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Stephen Moore (1734 - 1799)

General Stephen Moore
Born in New Yorkmap
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married [date unknown] [location unknown]
Husband of — married 1768 [location unknown]
Descendants descendants
Died at age 65 in Person, North Carolina, United Statesmap
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Profile last modified | Created 14 Oct 2014
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Contents

Biography

1776 Project
Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Moore served with Caswell County Regiment, North Carolina Militia during the American Revolution.
Daughters of the American Revolution
Stephen Moore is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A079938.
SAR insignia
Stephen Moore is an NSSAR Patriot Ancestor.
NSSAR Ancestor #: P-251808
Rank: Lieutenant Colonel

Stephen Moore was born in 1734, the seventeenth of eighteen children born to Colonel John (1686-1749) and Frances Lambert Moore (1692-1782).

Unfortunately, little is known of his early life.

In 1754, Stephen was apprenticed to John Watts, contractor for army supplies and a New York merchant, training Moore would use throughout his life. He volunteered for service in the French and Indian War in 1756. He received a lieutenant's commission in 1758 in Col. Oliver Delancey’s brigade destined for the Crown Point Expedition. He was appointed provision contractor for the British army. When the war ended, he was rewarded with the post of deputy paymaster general of Royal troops in Canada and moved to Quebec.

In 1764 he joined British Colonel John Bradstreet in an expedition of 1,200 men across Lake Erie to Detroit, in pursuit of the Indian chief Pontiac. After this campaign, in 1765, Stephen left the Army and retired to his house and lands at West Point.

On Christmas Day, 1768, at Quebec, Moore married Griselda Phillips, the daughter of Captain John and Griselda Levi Phillips of Boston. He continued to live in Canada until 1770, but town reports indicate that Moore's West Point estate was his official residence during the decade 1765–75.

Events during the decade he spent at West Point led him to a complete break with his family's strong Tory beliefs. He had decided to support the rebellion. He left the West Point area in 1775 and took his family to Orange County, North Carolina, where he bought a farm near Raleigh. He named his homestead Mount Tirzah for the beautiful city described in the Old Testament. He built his home at Mount Tirzah in 1778, and he is buried down the hill from his original house.

Revolutionary War Service

In 1779 he was appointed a lieutenant colonel in the militia. Moore led a large portion of the Caswell County Regiment at the Battle of Camden, South Carolina, on 16 August 1780. The Americans, under Gen. Horatio Gates, were defeated in this battle by the British under Lord Cornwalis. Moore was captured at Camden and imprisoned on the notorious prison ship Forbay in Charleston harbor. He was transferred to St. Augustine in July 1781. After twelve months in prison, he and others were exchanged on 22 June 1781, and he returned home on 14 August 1781. He was then assigned new duties as Assistant Quarter Master General for Caswell County, which he held until the end of the American Revolution. Lt. Colonel Stephen Moore was fondly bestowed the title of “General” because of these duties. After the Revolutionary War, he was ultimately promoted to a Brigadier General over North Carolina Militia.

Because of his absence while in military service, his election in 1780 to the General Assembly from Caswell County was unsuccessful. He was, however, nominated in both 1786 and 1787 as a representative to Congress. Finally elected, he served one term in the Third Congress in 1793. Before that, he served as commissioner for specific taxes (1781), superintendent commissioner of Hillsborough District (1782), and deputy quartermaster general of the army (1783–92).

Moore sold the estate at West Point, New York, known as "Moore’s Folly on the Hudson" to the U.S. Government in 1790, becoming the site of the United States Military Academy in 1802.

Religion

A lifelong Episcopalian, Stephen Moore had participated in efforts to establish a church in his neighborhood and had been named vestryman and warden in the planning stages. Due to insufficient support, the church was never built. He was consequently buried in the Moore family graveyard near his house, built in 1778 and still standing. He left considerable acreage, a mill, a store, and thirteen slaves to his widow and eight surviving children.

Family

from Terri O'Neill, researcher: revisit David Jeffreys’ blog

http://stephenmoore-mounttirzah.blogspot.com/search/label/Robert%20Moore

and look for an article he wrote called “Was Robert Moore the Black Sheep?” or something similar to that, and it should explain how we discovered the facts of Robert’s birth. Then look at the article titled Richard Henry and Sarah Harriet Moore Bible, which validates Robert’s birthdate. Another article is "Robert 1762 birth date".

You are correct to be skeptical about the wikitree information about Robert. The fact that he is called John Robert in so many compilations is because so many misunderstood the Stanford/Moore bible records, and assumed that he must be the twin of Stephen & Grizey’s first born son, John, who died at about 10 months old. There is so much to be gleaned from the blog, and it’s a crying shame we were unable to add content after the death of David in 2015. The Moores had ten children,

  1. John Robert Moore (b. 12 Nov. 1769 in Quebec; m. Sarah Bailey),
  2. Phillips Moore (b. 12 July 1771 in New York; m. first Rebecca Moore and second Elizabeth Dudley, the daughter of Thomas Dudley),
  3. Frances Moore (b. 5 Nov. 1773 at West Point; m. Jesse Dickins),
  4. Ann Moore (b. 12 Jan. 1777 in Granville County; unmarried),
  5. Mary Moore (b. 21 Sept. 1778 at Mount Tirzah, where all the younger children were born; m. Hon. Richard Stanford, U.S. Senator from North Carolina),
  6. Marcus Moore (b. 27 Nov. 1780; died in childhood),
  7. Portius Moore (b. 15 Oct. 1782; m. first Frances Webb and second Lucy Pulliam),
  8. Cadmus Moore (b. 31 June 1787; died in childhood),
  9. Samuel Moore (b. 15 June 1789; m. Elizabeth A. Stanford), and
  10. Sidney Moore (b. 15 Dec. 1794; m. Polly P. Reed or Mary Reade).

Slaves

Sources

  • Source: Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/ : accessed August 31, 2016), "Record of Stephen Moore", Ancestor # A079938.
  • Source: Find A Grave: Memorial #38958292 Retrieved Jul 13, 2017., Stephen Moore Cemetery, Timberlake, Person County, North Carolina
  • Source: Six Centuries of the Moores of Fawley, Berkshire, England, and Their Descendants Amid the Titled and Untitled Aristocracy of Great Britain and America by David Moore Hall, O. E. Flanhart Printing Co., Richmond, Va., 1900, p. 38
  • Source: A History of Halifax County (Virginia) by Wirt Johnson Carrington, Appeals Press, Inc., Richmond, Va., 1924, pp. 103-104
  • Source: Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, Volume 4 L-O, edited by William S. Powell, The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1991, pp. 308-310
  • Source: “The Moores of West Point” by Lenora Routon Cross, 1965. Scanned & graphics added, 2002. Minor additions by Jay Cross, Lenora's son. Link
  • Estate Records of Stephen Moore - North Carolina, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998. Wills, Inventories, and Taxables, 1801-1807. Ancestry.com database. Ancestry Sharing Link Page 10, Image 372 of 658. Recorded March 1805.
  • Estate Division of Stephen Moore - North Carolina, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998. Wills, Inventories, and Taxables, 1801-1807. Ancestry.com database. Ancestry Sharing Link. Page 103, Image 467 of 658. Recorded 27 Dec 1805.
  • Estate File of Stephen Moore - North Carolina, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998. Wills and Estate Papers (Person County), 1663-1978. Ancestry.com database. Ancestry Sharing Link.

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As a member of the US Black Heritage Project, I have added a list of the people enslaved by Stephen Moore on this profile with categories using the standards of the US Black Heritage Exchange Program. This helps us connect enslaved ancestors to their descendants. Please see the Heritage Exchange Portal for more information.
posted by Naomi Van Tol

Connections to Super Bowl halftime show performers: Stephen is 22 degrees from Prince Nelson, 18 degrees from Dan Aykroyd, 16 degrees from Garth Brooks, 26 degrees from Chubby Checker, 20 degrees from Ella Fitzgerald, 15 degrees from Dusty Hill, 28 degrees from Whitney Houston, 17 degrees from Mick Jagger, 18 degrees from Paul McCartney, 16 degrees from Tom Petty, 17 degrees from Chris Stapleton and 20 degrees from Shania Twain on our single family tree. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.