Col. John Moore of New York City

After two years of writing, editing, rewriting and re-editing, the entire article on Col. John Moore and his wife, Frances Lambert, has been published. It appears in two parts, in the New York Genealogical and Biographical RECORD: Vol. 143, Number 3, July 2012, and Number 4, October 2012. I hope all of you who are interested in family history will seek out these two issues from your library. Quite a few new discoveries about our Moore lineage have been made in the last 5 years or so, and I crammed as much of it into the article as space would allow.

Some of you have asked how to obtain copies of the article published in two issues of the RECORD. If they are not available in your local library, you can contact the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society RECORD, 36 West 44th Street, New York, NY 10036-8105. Single issues are $7.50 each. The website address is: www.newyorkfamilyhistory.org

The article is in Vol. 143, Number 3, July 2012, and Number 4, October 2012.

Terri Bradshaw ONeill

Colleyville, Texas

Col. John Moore of New York Chronology

11 Aug 1686-John Moore b. in SC1

27 May 1702-John Moore made Freeman of the City of New York2

c. 1703-apprenticed to Stephen DeLancey3

6 Nov 1710, 17 Jan 1710/11, 7 Jun 1711-JM in NY4

26 Jan 1710/11-witness to a deed recorded for Thomas Roberts5

6 Aug 1713-Letter to Evert Wendell @ Albany6

9 Dec 1713-m. Frances Lambert

c. 1715-became Warden & Vestryman of Trinity Church

c. 1715-dau. Frances born

24 Jun 1716-JM listed as owner with Stephen DeLancey, Peter Barberie & Henry Land of ship Elizabeth, bound for Jamaica.7 John Moore owned part interest in the Hamilton, the Beaver, NY, and the Peter. These ships traded with Jamaica, Barbados, London and Holland.

c. 1717-dau. Rebecca born

22 Oct 1717-Deed recorded for John Moore for lot & house on Winckel Street bought from Abraham Delanoy. NYC Deed Books, Vol. 28: 334-336.8

c. 1719-son John born9

10 May 1720-Trinity Church authorized JM to pay upkeep for a charity case10

c. 1720-dau. Susannah born, d. infant

c. 1721-twins Thomas & Peter born, both d. infants

1721-plaintiff in suit with Stephen DeLancey and Peter Barberie11

c. 1722-twins Thomas & Peter born, Peter d. infant

Nov. 1723-JM attended funeral of Gertrude (Schuyler) Van Cortlandt12

24 May 1725-dau. Susannah born13

23 Jun 1725-Warrant signed for salary of JM, "quarantine guard" (may have to do with inspecting incoming ships)14

c. 1725-Pastel portraits rendered by Henrietta Johnston, of Col. John Moore, his wife Frances (Lambert) Moore, their daughter Frances (age about 15) and son Thomas (age 4)15

14 Nov 1727-twins Lambert & Daniel born, Daniel d. infant16

4 Dec 1727-deed recorded for John Moore for a lot & house purchased from Thomas Roberts on Bridge or Custom House Street fronting the Dock. NYC Deed Books Vol. 31:

206-211.17

c. 1728-son Daniel born, d. infant

c. 1729-son Daniel born,

c. 1730-son William born

Feb 1730-JM assessed £160 for two houses in the Dock Ward, £25 for two storehouses and £5 for a garden in the South Ward18

10 Jul 1730-John Moore signed the Entry Book (for duties assessed on cargo) for Stephen DeLancy19

c. 1730/1-JM listed as "assistant alderman" & Freeman of the City of NY20

25 Apr 1731-JM bought the lot on which he built "Whitehall"21

Compiler’s Note: At the New York Public Library in the Manuscript & Archives Section, in the collection called “Bancker Plans” is a map survey of the “Whitehall Lots” dated 10 March 1731, performed by James Livingston. It shows four long, narrow lots, the first, Lot #4, its long side fronting Weigh House Street, which later became Moore Street, was sold to John Moore. Next, Lot #5 was Stephen DeLancey’s, #6-Robert Livingston, jr., #7-Anthony Rutgers. These lots were between Water and Front Streets.22

May 1731-Council appointed JM & Stephen DeLancey to acquire a Fire Engine for the City23

29 Oct 1731-John Moore, Jr. granted full power of attorney for Bernard van der Grieft of Amsterdam24  Compiler’s note: it appears that John Moore styled himself “Jr.” until the death of his father in 1732.

Aug 1732-JM signed as Alderman an Address to Gov. Cosby on his arrival25

c. 1732-son Charles born

30 Sep 1734-JM elected Alderman to Common Council amid much political unrest and the beginnings of the issue of "freedom of the press"26

3 Oct 1734-JM petitioned for access to the East River from his property, which resulted in his purchase of the "Water Lots" that he devised to sons Richard, Lambert, Daniel and William in his Will27

19 Oct 1734-son Stephen born

6 Dec 1734-Gov. Cosby recommended JM to Lords of Trade for position of Councilor28

Nov 1737-JM refused to observe mourning for Queen Caroline on the grounds that those who observed mourning for the late King (George I) were ridiculed. As a result of this refusal, Gov. Clarke withdrew his recommendation of JM to be a Councilor29

10 Apr 1738-Muster roll, Capt. John Moore's company, NY30

16 Apr 1738-lot laid out on Broadway between Marketfield & Beaver St.31

17 Aug 1738-appointed Col. of Militia32

7 Nov 1738-heard case in Mayor's Court as Alderman33

Jan 1739-daughter Ann born34

19 Feb 1739-heard case in Mayor's Court as Alderman

13 Mar 1739-JM elected to General Assembly35

29 Sep 1739-certification of election held in South Ward, signed by JM, alderman36

6 Feb 1741-JM & Col. Joseph Robinson allowed to export beer & candles that had already been loaded on a brigantine prior to an order banning the export of provisions to foreign ports37

Apr 1741-negro slave Cato, belonging to JM, indicted in the plot to murder the inhabitants, and burn the city of NY. This terrible episode in American history resulted in the arrest of 160 blacks, 31 of whom were executed, 71 transported and the remainder discharged. In addition, 26 white people were implicated and 4 were executed. Hardly a household in the city was not affected, and it is doubtful that any of the "evidence" was true.38

14 Jul 1741-JM referred to as "deputy secretary" in letter from Henry Beekman regarding commissions for a militia company forming in Dutchess County39

c. 1741 or 1742-JM bought Congreve's Patent (part of land at West Point)40

Dec 1742-hears case in Mayor's Court as Alderman

Jan 1743-hears case in Mayor's Court as Alderman

Nov 1743-Gov. Clinton again recommended JM for Council41

22 Mar 1744-JM sworn in to Council along with Sir Peter Warren & Joseph Murray

Aug 1744-hears case in Mayor's Court as Alderman

8 May 1745-JM Chairman of committee to inspect NY fortifications and make estimates and recommendations for the defense of the City42

16 Jun 1746-JM appointed to committee to inspect Ft. Saratoga said to be in bad repair and make recommendations for "most speedy & effectual means for the execution of that part"43

3 Nov 1746-JM petitioned for grant of land in Orange Co.44

17 Mar 1747-Patent awarded to JM. This is known as Moore's Patent45

4 Sep 1748-JM wrote Will, witnessed by Jos. Robinson, Isaac DePeyster, Mauritz DeHart

23 Feb 1749-codicil to Will, witnessed by Robt. Watts, Jos. Robinson, Wm. Hamersly

29 Oct 1749-JM died

9 Dec 1749-John Moore’s Will proved46

Sources:

1 L. Effingham DeForest and Anne Lawrence DeForest, William Henry Moore and his Ancestry, With Accounts of the Moore Families in the American Colonies, 1620-1730 (New York, NY: The DeForest Publishing Co., 1934)

2 Collections of the N-YHS for 1885, “Burghers & Freemen”, 18:79. It is unclear whether this is the correct John Moore, as he would be only 16 years old.

3 Collections of the N-YHS, 1870, Old New York and Trinity Church, p151-2; abstract of John Moore's Obituary in the New York Mercury

4 Day Book of Hon. John Moore of PA, at Historical Society of Pennsylvania, hereafter HSP

5 FHL #0888338-NY Conveyances, Vol. 26:463

6 N-YHS MS Collection

7 Colonial Office Papers, Public Record Office, London: microfilm copy cited as PRO CO/5 1222-6. Read at Queens College, Flushing, NY-11/94

8 FHL microfilm #0888339-NY County Land & Property Records, Bk.28: 334-36

9 John Moore, Esq., “Leisure Hours Employment” typescript, The New-York Historical Society Library, CS71.M821, #25, hereafter JMM

10 Morris, Richard B., edit., Select Cases of the Mayor's Court of New York City 1674-1784 (Washington, DC: The American Historical Association, 1936; Millwood, NY Kraus Reprint Co.,1975) hereafter Mayor’s Court of NYC, p 68

11 Mayor’s Court of NYC, p 704-5

12 NYG&B Record, v. 49: 36

13 Jeannie Robison and Henrietta Bartlett, eds., Genealogical Records: Manuscript Entries of Births, Deaths and Marriages, taken from Family Bibles, 1581-1917 (1907) Smyth Family Bible

14 New York State Library, Calendar of NY Council Minutes, 1688-1783, p. 299, hereafter, Council Minutes

15 Margaret Simons Middleton, Henrietta Johnston of Charles Town, South Carolina, America’s First Pastellist (Columbia, SC, University of South Carolina Press 1966), 63-65; notations on the back of the original portraits made by Thomas William Channing Moore in 1852 & 1859.

16 NYG&B Record, v. 43: 87

17 FHL microfilm #0888340-NY County Land & Property Records

18 Julius M. Bloch, Leo Hershkowitz and Kenneth Scott, “New York City Assessment Roll, February, 1730” in NYG&B Record, v. 95 (1964): 27+

19 Microfilm copy of Entry Books of Customs of NY, 1727- Read at Queens College, Flushing, NY-11/94

20 Collections of the NYHS-1885, v. 18, The Burghers of New Amsterdam and the Freemen of New York,

1675-1866, p 155; 483

21 I. N. Phelps Stokes, The Iconography of Manhattan, v. 4: 522, hereafter, Iconography

22 Iconography, v. 4: 522

23 Iconography, v. 4: 521

24 FHL film #0888340 New York Conveyances, vol. 31: 428-9

25 Collections of N-YHS-1885, v. 18: 486-7

26 Iconography, v. 4: 536

27 Iconography, v. 4: 535

28 E. B. O’Callaghan, ed., Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of NY: Colonial Manuscripts, (1861) v. 6:35, hereafter, Col. Hist. NY.

29 Col. Hist. NY v. 6: 115

30 E. B. O’Callaghan, ed., Calendar of Historical Manuscripts in the Office of the Secretary of State: Part II-English Manuscripts, p 532, hereafter, Cal. of Hist. Mss.

31 Iconography, v. 4: 557

32 E. B. O’Callaghan, ed., Documentary History of the State of New York (Albany, Weed, Parsons & Co., 1849-51) v.4: 146

33 Mayor’s Court, p 145

34 Letter from Ann Moore to her niece, Mary Moore Stanford, dated Jan 1808, in the Stanford Papers (#2096) Southern Historical Collection, UNC-Chapel Hill

35 Iconography p.559

36 N-YHS, Ms. Dept.

37 Cal. of Council Minutes, p. 337

38 Cal. of Hist. Mss., p. 555

39 Cal. of Hist. Mss., p. 544

40 N-YHS, Kempe Papers, Orange Co.

41 Col. Hist. of NY, v. 6: 652

42 E. B. O’Callaghan, ed., Journal of the Legislative Council, v. 2: 882

43 Col. Hist. NY, v. 6:652

44 E. B. O’Callaghan, comp., Calendar of NY Colonial Manuscripts, Indorsed Land Papers, p. 252, hereafter, Indorsed Land Papers

45 Indorsed Land Papers, p. 252

46 Will of John Moore, New York Surrogate’s Court, Liber 17:44-49; Collections of the N-YHS-1895, Abstracts of Wills on File in the Surrogate’s Office, City of New York, 1744-1753, v. 4: 248-51

Chronology compiled by Terri Bradshaw O'Neill

Trinity Church, New York City

by David Jeffreys - ©July, 2009
When I became interested in Moore genealogy back in 1976, I began looking to Stephen's ancestors, and in particular his father, Col. John Moore of New York City. Thus, I wrote to Trinity Church for information in 1977 and this was the reply:

(click on images to make them more readable)

With more research, I found:

John Moore, Esq. (1745-1828), the grandson of Col. John Moore of New York City, wrote on 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.”

During the Stephen Moore Reunion at West Point in 1991, some of us took a side trip into New York City, worshipped at Trinity Church on 28 July 1991, and walked around the area including Moore Street.

Also, I was able to gather some more information about the history of Trinity Church and the churchyard.

The John Moore vault is in the Sec. S.3.

According to the green brochure above "a city ordinance prohibiting any further burials in lower Manhattan . . . [about] 1843. During the first decades of the 19th century all of the city's burial grounds had become overcrowded and unsanitary as recurrent epidemics raged, and mortality soared yearly."

Approximately 1983, Terri O'Neill copied from the Trinity Burial Register the following information about the John Moore vault:

"John Moore Vault 11 feet south of L Reade vault, south side of Church"-
1) John Moore, Esq. died 29 Oct 1749...was the first corpse interred in family vault South side of Trinity Church.
2) His wife Frances Lambert died 1782 March
3) Rebecca Moore [daughter of John & Frances]
4) Susannah (Moore) wife of John Smyth of NY
5) Lambert Moore
6) Thomas Moore 1784
7) Elizabeth (Channing) Moore 1805
8) Daniel Moore, Capt of British man of war, killed at sea 1777
9) Judith (Livingston) Moore, daughter of James Livingston, Esq. of Poughkeepsie, 1813
10) John Moore died 1828
11) Magdalen M. Onderdonk, died Oct 1836. Moved from St. Ann's Ground, Brooklyn, 3/16/1860. [She was a daughter of Lambert Moore.]
12) Jane (Holland) Moore died 14 June 1767. [First wife of Lambert Moore]

The last burial in the vault, according to Trinity Church records, parish burial register, vol. 2:482, was the son of John Moore, Esq., Thomas William Channing Moore, d. 7 Dec 1872, burial-10 Dec.

The Organ

When we were in New York City in 1991 worshipping as the descendants of John Moore, we heard the magnificent 1823 Skinner Organ. Just ten years later and 600 feet away, the World Trade Center collapsed on 9-11-2001. See the first postcard picture of the church above with the World Trade Center tower in the background. The Trinity Church building and its facade were left relatively unhurt; however, the resulting dust all but destroyed the organ. The Aeolian-Skinner organ was taken apart and stored, perhaps awaiting restoration or perhaps replaced by a new pipe organ, either of which will be very expensive. For the interim, a digital organ, was built and installed there in 2003 by Marshall & Ogletree of Needham Heights, Massachusetts. For an electronic digital organ, it is at the cutting edge of technology especially with its sampling of organ notes. Owen Burdick, the organist, insists that as fine as this interim instrument sounds, a pipe organ will be back.

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.

Stephen Moore, scribe

Stephen Moore’s birth, 30 Oct 1734, is noted in daughter Mary Moore Stanford’s bible but little else is known of his early childhood or adolescence until the death of his father, Col. John Moore, when Stephen inherited the West Point property bequeathed to him at the age of fifteen. The memoirs of John Moore, Esq., Stephen’s nephew, recount that Stephen was “brought up in business” by the Hon. John Watts. This apprenticeship may have spanned Stephen’s mid- to late teen years. Stephen Moore’s name does not appear in the alumni lists of Oxford or Cambridge. He may have been tutored for his early education. But well-educated he assuredly was, as evidenced by his many letters, ledgers, petitions, memorials and account books. His handwriting is beautiful, legible and quite distinctive, making it instantly recognizable.

While searching for the deeds to all the properties mentioned in the last will and testament of Col. John Moore of New York City, I came across a deed for a house and lot that Col. John Moore sold to Elizabeth Johnston before he made his will. New York City deeds are recorded in three different record groups: NYC Conveyances 1654-1866, includes deeds for New York City and New York County; Deeds in the Secretary of State’s Office, 1659-1846; and Patents of the State of New York in the Secretary of State’s Office, 1708-1973. These are all accessible on microfilm, available in various repositories or through Family History Centers of the LDS Church (Mormons). A fourth record group is presently only available at the New York Municipal Archives in NYC: City Grants Libers 1686-1907. Liber B 1701-1752, pages 109-113, records the grant/deed for the lot on which Col. John Moore built his “mansion” called Whitehall. This was not the same Whitehall that belonged to Peter Stuyvesant almost a century before. That Whitehall was destroyed by fire in 1717. Presumably, Col. John Moore named his house Whitehall because the lot was very near Whitehall Slip. The house was hardly a mansion by today’s standards but when it was built, it would have been considered grand. It was a three story house on a lot measuring 31’ 6” by 168’. It served as the Custom House from May 1769 until the fire of September 1776.

The search for deeds to properties owned by Col. John Moore entailed reading deed books from the above named records groups, aided by indexes for the most part. In the Secretary of State Deeds, Vol. 16:42, is a power of attorney recorded for Lambert Moore, Stephen Moore’s brother, dated 1757. It was written in the familiar, distinctive hand of Stephen Moore himself. Subsequent study of other deed books revealed that Stephen was the scribe on all or part of 3 different Secretary of State Deed volumes, and 3 of the Secretary of State Patent Books spanning dates from about 1757 to 1786. But how had he accomplished this? He had been in New York, Quebec and North Carolina during that span of years. Apparently, Stephen Moore began his work as a scribe or clerk as a young adult or while he was apprenticed to Hon. John Watts. He joined the New York Provincial Troops as a Lieutenant in 1757, possibly retaining his position with John Watts who served as a provision contractor for the Army. Eventually, Stephen was appointed Deputy Paymaster for the British Army in Canada about 1760. He remained in Canada until 1770, but made frequent trips to New York. He resided at his West Point estate from 1770 until sometime in late 1775 or early 1776, when he moved his family to North Carolina. In December, 1779 Stephen Moore first petitioned Congress, sitting at Philadelphia, for compensation for the loss of income as well as damages done to his West Point estate. This was the first of many petitions and memorials that ultimately led to the sale of the West Point estate to the US government in 1790, requiring Stephen to make many trips to New York to press his case. The explanation for how he accomplished the task of transcribing the records spanning all these years when he was residing elsewhere is found in the Patent Books. Volumes 5, 6 & 7 were all transcribed entirely by Stephen Moore. At the beginning of each of the volumes is “An Act for transcribing Certain Records of Patents passed the 23rd February 1786” detailing the need to copy all the old deed and patent books that were deteriorating from use. Stephen Moore used the time he was in New York well and supplemented his income, too. Some of the volumes have notations in the margin of the dollar amount each transcription was worth.

Submitted by Terri B. O’Neill, 2009 ©