Sunday, July 19, 2009

Portraits of the Col. John Moore Family

by David E. Jeffreys - ©July, 2009

In 1966, Margaret Simons Middleton wrote a book published by the University of South Carolina Press entitled Henrietta Johnston of Charles Town, South Carolina – America’s First Pastellist. The book has long been out of print and I first found out about it reading an article in the February, 1978 issue of Smithsonian magazine. The portraits themselves appear to be in the public domain. Upon my inquiry, the author of the article, Miriam Troop wrote to me:


I was lucky enough then to get one of the remainders from the press itself, as Ms. Troop suggested.
Included among the many portraits that Henrietta Johnston painted are four portraits of members of the Col. John Moore Family. Margaret Middleton writes:
Then in 1725, portraits were signed and dated in “New York.” Several depict the members of the family of John Moore, Secretary of South Carolina, who had moved to New York from St. Thomas Parish.1
Perhaps there may have been some confusion regarding the two generations of John Moores – Hon. John Moore who had been the Secretary of the Province in Charles Town who later moved to Philadelphia, and his son, Col. John Moore of New York, whose family is depicted in the Portraits. Of interest since the elder Hon. John Moore had been Secretary of the Province is a drawing (which is not attributed) of the Office building:


John Moore, Esq. (1745-1828), the grandson of Col. John Moore of New York City, wrote the following account on his birthday the 29th April 1821:


My Grandfather was . . . .born in South Carolina 11 August, 1686, and died at New York the 29th October in 1749, and was the first corpse interred in the Family vault, south side of Trinity church-yard. I had the stone with his name cut at full length placed over it. Uncle Lambert Moore paid the expense.
FRANCES MOORE, his wife. Her maiden name was Lambert---they were married at New York the 9th of December 1713. She was descended from a respectable Family in France, which fled from that country on the revocation of the Edict of Nantz---born in New York the 17th April 1692, and died 21 March 1782 and interred in the Family vault.
Names of their children, beside which there were several premature births.
1st. Daughter Frances, born 1715 --- married Samuel Bayard; died at Throgs Neck.
2nd. Rebecca, born 1717, died unmarried; interred in family vault.
3rd. Son John, born 1719, died unmarried in Jamaica in early life.
4th. Daughter Susanah, born 1720; died in infancy before the vault was made.
5th. Son Thomas & 6th. Son Peter, Twins. Died 1721, as infants before the vault was made.
7th. Son Thomas, twin - My Father
8th. Peter, twin, This second Peter died also an infant before vault was made.
9th. Son Richard, born 1724, died at Barbadoes about 1784.
10th. Daughter Susanah, born 1725, married John Smyth died at N. Y. Interred in the vault.
11th. Son Lambert, twin born 1727, married twice; interred in vault.
12th Son Daniel, twin born 1727, Died an infant before vault was made.
13th. Daniel, born 1728. Died an infant.
14th. Daniel, born 1729, died unmarried at Jamaica, in advanced life
15th. William, born 1730, died unmarried at Coracoa in early life.
16th. Charles, born 1732, married Eve Hall, died in North Carolina
17th. Stephen, born 1734, married Grizzy Philips, died in North Carolina, aged [65]
18th. Ann, born 1738, unmarried and still living in perfect health and very active in the 85th year of age.
(spelling left intact--editor)

From this account, the reader finds that Col. John’s wife, Frances Lambert Moore, bore 18 children in 15 pregnancies over 23 years in which 12 lived beyond infancy. There were 3 sets of twins. She was pregnant almost every year after their marriage until she was 44 years old. Those years of childbearing seemed to have strengthened her, rather than weakening her, as she lived to be almost 90 years old.


PORTRAIT OF COL. JOHN MOORE of NEW YORK CITY


Pastel Portrait by Henrietta Johnston, 1725

Colonel John Moore (1686-1749)
Colonel John Moore, who portrait is signed and dated 1725, was born in St. Thomas Parish, South Carolina, the son of John Moore (c. 1659-1732) and Rebecca Axtell. John Moore, the father, was Secretary of the Province of South Carolina but about 1695/6, with his family, he moved to Philadelphia. From Philadelphia the son went on to New York City where he attained distinction as an alderman; a member of the Provincial Council; and of the legislature; he was also colonel of the New York City Regiment of Foot. He was a vestryman and warden of Trinity Church and is believed to be the first person buried in the graveyard of that Church. The story of of his homes is interesting. In New York City he owned Whitehall . . ., and in the country he owned Moore’s Folly on the Hudson River which was later purchased for the site of the United States Military Academy, now known as West Point.
The ownership of this pastel is not known and only the previous ownership can be given.
Owned for many years by the late Luke Vincent Lockwood, New York City.2


PORTRAIT OF MRS. JOHN MOORE


Pastel Portrait by Henrietta Johnston, 1725

Mrs. John Moore (1692-1782)
Mrs. John Moore was born Frances Lambert. She was of Huguenot ancestry and came to this country as a small child to escape persecution. She had many children besides the two whose pastels were drawn by Henrietta Johnston, and she lived to a good old are.
Mrs. Samuel Schwartz, the owner of this portrait, has given the following description: “Mrs. John Moore (Frances Lambert), has dark brown hair, and brown eyes. Her dress is yellow with orange highlights. The stole she wears over her left arm (on right side of the picture) is a lavender taupe.” 3


PORTRAIT OF FRANCES LAMBERT MOORE


Pastel Portrait by Henrietta Johnston: 1725

Frances Lambert Moore (1715-1805)
Frances Lambert Moore was the eldest daughter of Colonel John Moore and Frances Lambert Moore. She was born in New York in 1715. She married Samuel Bayard, Esquire, of Throg’s Neck, New York, the grand nephew of Peter Stuyvesant. Inscribed on the back of this pastel is: “Henrietta Johnston Fecit, New York. Ano 1725.” The subject was ten years of age when this pastel was done.
Also on the back of the pastel is a long list of ownerships, all of the Bayard family. Owned by Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Schwartz.4


PORTRAIT OF THOMAS MOORE


Pastel Portrait by Henrietta Johnston: 1725

Thomas Moore (fl. 1725)
This painting is usually referred to as “The Portrait of Bishop Moore’s Father, as a Child.” Several affidavits testify to the fact that this is the pastel of little Thomas Moore, so of Colonel John Moore and his wife Frances Lambert Moore. Thomas Moore became the father of Bishop Moore, the Right Reverend Richard Channing Moore, D.D., (1782-1841), Bishop of Virginia (1814-1841).
The pastel represents a very young child of perhaps four years and this description was furnished by Mr. George M. McClancy, Jr., of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts: “The predominating dark-light effect of this portrait is immediately offset by the bright reddish brown sash, the red belt and the red feathers of the arrows. The flesh is mostly white, touched with pink, and with blue for shadows and modeling. The eyes are blue; the lips are red; and the hair is brown though greyed almost to a neutral. The dress is bluish-white and the background is black and white with faint suggestions of blue and brown. With the exception of the reds, the colors are very faint.”
This pastel of Thomas Moore was given by Alexander W. Weddell to The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia.5

Of course, these pastels were painted some 9 years before Stephen was born; therefore, he and a number of the other children are not included. More to come on Trinity Church, New York City, and the burial vault in a future post. Of interest also is that Stephen was named godfather of Thomas Moore’s (depicted above as a child) son and his nephew, Richard Channing Moore, and he returned to New York City from Quebec in August, 1762 for the baptism.
____________________________________

1Henrietta Johnston of Charles Town, South Carolina – America’s First Pastellist by Margaret Simons Middleton, p. 47. University of South Carolina Press, 1966. Out of print.
2Ibid, p. 64.
3Ibid, p. 64.
4Ibid, p. 64-65.
5Ibid, p. 65.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

David,
Thank you for your Stephen Moore Blog. It's been a great resource for me in researching my ancestor Rebecca Axtell and her offspring.

I found your portraits of the Moore's most interesting. Did you by any chance find a portrait of Col Moore's mother Rebecca Axtell? Or do you know if one exists?

Thank you
Warren Beeton, Haymarket VA
warren.beeton@comcast.net

Terri O'Neill said...

I've researched at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP), and there's a large collection of Moore papers in the Cadwallader Collection, Bond Papers there, which I have not fully explored. If there is any possibility of a mention of a portrait of Rebecca (Axtell) Moore, it might be there.

Don't know if Mr. Beeton is aware of it, but there is a good study of the Axtells, "A Tale of Two Regicides" in The American Genealogist, Vol. 81, No.2, April 2006, pages 81-99, continued in No.3, July 2006, pages 192-98, concluded in No. 4, October 2006, pages 304-13.

Warren Beaton said...

Terri and Dave,

Thank you for this. I have much information on both the Massachusetts Axtells (via Thomas, brother of the regicide) and the Carolina branch (via the Regicide’s son Daniel), but nothing on the possible significance of their actions w/respect to the Carolina colony.

I’ve been able to order copies from the Allen County library in Indiana from the details you provided.

David Jeffreys said...

Warren,

If you do come across the portrait of Rebecca Axtell Moore, we sure would appreciate a heads-up!
Continued good luck in your genealogy research.

David

A Johnson Tree Roots and Branches said...

Hello! Thanks for this blog. I may be a descendent of John Moore and Frances Lambert Moore. While reading this, I noticed a seeming discrepancy. In one place it says that Frances Lambert Moore left France for the Colonies/US but in another it says she was born in NYC. According to Find a Grave, she was born in NYC:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=11934376

Can you address this?

Thanks!

Brian

David Jeffreys said...

Brian, Terri O'Neill responds as follows:

The statement that Frances was born in France is old misinformation written by John Moore, Esq. (1745-1828). The more recent research has proven that she was born in NYC to parents of French Huguenot heritage. You could direct him to the articles on the subject: In New York Genealogical & Biographical Record: Vol. 140, #3, July 2009, pp. 163-72 Huguenots:Barberie, Brinquemand, Lambert, Minvielle
Vol. 141, #4, October 2010, pp.297-99 Lambert, Brinqueman, Barberie, Disosway: One Document, Seven Words, Many Changes

Vol. 143, #3, July 2012, pp.187-97, Col. John Moore of NYC: Merchant, Public Servant, Churchman (pt. 1); Vol. 143, #3, October 2012 (concluded)