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.

James Hunter Horner Family Bible Records

FAMILY RECORD. 

DEATHS. James [name illegible] Horner died on Monday evening, the 3rd of March, 1856, aged 4 years 7 months & 28 days. Bettie Gertrude Horner died the nineteenth of November 1881, aged 18 years & 27 days. James Hunter Horner died the thirteenth of June 1892 aged 70 years 3 months & 10 days. Sophronia Moore Horner died on Monday morning the eighth of February 1909, aged 79 years 2 months & 10 days. Sophronia Moore Horner Winston, Died leaving 4 children. Mary Ellen Horner died April 3, 1922 at Valle Cruce Watauga Co N.C. Buried in Oxford N.C. Rt. Rev. Junius Moore Horner died Wed. Aprpil 5th 1933 in Asheville, N.C. Buried April 7th in Asheville N.C. 

[column 2] DEATHS. Lucy Anna Horner Graham died Sat. Dec. 28th 1935 aged 80 yrs 5 mo. 13 days

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Collection

State Archives of North Carolina

Format

Bible records Genealogies

Digital Collection

N.C. Family Records Collection

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Thanks to Steve Moore finding this Bible record!

Stephen Moore Mini-Reunion - July 8-9, 2013

Terri O'Neill said that she had family reasons to be in Durham, and suggested that it might be a good time for our Moore Research Committee to get together.  The committee consists of Terri O'Neill from Colleyville, Texas; Steve Moore from Murfreesboro, Tennessee; Sandra Moore Shoffner (with lot of help from her husband, Harry) from Mebane, North Carolina; and myself, David Jeffreys from Wilmington, North Carolina.  We all had the dates of July 8-12 available and decided to get together. At the reunion, we wanted to compare notes and notebooks, and visit Mt. Tirzah United Methodist Church and graveyard, and the Mt. Tirzah home, built by Stephen Moore, and its graveyard.  We decided to invite other members of the Moore family in the Durham and Person County area, who have been especially helpful with our research during the past few months.

Terri arranged to have the Duke Room at the Courtyard by Marriott in Durham on Monday afternoon for our "show and tell" and called Mt. Tirzah UMC for it to be open on Tuesday morning.  I arranged a tour of the Mt. Tirzah house, gardens, and graveyard with its present owner, Steve Cox, who is a good friend, for Tuesday afternoon.

Duke Room on Monday from 1:00 to 4:00pm:

We spread our books, notebooks, and albums across the tables in the front and back of the room.  Those present during the afternoon included Terri and Ken O'Neill, Steve Moore, Sandra and Harry Shoffner, myself, Harry T. Watkins, and Victor Bailey Moore, Jr.  Harry Watkins furnished me with these two pictures:

Steve Moore, Terri & Ken O'Neill, Victor Moore

Sandra (Moore) & Harry Shoffner, David Jeffreys

Here are a couple of pictures that I took:

Harry Watkins, Terri and Ken, Harry Shoffner seated at computer

Very large "blueprint" family tree

Mt. Tirzah United Methodist Church on Tuesday morning:

Pastor Jarrod Davis welcomed us and provided us with a history of the church.  Mt Tirzah United Methodist Church was originally built on land acquired from Sydney Moore for $1.00 in May, 1819. This original structure burned down sometime prior to 1888, and a new structure was built on a hill about a mile away from the original. This is the present Mt. Tirzah UMC building. The first worship service held in Mt. Tirzah UMC was on Christmas Day, 1888.  The location of the first church and its spring have been located to the south of the present church along Moore's Mill Road.

Terri's oral history says that her great-grandfather, John Luther Bradshaw was on location in 1888 to build the present church, so she was looking for more information about that.

Many local Stephen Moore descendants came to the church to meet with us. Among those who signed in were Anne M. Wolfe, Sandra M. Buchanan, Margaret (Noell) Puett, Pat Reade, Angela Wyche-Reade Jones, Wendy Reade Thompson, Robert Winston Carr, Clinton W. Toms III and Julia Carr Day.  Others also attended who did not sign in.

In an email after the reunion, Terri said, "Though you knew about it long ago, David, you couldn't recall the source of the Burgess Ticket, so it was great to see it and put a date on it, and learn where it resides with Margaret Noell Puett. She also solved the mystery of what happened to the original miniature portrait in black and white of Stephen Moore. It was in her Noell family and was lost in a fire years ago, along with two small paintings of the graves of Stephen and Grizey."   Terri stood in the vestibule of the church and carefully transcribed the Burgess Ticket. (More on the Burgess Ticket in another post.)

Stephen Moore House, Gardens, and Graveyard Tour on Tuesday afternoon:

Mt. Tirzah Home Front Elevation from SE view

Approximately 15 Stephen Moore descendants arrived just after 1:00pm for a tour of the gardens, house, and family cemetery.  Stephen Cox bought Mt. Tirzah from the Reade family in 1985 and has done a magnificent restoration of the house and gardens.

Steve Cox and Julia Carr Day

First Steve Cox led us on a tour of the gardens.  Note that Mt. Tirzah is the hilltop of a mountain from which you can see in the north, east, and south directions.

Harry Shoffner, photographer

Front Entrance

View to the Southeast

1880s Addition - formerly Dining Room & Kitchen

New 1980s Addition on the East Side

Well House

~~A few of the above pictures were taken in May, 2012~~

Following the tour of the gardens, Steve Cox led us into the front entrance through the enclosed porch and into the parlor.  He started the tour by explaining the repair that had to be done to the building and remarking about the fireplaces and original stairs that were moved during Stephen Moore's first addition.  Above the fireplace is a beautiful painting, which Cox described as to its relevance to the house.  The Shoffners had presented him a large copy of the Stephen Moore Portrait Painting, which had been recently discovered.  When Cox entered the room, he placed the portrait in a chair beside the fireplace.  Someone asked him where he thought he might hang the portrait in the house.  Cox responded: "I think he looks pretty comfortable sitting in that chair."

"Looks pretty comfortable in that chair!"

For privacy reasons, Steve Cox, does not permit  photographs inside the house because he doesn't want them to appear on the internet, but he did give me permission for the above picture.  Therefore, you will see no more interior pictures.

From the parlor, Cox led the group up the stairs on the west end of the parlor to the area above which would have been the nursery and the Moore's bedroom.  Further upstairs are another bedroom on the east side of the chimney.  There are fireplaces in both bedrooms upstairs, as well as in the parlor and dining room downstairs.  Back downstairs, the group went into the north 1880s addition, which today is a library and master bedroom.  Finally, he took them down into the basement, so they could see the infamous stone with the date "1778" carved in it.

Grizey Moore grave marker

Stormy weather began to move in, so the group was led by Cox down to the family cemetery, where Stephen Moore is buried.  Just as they returned to the house, there were two large claps of thunder, followed by a rain shower.

Burgess Ticket Stephen Moore Esq Of Glasgow 1764

Courtesy of Margaret Noell Puett

At Glasgow the ninth day of January one thousand seven hundred and sixty four years the which day presence of the right honorable Archibald Ingram Esq. Lord Provoost of the said city Walter Brock, Alexander Mackie and Duncan Vivien Baillies thereof George Brown Dean of Guild and Sundry of the Guild Council of said city Stephen Moore Esq. Merchant in Quebec is admitted and received Burgess and Guild Brother of the said city and the whole liberties, privileges immunities  belonging to a Burgess and guild brother in most ample form who gives his oath of Fidelity as use is extracted forth of the Guild Books of the said city by Archibald M Gilchrist

~~Transcribed by Terri Bradshaw O'Neill on July 9, 2013

A Correction to the Lineage of Hon. John Moore (1658-1732) of Philadelphia: A Recap

In the summer of 1991, descendants of Stephen Moore (1734-1799) of Mount Tirzah, North Carolina, assembled at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point for a family reunion. The location was appropriate because Stephen Moore had inherited the West Point property upon the death of his father, Col. John Moore (1686-1749) of New York City, then subsequently sold it to the U.S. government in 1790, upon which the USMA was established in 1802. Of the approximately 200 attendees, from all parts of the country, many were meeting for the first time. Some were acquainted through genealogical research. In my case, I had been studying the Moore family for about eight years, and I was just learning of some discrepancies in the lineage in 1991, but was too inexperienced to know how to resolve them.

Soon after the reunion, however, I was put into contact with the family of Richard Channing Moore, who was a descendant of Stephen Moore’s elder brother, Thomas (1721-1794). Richard C. Moore had left a family chart at the West Point Library, and when I wrote to him, I learned that
 he had died a short time before. His wife Marjorie was very gracious in sharing the information that Richard had compiled in his study of the Moore lineage. Richard had encountered the same discrepancies that I had, but instead of wondering about them, he hired a genealogist in Philadelphia, and another in London to resolve them with limited success. Additionally, right before the West Point reunion, Dr. Victor Moore of Evans, Georgia, put me in contact with Mrs. Marguerite Roll. Marguerite was not a Moore descendant, but she wanted to obtain the Moore coat of arms as a gift to friends who were. (I never learned their names.) She was working with
 the Lancaster Herald at the College of Arms in London in order to accomplish this goal, and she had supplied him with the information she had: David Moore Hall’s Six Centuries of Moores of Fawley, published in 1904. Early in my studies of the Moore clan, I obtained a copy of Six Centuries which I used as a guide for my continuing research. The Lancaster Herald could not reconcile the lineage as written in Six Centuries with what was on record at the College of Arms. There was a major error in the lineage detailed in Six Centuries, namely that Francis Moore of Fawley was said to have married in 1655 Mary Cary, daughter of Edward Cary. Francis Moore and Mary Cary were the supposed parents of John Moore, born in 1658. However, the Cary lineage shows that Mary, daughter of Edward Cary was born 50 years after the alleged marriage. Further, the arms granted to the Moores of Fawley are described as “Argent, a Moorcock, Sable” [a black Moorcock on a silver or white shield] and were granted in 1569 to Nicholas Moore, Esq. The arms used by the American branch of Moores of this study is described as “Argent, Ten Crosses Crosslet, Sable” [10 black crosses crosslet on a silver or white shield]. I would point out here that this coat of arms was used by four men: Thomas Moore, the Librarian at Westminster Abbey and Hon. John Moore’s brother; William Moore (1699-1783) of Chester County, Pennsylvania, son of Hon. John Moore, brother of Col. John Moore and father of Thomas
 William Moore (1735-1799), who played a large roll in the misidentification of the correct lineage; John Moore, Esq. (1745-1828), son of Thomas Moore of New York City, grandson of Col. John Moore, nephew of Stephen Moore, family historian and author of at least four known memoirs and countless family letters; and Stephen Moore himself, on the bookplate of the family bible that belonged to his daughter, Mary (Moore) Stanford. Notably, neither Hon. John Moore of Philadelphia nor Col. John Moore of NYC used the ten crosses, crosslet arms on any seal or bookplate that is extant. The Lancaster Herald stated that it was his belief that Thomas Moore, Librarian of Westminster, assumed the use of ten crosses, crosslet without authority, and
 indicated that no Moores had ever been granted arms ten crosses, crosslet.

As the exchange of information continued, we asked the Lancaster Herald to verify the story reported by John Moore, Esq. in one version of his memoirs, that his cousin, Thomas William Moore (1735-1799), traveled to London in 1770 and received the Moores of Fawley genealogy from the “Herald’s Office.” The Herald’s report was as follows: “...I can confirm that such visits were (and still are) recorded and the records preserved. I have examined those for 1770, but I find that only two enquiries were received that year relating to persons or families of the name of Moore: the first, in July related to one Giles Moore of Middleton, co. Westmorland, no record of whom could be found, and the second, in August, to the family of Moore of Appleby, co. Leicester, whose pedigree had already been registered.”, and “...I have examined the Waiting Books for the period from July 1767 to December 1776 without however finding any record of an enquiry relating to the Moores of Fawley.” Thus, it seems that the myth of our Moores of Fawley lineage originated with Thomas William Moore in 1770, which was then accepted without question for the next 225 years. None of the American descendants had any reason to question or doubt it. Whether Thomas William Moore was duped by an unscrupulous genealogist, or was led astray by his relations still residing in England, we may never know, but in one way, it made my research easier. Since all the generations after Thomas William Moore adhered to the Moores of Fawley lineage, I could be certain I was on the right track if there was ever any mention of Fawley, as in the case of John Moore (1820-1903) of Quincy, Adams County, Illinois, who named his home Fawley.

Now, 21 years after the West Point reunion, a great deal of research has resulted in many new discoveries of which the majority of the attendees are unaware. A recent research and pleasure trip to North Carolina gave me the opportunity to renew some acquaintances with cousins and meet others for the first time. Many Moore descendants still live in North Carolina, in Person County where Mount Tirzah, Stephen Moore’s home is situated, in Orange, Alamance, Durham, Granville, Wake, even New Hanover and many more. In addition to learning “new” things about under-explored branches of the family, my purpose was to share the results of the intervening 20+ years of research with those who were unaware of it. Descendants of Stephen Moore’s son, Portius (1784-1847), the Horner/Graham/Hall/Cooper families lived in Oxford, Granville County. At the home of Lea Lea Ivey, I presented these findings to a small group of cousins who were learning of the different lineage for the first time. Needless to say, the news was met with some polite skepticism. One of the long-held stories in that branch of the family was of the trip to England and Fawley Manor made in 1888 by their ancestress, Sophronia (Moore) Horner (1829-1909). In their understanding, Sophronia had seen etched in a pane of glass at Fawley Manor, the names of three girls, one of them being “Sophronia.” Though I remembered seeing that story long ago, I could not recall its source, so could not counter the argument at the time. When I returned home, I quickly found the source of the story: in the pages of Six Centuries of Moores of Fawley. In a perfect example of how family stories sometimes get distorted over time (but must never be discounted!), the account of the trip to Fawley was :

“Our kinswoman, Mrs. Lilie Moore Craven, thus writes of her visit to Fawley in 1888: ‘Doctor Gardiner went with us to the old manor house at Little Fawley, about a mile from the Vicarage, which was unoccupied, save that some of the numerous rooms were used for farm purposes. We walked through the ancient rooms, gazed upon the landscape from the upper windows, went upon the roof, read the names cut with a diamond upon the window panes, namely Mollie Moore, Nellie Moore, Anastasia Moore, Sir R Moore, and I thought of those who formerly occupied the mansion and wondered how they looked.’ ”

With the enormous databases containing original records now available on websites such as FamilySearch and Ancestry, research is greatly facilitated. I tracked Rev. Elijah R. Craven (1824- 1908) and his wife, Elizabeth Gertrude Moore (1832- ), daughter of Stephen van Rensselaer Moore (1799-1883), and granddaughter of Bishop Richard Channing Moore (1762-1841), in census records of 1870, 1880 and 1900. One of the features of Ancestry searches is “hints” pointing the researcher to other records that may pertain to the individual you are researching. In this case, the hint pointed toward passport applications. On 22 May 1888, Elijah R. Craven was issued a passport to travel abroad “accompanied by my wife Elizabeth G. Craven.”

I cannot emphasize enough, the value of incorporating all family histories, genealogies, oral traditions, letters and manuscripts, memoirs and the research of others into this ongoing, and constantly expanding study of the vast Moore clan, but I offer this caveat: anything written before 1995 is subject to the “Fawley myth” and should be considered a guide useful for clues. Likewise, the many genealogies posted on current websites such as Ancestry and FamilySearch must be used in the same way, as most are derivative of the “Fawley myth.” Fellow researchers and cousins, Steve Moore, David Jeffreys and Sandra (Moore) Shoffner have worked tirelessly to distribute accurate information and I urge anyone interested to visit David’s excellent blog: Stephen Moore of Mt. Tirzah Family.

One visit won’t be enough! Or to obtain the CD compiled by Steve Moore containing much of the research since 1995 and photos of Mt. Tirzah, the family cemetery, Mt. Tirzah Church burial ground, and much more, contact Steve at: moore217@comcast.net. 
Any information in your possession that may be of interest to all, such as family portraits, documents, family bible pages, letters, diaries or journals, please consider copying or photographing and sharing with all or any of us: Terri O’Neill tbo45@mac.com, Sandra Shoffner smshoffner@triad.rr.com, Steve Moore and David Jeffreys david@ladyslippercove.com.

~~Terri Bradshaw O'Neill, July 2013