Madness Monday: Moores

I love my Moore family. But why do they have to have such a common name? And sometimes they spelled it Moor. Which, when handwritten, often looks like Moon. Oh, and did I mention that there is a big family of Moons in the same area (Greenville District/County, South Carolina)?

Right now, in addition to putting together a list of descendants of Samuel Moore (d. 1828) of Greenville County, South Carolina, I’m trying to figure out some things about Samuel Moore: Who was his wife? Which other Moore families in this area are related to him? Thanks to the wonderful resources available online for Greenville County, I have lots of scraps of information to work with. Maybe too many scraps. I’ll start with his will:

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA)
GREENVILLE DISTRICT ) In the name of God Amen

I Samuel Moor being sound in mind that it is allotted for all men to die, do make and ordain this my Last will & testament hereby revoking all others heretofore maid by me.

Item 1st My will and desire is that my son Spencer Moore should have and Enjoy all my Land Lying on the East side of Stoney Creek and one Sorrell Mare

Item 2nd, My will and desire is that my Daughters Elisabeth and Susanna Should have Each of them a bed and furniture which they now claim.

Item 3d, My will and desire is that the Balance of my Land togeather with all the rest of my property Should be sold then first, all my Just debts to be paid then second My son Hanson [or Manson] to have fifty dollars paid to him and the balance to be Eaquily Divided betwixt my lawful Heirs this is my will – Assignd and Seald

this 29th day of January 1828

in the presence of –
his
Brasher Henderson) Samuel x Moore (L.S.)
Alfred Long ) mark
his )
George x Long )
mark )

Probated Jan. 2nd 1828

Recorded in Will Book B-Page 104

Apt. 5 – File No. 298

This is my transcript of the digital image of his will on the Greenville County Government Historical Records website, which is not, of course, the original copy of the will, but it is still a smidge more complete than the typescript provided by the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.

Next, I have an indexed abstract of Samuel Moore’s land purchase taken from Dr. A. B. Pruitt’s Abstract of Deeds: Greenville County, SC Books D & E (1795-1798):

1433. Dec. 8, 1798 Elizabeth Wedop (Greenville Co.) to Samuel Moor (same); for $100 sold 100 ac on both sides of Stony Cr; border: Thomas Long on SW, SE, & NE and vacant land on NW; granted Jan. 5, 1789 by Gov. Thomas Pinckney to James Seaborn. (signed) Elizabeth Wedop’s mark “X”; witness James Ashmore, Isaac Cox, & William Ashmore; wit. Oath by I. Cox before Horatio Griffin; rec. Apr. 24, 1799; book E p. 177.

Notice that two of the witnesses on the will are Longs (George and Alfred) and Thomas Long is Samuel Moore’s neighbor. In addition, one of the witnesses on the will of Samuel Moore’s son Spencer is a Long (W. B. Long). Perhaps there was a close relationship simply because they were neighbors or there may also be some ties of kinship.

More images have been added to the Greenville website in addition to wills. http://www.greenvillecounty.org/apps/DirectoryListings/ROD_DirectoryListing/Default.aspx has Council of Commissioners minute books, Court of Common Pleas (calendars, index to judgments (defendant), index to judgments (plaintiff)), Court of General Sessions (Contingent Dockets, Dockets), Probate Court (Account Books, Estate Records, Guardian and Trustees Account Books, Index to Estate Books, Miscellaneous Administration and Guardianship Bond Books, Returns, Will Books), Register of Deeds (Conveyance Books, Grantee Index to Conveyances, Grantor Index to Conveyances, Plat Books, Real Estate Mortgage Books, Warrant for Surveys), Sheriff’s Office (Execution Books, Jail Books, Sale Books, Writ Books).
http://www.greenvillecounty.org/apps/DirectoryListings/ROD_DirectoryListing/Default.aspx has affidavits, deeds, historical maps, indexes, land grants, plats, and a tutorial on how to search the archives.

So now, in addition to an index of the land transactions covered by the deeds, there are images of these documents. I have located and downloaded the image of Samuel Moore’s land purchase but have not yet transcribed it.

The administrator for Samuel Moore’s estate is listed as John Moore; I am guessing that he was a relative, possibly a brother. It would be nice if his first name were a little less common. One of the other tools I am using for figuring out the Moores is, of course, the census. With the Moores, this leads to other problems, namely, too many Moores. On the 1800 census, there are three Samuel Moores and two John Moores. Oh, great. Two of the Samuels and one of the Johns live in another part of Greenville; in addition, the two Samuels, apparently father and son, left the area in 1806. To identify other neighbors, I will be using Mel Odom’s very helpful annotated 1800, 1810, and 1820 censuses on the Greenville County Genweb site. Still, every single Moore whom I believe to be connected has to be “vetted”: does his name appear in these documents in association with the same families that appear on documents with “my “ Moores: Long, Ashmore, Seaborn, Cox, Henderson, Bain, Brasher, Dacus and a few others. One piece of luck is that I have found a Jordan Moore in connection with a number of these names -- finally, a slightly less common first name!

Another find in the deed abstracts has provided a possible candidate for Samuel Moore’s wife: a Polly Richardson Moore, who appears on a deed of the widow Elizabeth Richardson in Dr. A. B. Pruitt’s Abstract of Deeds: Greenville County, SC Books N, O, & P (1823-1828):

4912. Apr. 26, 1823 Elizabeth Richardson, widow (Greenville Dist.) to my sons James Richardson, Joseph Richardson, & Harmon Richardson and daughter Elizabeth Richardson & heirs of Polly Moore deceased (same); for better support & maintenance of grantees after my decease gave Negro woman Silvey & her children Jeff, Nance, Hampton, Polly, Judith, & Shadrach and their increase, all household goods, implements & furniture; provided grantees permit me to keep & enjoy Silvey & her children and household goods & chattels for my natural life and “not otherwise”; grantees to have the property after my death. (signed) Elizabeth Richardson’s mark “X”; (witness) Brasher Henderson, Aquila Long, & Amos Richardson; wit. Oath Nov. 4, 1823 by Brasher Henderson before Benjamin Pollar JQ; Nov. 5, 1823 recorded; book N. p. 148.

Not only do the names Henderson and Long appear here, but this Polly Richardson Moore was deceased by 1823. I am guessing that Samuel Moore’s wife was still alive in 1820 (a woman of the correct age group is shown on in his household on the census) but was not alive in 1828 (she is not named in his will).

So basically all I have to do is sort out about half the families in the Greenville County area in the first half of the nineteenth century.

Featured Family Friday: The Family of Samuel Moore of Greenville County, South Carolina

Samuel Moore
b. Between 1756 and 1765
d. 1828
& UNNAMED
b. bet 1766 and 1774
d. bef 1828
|--Bud Mathis Moore*
|----b. 5 Aug 1800
|----d. 7 Sep 1856, Greenville, South Carolina
|---& Elizabeth Brashier
|----d. 29 Dec 1824, Greenville, South Carolina
|----m. 20 Nov 1823
|--Bud Mathis Moore*
|----b. 5 Aug 1800
|---- d. 7 Sep 1856, Greenville, South Carolina
|---& Martha Brown Coulter
|----b. 1793
|----d. 11 Dec 1887
|----m. 20 Nov 1826
|--Susannah Moore
|----b. 1810, South Carolina
|----d. bef 1870
|--Elizabeth Moore
|-----b. 1812, South Carolina
|-----d. bef 1870
|--William Spencer Moore
|----b. 1813, South Carolina
|----d. 31 Oct 1871, Anderson Co., South Carolina
|---& Emily Tarrant
|----b. 1813, South Carolina
|----d. bef 1880

This is the family of my great-great-great grandfather, Samuel Moore of Greenville County, South Carolina, or at least as much as I know about this family, which is not a great deal. This is as far as I have been able to take the Moore line at this point.

I found Samuel Moore after I found a message left by my fourth cousin Mary on a Rootsweb Message Board. She descends from Bud Mathis Moore, the brother of my great-great-grandfather William Spencer Moore. She quoted from an old family history that went back to Bud Mathis Moore, who was said to have had a brother named Spencer over in Anderson County. This was enough to make me think that this referred to my gg-grandfather, but what followed convinced me: Spencer had a son named Commie who used to come visit the Greenville Moores. My Spencer had a son named Commodore Worth Moore. In addition, the author of the history said that these Moores were most likely buried in the cemetery of Big Creek Baptist Church. That was one of the churches attended by my Moores.

With the knowledge that Spencer must have come over to Anderson County from Greenville, I once again searched the wonderful website of the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, this time inputting “Moore” and “Greenville” as the search parameters. This brought up a number of items, one of which was a summary of names mentioned in a will for a Samuel Moore of Greenville. Among the other names mentioned were “Spencar” Moore (so I wouldn’t have found this by searching using “Spencer”), Elizabeth Moore, and Susannah Moore – Spencer and his two sisters who are shown living with him and Emily on the 1850 and 1860 censuses for Anderson County. I ordered a copy of the typescript of the will (this was before they had the digital images online) and later was able to download an image of the handwritten copy of the will that was on file. Bud’s name looks like Hanson or Manson (or even Marion) on these copies, but I figure this was a mistake made in transcription. “B. M. Moore” can be made out on the digital images of materials from the probate packet that can be viewed on the Greenville County SC Historical Records Search website.

Thanks to Mary and several other relatives descended from Bud Mathis Moore, we have a good amount of information on Bud Mathis’ descendants as well as on my own Spencer Moore line. Of course, there are still gaps and mysteries, but we’re working on those. For the sisters Elizabeth and Susannah there is very little:

- The 1810 through 1860 censuses on which they appear (though their ages are reversed on the 1850 and 1860 censuses, each having a different sister being two years older; I have chosen to follow the age given on the 1850 census since it is the one that seems to give the correct ages for Spencer and Emily, whereas the 1860 census does not).

- Some information provided by researcher Kim Wilson on their reception into Washington Baptist Church 14 March 1840, RBL (received by letter).

- Their mention in their father Samuel’s will.

Early Greenville censuses (1800-1820) indicate additional persons in the Samuel Moore household who may have been other children (but none are mentioned in his 1828 will) or other relatives.

Before I attempt to find out who Samuel Moore’s parents were and where he came from, the big question is: Who was his wife? I have a few leads I am following. Samuel Moore’s will has two witnesses from the Long family (Alfred and George) and Spencer Moore’s will has a witness named W. B. Long, so there may be a Long family connection (I know that Thomas Long was a neighbor in Greenville).

For now my Moore research plan consists of two main elements: (1) to identify as many descendants of Samuel Moore as possible and (2) to locate, index, and plot on a detailed map of Greenville as many Greenville Moores as I can find mentioned in wills, land records, and so forth to sort out Greenville Moores much as I will be doing for the Greenville Tarrants (Madness Monday: Emily Tarrant).

If you are reading this and believe that you are related to this family I would really like to hear from you (you can find my e-mail if you click on View my complete profile under the section at the left entitled “About Me”).

Finding a New Family

The “new family” mentioned in the title above does not refer to a set of direct ancestors, i.e., the parents of a “brick wall” ancestor, but is located in a “collateral line,” in this case, the family of one of the brothers of my great-grandfather Charles Augustus Floyd. The brother in question is Caswell B. Floyd, who was born in 1845 in Illinois, married Mary Miller, and died in 1890 in Kleberg, Dallas County, Texas. The Floyds were one of the first families on whom I had any information, thanks to some outstanding Floyd family researchers, Eunice Sandling and the Jim and Pat Dodd family. It often seemed that there was very little I could add by way of research to what they had already done. They already had a family group for Caswell and Mary Floyd, which included five sons – George Albert, William Henry, Joseph Ira, Ollie B., and Charles Alford. However, Caswell ‘s death in1890 opened up the possibility that there were additional children born between the 1880 census and Caswell’s death in 1890.

The 1900 census showed an Alvin C. Long, born ca 1888, living with a Charles and Mary Long in Precinct 4, Dallas County, Texas, and I suspected that Mary Long was Caswell’s widow. I eventually got in touch with a descendant of Cletus Caswell Floyd, Alvin Cletus Floyd’s son, and the name Caswell and the descendant’s claim that the family was from Kleberg, Texas, made me positive that my guess was correct. However, this still is not the family referred to in this article.

When I did the census work for Charles and Mary Long, I found that in the 1910 census, Mary was shown as having given birth to 10 children, of whom 8 were still living. That meant it should be possible to find eight living children at that point in time, but at this point I knew only of Caswell and Mary’s six sons plus another son, Emmet, born to Mary and Charles Long. Emmet was born in 1893, at which time Mary was already about 45 years old, and in the 1900 census Mary was mistakenly shown as having had only one child, i.e., Emmet, so I guessed that the child not accounted for must have been Caswell’s child. After eliminating Floyd males from the Charles August Floyd and Alfred Byrum Floyd (Charles’ and Caswell’s youngest brother) families, there did not seem to be any additional male Floyds born in the early 1880s living on their own in the Dallas area. That left one possibility, a phenomenon known to many family researchers dealing with this period in history – 1880 to 1900 – who understand that one of the consequences of the loss of almost the entire 1890 census is the “lost daughter” – a daughter born in the early 1880s (so she does not appear on the 1880 census) who has already married and no longer lives with her family (so she cannot be found under her maiden name in the 1900 census).

My next step was to look for a young (less than 20 years old) married woman in the Kleberg area. There were several candidates, and for at least two of these it was indicated that one or both parents had been born in Illinois (the only reliable “distinguishing feature” I could use to narrow down the field), but I was actually able to find their maiden names with a little hunting, and none of them was the missing daughter. That was several months ago. About a week ago I was taking care of one of the more mundane genealogy chores, recopying quickly scribbled notes to put in the proper family binders. Probably about a year or so earlier (before I was very familiar with the Caswell Floyd family), I had hastily jotted down some information from Jim Wheat’s Dallas County Texas Archives (another plug for one of my favorite websites) – the transcript of the death certificate for a young woman named Alice Bibb who had died in the great influenza epidemic in 1918. Listed as her parents were C. B. Floyd and Mary Mills. At the time it piqued my curiosity, but I was not familiar enough with the family to be certain that this was Caswell and Mary. Seeing my notes a second time, however, gave me that jolt and then the rush familiar to so many genealogy buffs – this was the daughter I had been searching for! This was followed by embarrassment at my “senior moment” – forgetting that I had already “found” the daughter. I then remembered that her death fell within the right time frame to be covered by the Texas death certificates on the Family Search pilot site (another favorite website). A glance at the image of the original death certificate showed that Mary Mills was indeed actually Mary Miller, and Alice Bibb was Alice Floyd, the missing daughter.

In a subsequent article I will describe what I have learned about this family.