and lighting fixtures. “There were nine mantels, all original, but the tile was in bad shape on all of them but one.” Connie laughed a little, “I didn’t get to find tile to match the old tiles, it was too time consuming, so the men said they were taking over that part.”  She shrugged and added, “Sometimes you have to pick your battles. They did a great job on them!”

The walls had plaster on them, but repairs had to be done.  Sheetrock was placed over most of the plaster, then period style wallpaper was added.  Connie went to St. Louis to find the wallpaper, making sure it matched the right time period.  She then had to find someone to actually do the wallpaper. “We found a man that used to work with my Dad,” Connie smiled, “It was great to be able to find someone that we knew to do it.”

Many of the antiques in the Moran House are actually Killebrew family antiques.  “Richard’s Aunt Hazel loved antiques, and when the contents of Richard’s family home was sold, she bought a lot of them.”  Connie added, “She allowed us to buy them back for the house, and then helped me scour antique shops to find what else we needed.”  Shops in Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, and Arkansas gave up treasures to make the house perfect. “People wanted to help us, we bought one of my favorite pieces in Arkansas.  The gentleman that we bought it from asked us about the house, and then told us that he would deliver the bookcase.” Smiling, she remembered the deliver, “He had it completely wrapped in a covered trailer, he didn’t want anything to happen to it!  And I’m glad he did, because with some of the other pieces, we had a hard time getting them home.” One of the cutest pieces in the house is an antique stove in the kitchen, the owner sold it at a yard sale locally, and when he found out it was going to the Moran House, he took $100 off of the price.

The home was truly a labor of love at its beginning, and now, at its rebirth it has become an event center.  “We moved home and built our house before we bought this.” Connie laughed. After they bought it, her husband asked her, “Now what are you going to do with it?”  She didn’t have to think long, she wanted to do something that would allow the house to be happy and celebrate life! “The last of the Moran family that lived here were very private.  Mr. and Mrs. Moran raised their two sons here, but she had been a Holocaust survivor and was an extremely private person. They met when he was serving in WWII in Germany. When we had our open house, it was the very first time lots of people had been inside the house, and they all wanted to!”  As a matter of fact, over 400 people came for the open house. Connie smiled remembering, “We had traffic jams in front of the house as people watched the progress of the rebuild. It was, and is, a beloved landmark in the community” The very first event that was held at the home was the wedding of Judge Moore’s daughter, Kate.  “It was so wonderful that we could do that for him, after all, he was part of the inspiration that created this!”

The home has held a lot of weddings, both inside and out, baby showers, even one funeral.  “The lady who died had always wanted to see inside this home, but she died from cancer before she was able.”  Shaking her head, Connie continued, “I wasn’t sure about having a body here, but she had been cremated, and it turned out to be a beautiful celebration of her life!”

“We don’t have antiques at home,” Connie added, “But I love all the pieces we have collected for this home!”  Her favorite pieces are the bookcase on the bottom floor that came from her Aunt Hazel, and then there is the large chest style piece upstairs that came from that antique shop in Arkansas.  “I love the piece, but the man that sold it to us was so kind when he delivered it.” Connie added as we strolled through the rooms, “We almost lost this one that we bought from a florist up in Paris, we understood why the guy from Arkansas wanted to deliver a special piece.”  The piece from Paris required a little repair, but has amazing carving work on it. It is indeed a beautiful piece, quite fitting for the ‘Men’s Study’ that it sits in. “Antiques are great furniture, but it’s the memories attached that truly make them beautiful.”

If you would like to see the home, it will be open during the Holidays.  Moran House has an open house on the day the town of Dresden kicks off the Holiday Season.  The website also has some great shots of the home as well: TheMoranHouseDresden.com or see more on their facebook page!

For more history of the Moran family, there is a blog, moranfamilytn.blogspot.com, that tells more about the house and shows some of the historical memorabilia, vintage clothing, and much more that was removed from the home by the family.  They also found this newspaper clipping about their hero, JW Moran’s youngest brother. They thought it was worth putting up, and in honor of the Moran House, we agree. He embodies the spirit of those who give it all.

From the Enterprise, 1907 just the way it was written then:

James Henderson Moran Jr. was the youngest brother of John Williamson Moran.  The brothers served in the War of the Rebellion on the side of the Confederacy.  James (Jimmie) served with Morton's Battery and died near Nashville during The Guntown Fight on Dec. 2, 1864.  John W. Moran was part of Company I, 31st Tennessee Regiment. He surrendered in North Carolina with the Army of Tennessee at the end of the War, 1865.

A Bit of History.

A few days ago we ran across a copy of the Enterprise published in May, 1884--twenty-three years ago--containing the following bit of interesting history and we publish same, feeling it will be read with interest by many surviving friends and acquaintances of the young hero:

"JIMMY MORAN--MEMORIES OF A WEAKLEY COUNTY HERO.""Our fellow-townsman, Mr. J.W. Moran, returned from Nashville last Saturday, bringing with him the remains of his brother James, one of the heroes of Capt. John Morton's famous battery.  The remains were deposited in the Moran burying ground one mile north of Dresden. Sunday's Nashville American contains these allusions to Jimmie's brave record. "The remains of James H. Moran, a member of Morton's battery who was killed in the attack on block house No. 1 on the Chattanooga railroad about five or six miles from this city, on Gen Hood's campaign into Tennessee, was removed to the family burying ground in Dresden.  Jimmie Moran joined Morton's battery on Gen. Forrest's raid into West Tennessee, and made as brave and as true a soldier as the confederacy had. He was a gun-driver, and was wounded in the left arm at Tishomingo creek, but refused to leave his team until the fight was ended. At Harrisburg he jumped from his horse, when he saw one of the gunners fall at his piece, and supplied his place. He was fighting as a gunner when he was killed.  He was lame and walked with difficulty and was rather weakly of constitution, but he had in him the heart of a true man and a brave soldier. He was one of those men who would always respond to the occasion. No man in the battery was more beloved by his comrades than this boy. He was a model soldier in camp; always kind and sweet tempered and active in the discharge of his duties."

"The above reference to his heroic conduct at the battle of Tishomingo creek, also known as the guntown or Bryce's crossroads fight in Mississippi, in June 1864, is also found in a work entitled the "Campaigns of Gen. Forrest," page 476.  We quote literally:

"the spirit that animated the men may be illustrated by the behavior of one--Jimmy Moran of Morton's battery--who, when shot through the arm, on being told by his officers to go to the rear, invariably replied: "No, sir, I'll stay with you as long as I can stand up," and continued to drive his gun team with his arm in a sling, through the entire fight."

"The Guntown fight terminated in a complete Confederate victory, and when we read of the brave spirit and cool determination there manifested by the rebel soldiers, of which Jimmie Moran's action was a fair sample, we need not wonder that they were conquerers against great odds.  We are informed that a large number of Weakley county men were engaged in that memorable battle, and perhaps they will readily call to mind the incidents