yesterday's tennessee

Nathaniel Moore and Descendants
1826 - 2006

from the research of Norma Justine Moore Chance

Nathaniel Moore b. 7-3-1787 d. 9-1871 married Margureth Phillips b. 6-4-1788 d. 3-19-1867 He was a blacksmith and died away from the Perryville area, place unknown. He is listed in Lilly Younger’s Decatur County Tennessee County History Series, Memphis State University Press, Memphis, Tennessee 1979 (vol 20) in the 1850 Census as a 62 year old blacksmith from North Carolina. His son Alfred was listed in that publication on p. 10 as a carpenter, 34 years of age, from North Carolina. On page 19, Claude Dillinger (Mittie Moore’s husband) was recorded as having moved from Indiana to Perryville where he established a blacksmith shop in 1897, in addition to the Moore’s shop at Sardis Ridge. Government land grants 8623 and 11715 are noted in Zula Moore Readey’s sketch of Nathaniel in Lilly Younger’s History. Nathaniel Moore signed (#117) a petition for division of Perry County, and was listed on the Perry Co. tax list of 1837 as Nathaniel Moore, Dist. 4 (p. 90).

Other research:

Nathaniel Moore b. 7-3-1787 was a descendant of one of the original Moore brothers who came to this continent from Glasglow, Scotland probably in the mid to late 1700’s. Nathaniel married Margureth Phillips b. 6-24-1788 and they were residents of Surry Co. when they and their four children when they set out for Perry Co. TN. Their children were Alfred Lynch b. 5-1-1816, Margaret “Peggy”, Tennessee “Tennie” and Mary Moore. Their wagon train was delayed in Bedford Co. TN. for the birth of Bedford William Moore (9-5-1928) before proceeding to their destination. (A different story has been told that this group traveled down the Tennessee River on a flatboat, by way of Muscle Shoals, to the Perryville area.) When the family arrived in Perry Co. TN. in 1928, Nathaniel entered a land grant, for land near Perryville. Their first home was built near a spring. Later in 1850, Nathaniel entered a second land grant, on
December 10, 1850 for100 acres. Nathaniel was a blacksmith and he was away from home, working at the time of his death. Due to a horrible snow storm, and weather unfit for returning his body to Sardis Ridge Cemetery, he was buried in the area of Mifflin TN. where his daughter Mary McGlothlin lived. (See Yesterday’s TN. for different version)

Going Back

The following is information I attained from Margaret Ballard Moore, wife of Ruben Moore, Jr. They own and reside in the old Alfred Lynch Moore home place on McKenzie Road in the Sardis Ridge community.

• David Moore arrived in Philadelphia, PA. in 1739 along with his 7 brothers. They came from Ulster, Ireland and their names were listed in the ship’s manifest as: David Moore, Andrew Moore, Alexander Moore, John Moore, James Moore, Samuel Moore, William Moore and George Moore. (The Mother’s maiden name was Baxter, as listed in Londonderry in 1689.)
• Benjamin Moore b. 1766 was the son of David (our direct line). His son was Nathaniel.

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Note: This writer found some interesting facts while researching the Moore’s in the Decatur Co. Library in Decaturville, TN. in August 2005. The name John Moore was also listed in the book, Heads of Families-North Carolina, Salisbury District, Surry County pp. 185. (Our ancestors lived there at the time of this census.)

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The following information was gathered by Mildred Moore Crosby from our Aunt Zula Moore Readey. Aunt Zula died in 1989, a few years after my father, her brother, Jim Moore died. .. So all of Tom Moore’s children are deceased. This document goes back to the days of my great, great grandfather, Nathaniel.

Text:

My grandfather, Thomas Johnston Moore (Tom Moore) told us that the Moores came from Glasglow, Scotland. He said people referred to his grandfather Nathaniel as “Nattie”.

According to a historian named Hanna who wrote a book called “The Scotch Irish”, the Moores moved from Glasglow Scotland to Ireland because an Irish clan leader named O’Neil got into trouble with the government of the English Queen Elizabeth.

Con O’Neil was chieftain of the northern half of Ireland County Down, just across the north channel of the Irish Sea from Scotland. The English queen’s minister was preparing to hang O’Neil when his wife made a deal with two Scottish lords that were to save his life. The lords were Hugh Montgomery of Braidstone and Sir James Hamilton, both living in Northern Ayrshire. Montgomery and Hamilton and their followers crossed the channel and rescued O’Neil as they had promised each man received a third of O’Neils land. O’Neil later “ran through” his share. The rights of Hamilton and Montgomery to hold their portions later were confirmed by King James with the provision that the lands be resettled with people from Scotland.

The Moores were among the families who resettled from Scotland in county down Ireland. The resettlement took place in the early 1600’s, mostly 1606. The Moores of Ayrshire were by no means the first Moores in Ireland. There had been Moores in Ireland since the Celtic wave of immigration in pre-Christian times. The Ayrshire Moores are credited by historian Hanna with having fought gallantly in the siege in Londonderry which was a part of a conflict between the Protestants of Northern Ireland and the Irish Catholics. It is an argument that is not settled.

In the year 1739 there were 9 sturdy Moore brothers who came ashore in Philadelphia from a ship newly arrived from Ulster in Northern, Ireland. They were part of the Moore Clan that came to Ireland from Scotland. Tradition says they stepped into a tavern and ordered a jug of whiskey. They toasted a colorful past, they toasted a promising future and then they started down the Appalachian Trail to the Carolinas and opportunity.

One of the Moore brothers next appeared in Borden’s Grant permanently and reared a family there. The other brothers stayed for different lengths of time then moved south as they pleased. The doings of the Moores in Bordon’s Grant are discussed in historian Waddell’s “Annals of Agusta County”. One of David Moore’s sons, Benjamin, was born in 1766. Benjamin moved to North Carolina in what later became Surry County where he reared a family. One of his sons, Nathaniel (Nattie) was born July 3, 1787. Nathaniel married Margaret Phillips who was born in North Carolina June 24, 1788. In the early spring of 1828, Nathaniel and his wife Margaret along with his son Alfred and daughters, Margaret (Peggy) Tennessee (Tennie) and Mary joined a group of families who were headed west into Tennessee. They slowly made their way through the Piedmont section of North Carolina and on to the foothills before reaching the Smokey Mountains. They crossed the mountains and made their way through
the deep silent forests of ash, elm and hickory on trails cut by the Indians.

The men rode on the flanks and at the rear of the caravan, protecting the women from raids by savages and bandit outlaws who preyed on the unwary. The women rode in the carts piled high with their household goods, treasured heirlooms, frying pans, bedsteads, medicines, bolts of cloth to make new clothes and the tools the men would need to carve new homes out of the Wilderness.

Margaret Moore was pregnant when they started the trip and when the wagon train reached Bedford County, Tennessee they made camp while she gave birth to a son on September 5, 1828. They named him Bedford William Moore after the county where he was born. The family remained there until the mother was able to travel and they proceeded on to Perryville Landing on the west bank of the Tennessee River.
At this time the territory was in Perry County, Tennessee and Perryville was the county seat. No Decatur County at this time.

When they arrived, they entered a tract of land about one and a half miles from Perryville Landing near the location of the Sardis Ridge Church today. They built a log cabin near a large spring. The cabin was built with logs from clearing the land, fitted together and fastened with wooden pegs instead of nails. The roof was made of wooden shingles. The only tools available were axes, augers, and possibly a cross-cut saw.

Crude indeed were the first log cabins with their puncheon floors, wooden shutters for windows, leather latch strings to fasten the doors, stone and clay chimneys, clay hearth stones. Primitive was the homemade furniture within them. A table split from a large log, a bedstead made of poles interlaced with bears skins, They used the old spinning wheel, hung their rifles in forked cleats over the door with powder horn hung beside it. There were three legged stools, split bottom chairs, cast iron spiders, long handled frying pans and a movable Dutch oven. All cooking was done on the fireplace.

The Land Grant # 8623 shows this occurred in 1828. In 1832 Nathaniel Moore and his family moved into a larger two story log building which he built and there he reared his family. While Nathaniel (Nattie) Moore was a carpenter and blacksmith and part time farmer, he spent most of his time as a blacksmith in his new home in Tennessee. His old anvil, bellows and other blacksmith tools were handed down from generation
to generation and are now in the possession of Thomas (Tom) Johnston Moore heirs.

More information

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