A Closer Look: The Moore Family-Rodeham Moore (part 3)

Each week I feature "A Closer Look" on my blog---which digs deeper into the history of one line of the family.  For simplicity, the post is broken down by generation and possibly into multiple posts per generation depending on the amount of known information, starting with the first generation which I have substantial information about.  I start each featured family with a summary of information of those who will be covered. 

A Closer Look: The Moore Family - Rodeham Moore (part 3)

As Rodeham Moore built his life as a landholder, he was also making sure his legacy would carry on.  Rodeham and Elizabeth Moore have 8 well documented children, however, it is possible they had more children than that.  I have found that oftentimes when there are large gaps between the birth of different children that losses of some sort have occurred---either prior to birth, during birth or in a child's early years.  I cannot say this is the case with Rodeham and Elizabeth Moore, but it is highly likely, given the gaps in time between several of the children, that they could have had other children that didn't survive to adulthood.

What follows will show a brief biography of each of Rodeham and Elizabeth's children and then the discussion will conclude the series by discussing the division of Rodeham Moore's estate.

Their first son, William Moore, was born in October of 1771.  Per my previous posts on Rodeham's whereabouts at that time, it is likely he was born in Pittsylvania County, Virginia.  At least once in his life, William purchased acreage from his father and ended up working much of the same land as his father as time went on.  William Moore married Jane Dalton Hanby in Patrick County, Virginia in December of 1798.  William died on May 13, 1819.  William and Jane had 9 known children.

There is approximately a 9 year gap between William and the next son of Rodeham and Elizabeth.  A gap like this could indicate that the Moore family suffered from the loss of one child or even several children.  Again, that is unknown but not unlikely.  Hugh Moore was born in 1780.  He was born in either Henry County (later Patrick County), Virginia or Surry County, North Carolina.  Hugh married first, Rebecca Smith Creed (who actually was the mother-in-law of several of Hugh's brothers) in 1806 and second, Mary Hill between 1817 and 1821.  Hugh, like many of his family, moved to Hawkins County, Tennessee and died there on January 28, 1842.  Mooresburg, Tennessee was founded by Moore brothers Hugh, John and Ewell.  Hugh and Rebecca had 5 known children.  Hugh and Mary had 8 known children.

John Moore was born in approximately 1782 in either Henry County (later Patrick County), Virginia or in Surry County, North Carolina.  John married Elizabeth Williams in approximately 1809.  John and Elizabeth moved to Hawkins County, Tennessee.  They had 8 known children.  John died on December 28, 1822.

Another small gap existed between John and his next brother, Galehew (Gallahue) Moore.  Galehew was born in about 1787, again in either Henry County (later Patrick County), Virginia or Surry County, North Carolina.  Galehew was married to Rhoda Laurence on August 25, 1816 in Surry County, North Carolina.  Galehew and Rhoda had 9 known children.  Galehew helped raise his brother William's children after William's early death in 1819.  After helping raise his nieces and nephews, Galehew and Rhoda moved to Polk County, Missouri.  Galehew died in Dade, Polk County, Missouri on September 11, 1854.

Cleon Moore, who I will be discussing more in-depth in the next "A Closer Look", was born on July 8, 1789 in either Henry County (later Patrick County), Virginia or Surry County, North Carolina.  He married Margaret "Peggy" Creed on December 22, 1812.  Cleon and Peggy moved to Hawkins County, Tennessee where they lived until their death.  Cleon and Peggy had 13 known children.  After Peggy died, Cleon married Emily Reese Bradford and had 1 more child.  Cleon died on August 21, 1852.

In 1791, Rodeham and Elizabeth had their sixth known son, Ewell Moore, in either Patrick County (which became a county in the same year), Virginia or Surry County, North Carolina.  Ewell married Nancy Emily Creed on March 20, 1812 in Surry County, North Carolina.  Ewell was one of the three first Moore brothers to make his way to Hawkins County, Tennessee.  Later Ewell moved to Polk County, Missouri.  Ewell and Nancy had 11 known children.

Their first known daughter, Elizabeth Moore was born on January 31, 1797, in Surry County, North Carolina.  Elizabeth married Peregrine G. Yoe (his second marriage) on January 15, 1816.  Elizabeth and Peregrine lived in Jefferson County, Tennessee.  They had 12 known children.  Elizabeth died in 1865 and is buried in Hawkins County, Tennessee. 

Rodeham and Elizabeth's last child, another daughter, Sarah (aka Sallie) Moore, was born on January 20, 1799, in Surry County, North Carolina.  Sallie married George Williams on September 8, 1814 in Tennessee.  George and Sallie settled in Hawkins County, Tennessee like many of her siblings.  Some documentation links them with 8 known children, while other records show 12.  My research supports 12 children.  Sallie Moore Williams died on February 20, 1853 in Hawkins County, Tennessee. 

Based upon all available research, these were the 8 children that represented the next generation of the Rodeham and Elizabeth Gallahue Moore Family.  As the numbers indicate, the family spread rapidly, with well over 80 known grandchildren of Rodeham and Elizabeth. 

Rodeham Moore died on June 4, 1811 in Surry County, North Carolina.  He was buried in what became the "Moore Cemetery" in Patrick County, Virginia.  Without a doubt, he left his mark as an "American success" story in the early days of our country.  He was able to increase his wealth massively over the course of his life and left a legacy to future generations of the Moore family.

At the time of his death, Rodeham still had two minor children (Elizabeth and Sallie) living at home meaning the estate couldn't be settled until they reached a majority.  However, due to the death of his presumed heir and oldest son William in 1819, Rodeham's estate was actually not settled in its entirety until after William's estate was divided amongst William's children.  The last distribution of Rodeham's assets was after William's last child reached a majority in 1834.

What remained went to Rodeham's wife.  Elizabeth eventually moved to Hawkins County, Tennessee where most of her children and grandchildren lived.  After she died the rest of the family assets were split amongst her living children or her deceased children's heirs, except William's children as they had already inherited such a large part of Rodeham's estate.

With that, the series on Rodeham Moore is over an the discussion of the Moore Family will move onto his fifth son Cleon Moore in the next "A Closer Look".  Cleon Moore was my husband's 5th great-grandfather.

Again, I would like to acknowledge the work that Joyce Browning, another Rodeham Moore descendant, has put into researching the Moore family as well as the Rodeham Moore Descendants Association for sharing the information so that people like myself can share it with you!  If you are interested in learning more about the association or Ms. Browning's work, please follow the links below within the sources section.  Also, if you are interested in learning more about other branches of the Rodeham Moore family, you can find many different articles and stories on the site listed in the sources.

~Christine

If you missed the first three posts in the series, follow these links to learn more!
A Closer Look: The Moore Family-Introduction
A Closer Look: The Moore Family-Rodeham Moore (part 1)
A Closer Look: The Moore Family-Rodeham Moore (part 2)

Sources:

The Rodeham Moore Descendants Association www.rodehammoore.com
Click here to read the article written by Rodeham Moore descendent Joyce Browning.  More information from the association is also included in this report.  All deeds, tax records, lawsuits, wills and other details discussed in this post are referenced in this report.  Also, see an extensive Moore Family Tree authored by Richard Kesler and published by the Rodeham Moore Descendants Association on the association website.  Much of my family research has been confirmed by this tree.

For your reference, here is how Rodeham Moore is linked to my family:
Rodeham Moore--->Cleon Moore--->William Henry Harrison Moore--->Albert Wesley Moore--->Nellie Moore--->Howard Estes Millis--->Marjorie Ruth Millis (my husband's maternal grandmother