Biographical Note

The Moore family papers include letters and other documents from Moore family members that span three generations.

John Moore (I) is a member of the oldest generation represented in this collection. His parents were immigrants from Europe: his mother, Catherine, came from England and his father, Garret Moore, came from Ireland. Although much of John Moore's extended family lived in Ireland, he grew up in Louisiana on a plantation run by slaves. John's first job was teaching. He then became an army surgeon. In 1853, his first post was at Fort Myers, Florida, during the Third Seminole War. Later, John was employed in the United States Army expedition against the Mormons and in the Union Army during the Civil War. He had three other siblings named Mary, Robert, and Richard (who died in 1908). His two children were named children John and Juliet.

John Moore (II) is the elder John Moore's son. He was born on April 12, 1866 in Eutaw, Alabama and was 5'11. From December 5, 1890 to October 3, 1902, he worked in the treasury department of the Internal Revenue Service. There, he started out as a substitute clerk, class D, but was promoted on May 7, 1895. In 1904, he worked for Central Union Telephone Co. In 1895, he married Elizabeth and they had two children: Robert and Mary. He separated from his wife and lived with Mary Kelly, his aunt, in Indiana because of his alcoholism.

Elizabeth "Lizzie" Moore was John Moore's (I) wife; her maiden name was Ford. Born in 1873, she was 5'7, 136 pounds, and had pale brown hair. Mary was twenty-two when first courted by her husband. She had many brothers, including one named Will.

Mary Mead Moore was John and Lizzie Moore's daughter. She was born on September 29, 1906,and graduated from Randolph Macon Women's College in 1929. She kept in contact with Betty, a college friend who lived in Charleston, for the rest of her life. Mary worked in Roanoke as a schoolteacher and was deeply religious and interested in radios.

Robert Garrett Moore was Mary's elder brother. He was born in 1897 and was a clumsy child. As a young man, he was estranged from his father and wanted to become an engineer. In June of 1925, he died at the age of 28: during a reserve officers training camp, he drowned from either cramps or a heart spasm. On the day of his death, he had complained about heart pain and vertigo to his drill sergeant. He is buried in Timber Ridge Church Yard, located outside of Lowery, Virginia.

Juliet Moore is the daughter of John Moore (I). She lived on a cattle farm in Iowa and her husband's name was Burt. They had two sons, John and Gaylord, who both studied medicine at Iowa State University.

Gaylord is the eldest son of Juliet Moore. In addition to attending Iowa State University, he also went to Rush College in Chicago. There, he played trombone in the college band and sang soprano in the choir. In 1938, he became a medical officer for the US Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida. Gaylord was close with his cousin, Robert Garrett Moore.

Mary Moore Kelly was John Moore's (I) sister. She died in late 1921. Based in Bloomington, Indiana, she was a member of Daughters of the American Revolution and interested in family genealogy. In the early 1900s, she tried to construct a family tree with Arthur Walters Cameron Moore and Henry Percival Moore, two distant cousins from Australia. She was married to Captain James R. Kelly, who worked in railroads before serving in the Indiana's fourteenth regiment during the Civil War; he was mortally wounded in battle and died in a Virginia hospital.

Henry Percival Moore "HP" was born on November 8, 1860 to Robert Walters Moore. He lived in Adelaide, Australia. In 1885, he married his wife Eleanor and they had three children. In 1912, his eldest Robert was stationed in India, his other son Brian was seventeen, and his daughter Mary was nine.

Arthur Walters Cameron Moore was Henry Percival Moore's brother and lived in St. Claire, Australia. He had several daughters and a wife named Sophy, all of which belonged to the Women's Liberal League. In addition to Henry, he had a widowed sister named Louise Gardner.

Found in 2 Collections and/or Records: