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- [S113] Manes Funeral Home, (http://www.manesfuneralhome.com), 13 Jun 2010.
Lois Inez Moore obituary
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 28 Jan 2011.
Just Plain Talk: Bryant & Pack Lumber makes way for new ideas
Caleb Moore is comfortable at the controls of a large bulldozer and he can operate other heavy equipment for Moore Brothers even though he is only 12 years old.
Author: David Popiel
Although January is fast closing in on February, the first full month of winter has lived up to its reputation, and in our hometown we wonder what the groundhog will see.
Late last year, our Cockecountymarketplace.com coordinator Mark Taylor walked in with a smile and said he had just signed on Moore Brothers. Not being familiar with the company, I asked some questions and discovered a fellow named Maurice Moore ran the Del Rio company and wanted to get more business. He looked to the Internet and our marketplace directory on newportplaintalk.com, which has more than 200,000 page views per month and always more than 15,000 unique visitors. I had hoped to meet Maurice but got bogged down in end-of-year business. Then, during January while talking about the closing of James Furniture, Leon Bryant called to tell me that two old buildings at the former Bryant & Pack Lumber were to be taken down-not as in 'carefully' but bulldozed. Leon mentioned that Moore Brothers would do the demolition. So I showed up mid-January to see the brothers and say goodbye to a lumber shed you and I had visited hundreds of times since moving here in 1972. The lumber company had been in operation for decades dating at least back to the 1930s. If you drive by the site between Subway and Mooney Ramsey's former car lot, you see this large piece of land now owned by Leon and Benny Bryant, brothers, sons of Ophas Bryant. He was married to Elizabeth Finchum Bryant. Where the existing empty lumber supply office stands, the sawmill existed and operated until 1970. To provide a place for the freshly cut lumber, then owners, Ophas and his brother, Charlie, decided to build a block store house in 1948. It was roughly 60 by 80 feet with steel beams holding up the roof. Leon told me that a young Charlie Crowder got the job of setting the steel beams, as that was his line of work.
A couple of years later, the mill owners needed a place for a planer to smooth the dry, stored lumber and so another shed was erected. That was in 1950, when Clyde Pack joined the business and it took on the name you know. Charlie retired from the mill by 1955 and Raymond Gregg of Helm Lumber bought out his share. Gregg was with B&P for about three years. Benny joined the business by buying him out in 1963. The next year, Leon acquired his father's stake. "We were always around the saw mill and lumber business," said Leon. The brothers bought out Pack in 1970 and built the large office and supplies center in 1971. The business ownership may have changed during the decades but the property was always owned by Ophas and Charlie. After his death, Leon and Benny bought this share and acquired full ownership when Ophas died about 1992. "We retired in June 2001 and then Danny Jenkins leased it until late last year." That's a short history of the business that has 440 front feet along Cosby Highway, is 300 feet deep and slightly less than 3.5 acres.
The weather was cold and typical of the month when I arrived in the morning to see Maurice's 12-year-old son, Caleb, drive the huge track hoe up to the block building and begin to knock it down. At one point, through no fault of his, the blocks on the roadside wall tittered towards the highway but did not fall onto the sidewalk or pavement. That made Leon happy. I returned several times during the day to watch the progress and most of the building was on the ground or gone by quitting time. I wanted to know more about the brothers and this company so met with Maurice on a sunny 50-degree day last Monday, before winter returned. Moore Brothers specializes in grade work, demolition, building site preparation but not construction-rather destruction to prepare for future land use. The company has been around since 1984 but brother Dennis went out on his own in 1996. It was a friendly parting as the men divided up the equipment, each getting a bulldozer and other heavy machinery. They are the sons of E.L. "Chuck" Moore, who many of you remember from the state Department of Transportation. He was a highly skilled dozer operator who worked several years in the "gorge" between Tennessee and North Carolina, when Interstate 40 was being built. That was from the early to mid 1960s. "We were just kids then," said Maurice, who is 60. Their mother was the former Lois Finchum and both parents are dead. She was an industrious housewife who, in addition, worked off tobacco in the fall and did babysitting. Chuck was raised near Round Mountain and Blue Mill where Dennis has built his home. As a young man, Chuck logged in the Gulf and spent a lifetime behind the control sticks of a dozer and taught his sons well, retiring from TDOT. Maurice credits retired sessions judge Marcus Mooneyham for helping his Dad get the state job. "Daddy was 74 when he died but Mom lived to be 97," said Maurice, recalling her strict, healthful lifestyle. The children also include Betty Maples, of Ohio. She is the oldest and Maurice the youngest. After Mr. Moore died the children built Mom a home off Honey Lane, which is next to the Slab Café.
For many years, Maurice was married to the former Shirley Norton, but they are no longer married. They have three children. Erin, in her 20s, works for the Greeneville City Schools system in a special program. In her off time she helps Debbie Eisenhower at Debbie's Drive-In by cooking and serving. Marci is a senior at Tusculum College with a double major in business and education and hopes to be a teacher. Caleb is still trying to get through school, attending Parrottsville. Maurice recognizes the importance of a college education, though he has done fine without one but worked hard all his life. Caleb seems like a natural at operating heavy equipment and getting big work done fast. "It's a dangerous thing," said Maurice. Caleb has learned the common techniques and keeps safe. His first real project was helping at the Newport Bojanges restaurant site preparation.
Early in their career Maurice and Dennis specialized in subdivision site development. They did three such projects for Don Norwood. Dennis worked with both Larry Webb and Gary Spann, both successful and well-know developers. In between large projects there were plenty of basements and house sites carved out of the red clay and limestone. They did at least six projects for Food City in Knoxville, Maryville, and Clinton, as the Kentucky-Virginia-Tennessee grocery chain expanded in those areas. Projects also included many celltowers, as cellphones became more popular through the 1990s. All went great through 2008-the Moore Brothers best year. Then, the recession bulldozed over practically everyone who had anything to do with construction. The past two years have been a horrible time but there is now a glimmer things are improving.
Maurice has always loved to work and when not working he spent time helping his friend, racer Duane Hommel. "He was such a personable man. At South Carolina the kids would stick their fingers through the fence to try to touch him. He was a fan-friendly guy," said Maurice. Many times, Jimmy Owens accompanied them with his racecar. Racing provided a fun escape from construction and caused him no regrets. Likewise, the decades in excavation have been relatively safe with no major injuries to him or co-workers. Tim Hux and brother, Jim Hux, help the brothers, too. A food friend of Dennis's is Jimmy Dellinger, who also has worked with the company. Many of you know his brother, David Dellinger. Jimmy also drove a truck in years past for Maurice's uncle, Arthur Smith, who I recalled as a rather famous mountain logger. I got to know him in my quest to acquire wormy chestnut for woodworking. Maurice said that cabinet door's in his Mom's last home were made from wormy chestnut supplied by Smith.
Just Plain Talk: Bryant & Pack Lumber makes way for new ideas
- [S113] Manes Funeral Home, (http://www.manesfuneralhome.com), 25 Mar 2009.
Mary Ellen Norton obituary
- [S113] Manes Funeral Home, (http://www.manesfuneralhome.com), 6 Apr 2006.
Roscoe Norton obituary
- [S58] Marriage Certificate.
Groom's Name Bride's First Name Bride's Maiden Name County Date of Marriage File #
MOORE MAURICE E SHIRLEY N [NOT GIVEN] COCKE 06-30-1984 27201
- [S131] Divorce Record.
Husband's Name Wife's First Name Wife's Maiden Name County Court Date of Divorce File #
MOORE MAURICE E SHIRLEY J [NOT GIVEN] COCKE CHANCERY 10-14-2008 23310
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