Call For Papers

This Stephen Moore of Mt. Tirzah Family blog is best served when all readers consider becoming contributors of articles as well. Many of you are in a position to know particulars about family individuals, because they are in your line and perhaps you have family bibles, letters, deeds, wills, and other documents which help us know more about many of the very interesting members of the greater family. For example, I would like to post articles about Dr. Portius Moore and Dr. Bailey Webb. These can be of any era from the 1600s to the present; for example, the ante-bellum period, or the War Between the States period.

Perhaps, you live in the Triangle, NC area. Did you know that there is a wealth of information about our family in the Southern Historical Collection and the North Carolina Collection at the Wilson Library on the UNC campus in Chapel Hill. Likewise, the Stephen Moore Papers are in a collection at the Perkins Library at Duke in Durham. The North Carolina State Archives in Raleigh is also full of information. And there is undoubtably information in private hands that has never been donated to a library that you may know about.

Suggest to your children, when they next need to write an essay, to research some aspect of the Moore family that interests them in one of the resources listed above. Many libraries have Genealogy Rooms with helpful staff to find the information you need such as census records, death notices, and cemetery records.

In addition to the Moore surname, there are many other names in the family that deserve research such as Stanford, Webb, Horner, and Reade to name just a few. Though I have used Stephen Moore's name in the title of this blog because most of us associate ourselves with him, his father Col. John, and his grandfather, Hon. John should be included, as well as the collateral branches of the Moore family.

Terri Bradshaw O'Neill has without question been the foremost genealogy researcher of the Moore family. Many of you may have copies of her wonderful publication of the 1990s, the Moore / Stanford / Webb Chronicles. Some of that content may from time to time be posted here, but this blog is not a substitute for that body of work. Though Terri stopped publishing the Chronicles some 10 years ago, her interest and her research has never flagged and she has gone on to publish articles in scholarly journals. She is a great friend of mine (besides being my 5th cousin, once removed) and is already contributing to this blog.

Like other plantation owners, the Moores were also slave owners. There has been a concerted effort on research of African-American heritage at Stagville and Somerset Place. Likewise, there may be similar stories that need to be researched in connection with the Moores. Remember Roots and Chicken George? The TV program changed their name from Lea (a family on the Person-Caswell county line) to Moore, which really upset me because it was supposed to be a documentary telling a true story.

There is one caveat though that should be remembered: document, document, document. We want this blog to contain truth. Be able to back up your research from as many primary sources as possible and be careful about using secondary sources. You will note that in my original Stephen Moore Genealogy post that I have already had to retract or explain some statements that I used from secondary sources, because you the reader have been alert and made comments. Keep it up! In your articles, be sure to attribute your sources such as footnotes and/or a listing of references at the end.

Please think of this blog as an ongoing "living" book to which we all contribute. Consider me to be the editor, not the author. I also suggest that you join the blog as a "follower" in the left margin, because that will inter-connect us as the Moore cousins we are. Something about yourself and picture in your profile will further help us to get to know one another. Thanks.

To contribute your article, see Email your editor in the left sidebar. Please include your full name, your postal address, your phone number (in case I need to write or call you -- they will not be published), your email, and your relationship to Stephen Moore. The article should be in Microsoft Word webpage format (.htm). Also include pictures embedded in the document or to be added in .jpg format.

Feel free to directly comment on any article by clicking on "comments" at the bottom of each post.

.