Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Thomas Barnette Moore (4 August 1837 -> 19 March 1918)


Barnette (pronounced "Bonnet") was my great grandfather.  He was one of three brothers to migrate from "AI" in Person County across the upper prong of the Flat River.  The brothers bought large acreage on which to build homes, families and farms.  Their father was Gilbert Moore (see Gilbert Moore Bible) who was the grandson of our illustrious Stephen Moore.

Barnette built a "dog trot" house which remained unpainted throughout its existence.  It was like two houses built on either side of a long hallway.  Probably built around the Civil War, it existed into my adult life.  The last folks to live in the house were Norfolk and Cleo Wrenn, who had moved into the old home as caretakers of the last Moores who lived there.

Sitting on porch of  the Barnette Moore Home were 3 of his children: Sam, Nellie, and Charlie in their advanced age.
I remember Aunt Nellie Moore Pearce who died in Richmond in 1951.

In 1925, my grandparents' (William P. and Rosa Moore) cabin about a quarter mile away burned to the ground, when my mother was 15 years old.  The family went to live with Uncle Sam and Uncle Charlie, until the new and existing house that I call "Lady Slipper Cove" was built.  When Uncle Sam died in 1945, he left in his will enough money for his nieces, Aunt Alma and Mother to finish the upstairs portions of their homes. I was too young to remember Uncle Sam, being only 2 years old when he died. I do remember both attics at the farm and my home in Durham, before they were converted into upstairs bedrooms. Sam left his car to his nephew, my Uncle Bill.  Charlie and Sam were never married.

After the Wrenns built a small brick home within view of the old home, the Person County fire department was asked to burn down the old home, as it was in disrepair and a fire hazard itself.  My good friend and next door neighbor, Ed Wrenn now lives on that land.  He remembers the old wheelchair used by one of the sisters (probably Ella), who also probably suffered from the genetic disease (limb girdle muscular dystrophy), which I have today.

Also view my personal blog "Lady Slipper Cove" for more information about the land and my more recent family.