Richard Moore (b. ? - d.
1734)
MSA SC 5496-51573
Property Owner, London
Town, Maryland
Biography:
Richard Moore was a property owner in and around London Town. He was both a physician and a merchant.1 His father, Mordecai Moore, arrived in Maryland as the family physician for Lord Baltimore.2 He was married to Ursula Moore and they had Richard Moore.3 After Ursula Moore died in 1702, Dr. Mordecai Moore married Deborah Lloyd, daughter of Thomas Lloyd.4 They had three children: Mary, Elizabeth, and Deborah.5 Deborah, the eldest, married Dr. Richard Hill.6
On May 27, 1709, Richard Moore married Margaret Preston (b. 1689), daughter of Samuel Preston and his first wife, Rachel Lloyd, daughter of Thomas Lloyd.7 Richard and Margaret Moore had five children: Samuel Preston (b. 1710 - d. 1785), Mordecai (d. 1800), Richard (d. 1760), Thomas (b. 1724), and Charles (b. 1724).8
Samuel Preston was also a physician.9 He married his cousin, Hannah Hill, daughter of Dr. Richard Hill, on August 12, 1739.10 They did not have any children, but moved to Philadelphia in 174411 and cared for Hannah Hill's younger brothers and sisters.12
Mordecai Moore married Elizabeth Coleman, daughter of Dr. Joseph Coleman of Prince George's County, on August 9, 1739.13 He died in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania on July 31, 1800.14 They had eight children: Margaret, Mary, Richard, Samuel Preston, Rachel, Deborah, Henry, and Hannah.15 Hannah Moore married Charles Wilson Peale in 1805.16
Richard and Margaret Moore's third son, Richard Moore Jr., married Mary West from the Eastern Shore of Maryland. They had four children, three of whom lived to adulthood.17
Thomas and Charles Moore were twins, born on March 25, 1724.18 Thomas Moore married Sarah Emlen on January 12, 1773. He died in 1799.19 Charles Moore graduated with a degree in Medicine from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1752. He practiced medicine in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. He married his cousin, Milcah Hill, daughter of Dr. Richard Hill and sister of Hannah Hill, in 1767. Charles Moore died on August 19, 1801.20
Richard Moore first appears in the Anne Arundel County Court land records in 1715. The entry states that he, "Richard Moore of Philadelphia," marked his "Cattle and hoggs in Maryland" with a "Cross and a hole in the left Ear and a Cross and two Slitts in the Right."21
It is known that Richard Moore owned a number of lots in and around London Town. In 1721, he sold lots 2 and 44, part of lot 1, and part of a tract of land called Scorton to Dr. Richard Hill.22
In 1733, for one shilling per lot, he sold his half sister, Mary Moore, lot 5523 and his other half sister, Rachel Moore, lot 63.24
Richard Moore also acquired all lots of land in the possession of David and Mary Macklefish and John and Alice Lewis in 1726, except for lot 49 and 57.25 However, the deed does not detail exactly which lots he acquired.
After her husband's death in 1734, Margaret Moore sold lot 69 to John Galloway when dealing with her husband's estate.26
Richard Moore owned at least 34 slaves (to see a complete list, click here).27 They made up about 44 percent of his inventory.28 In his will, Richard Moore did not bequeath any specific slaves to his wife or children.29
Richard Moore's inventory was valued at 1566 pounds, 17 shillings, and 2 pence.30 He left a third of his estate to his wife Margaret, a third to his son Samuel Preston and a third to his son Mordecai.31 However, his wife and two sons had to "pay out of their monies each one half to [his] three younger children, Richard, Thomas, and Charles Moore."32 The three younger children were to be educated in a "Christian manner" and then apprenticed in a trade of their choice once they turned fifteen.33
In August 1737, Henry Wright of Prince George's County, a suretie on Richard Moore's estate, brought Margaret, Samuel Preston, and Mordecai Moore, the executors of Richard Moore's estate, to court because he wanted to hear why they had failed to "pass an Account of the said Deceds Estate."34 The case was discontinued in January 1737 after Samuel Preston and Mordecai Moore exhibited the account.35*
* Note: In 1752, England and its colonies switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. Thus, the first day of the year went from occurring on March 25 to occurring on January 1. As a result, eleven days were lost in the month of September 1752, meaning September 2, 1752 was followed by September 14, 1752. Records prior to 1752 often use a double dating system (example: 1730/1) for the months of January through March. When looking at Quaker records, the month is written as a numeral, so it is important to keep in mind that they were using the Julian calendar prior to the switch. Thus, the 6th month would be August rather than June for dates prior to 1752. For more information on this change, see a description in the January 2, 1752 edition of the Maryland Gazette, view the actual Calendar Act of 1750 passed by Parliament, or read a summary by Connecticut State Library.
Endnotes:
1. Charles P. Keith, The Provincial Councillors of Pennsylvania who held office between 1722 and 1776, (Philadelphia: W.S. Sharp Printing Co., 1883), 74.
2. Howard Barclay French, Genealogy of the Descendants of Thomas French, Vol II, (Philadelphia: privately printed, 1913), 362.
3. PREROGATIVE COURT (Wills) Ursula Moore, 1702, Liber 11, folio 353, MSA S538-17, MdHR 1289-2.
4. French, 362.
5. Mechelle Kerns and Mollie Ridout, Dr. Richard Hill of London Town: Economic and Social Perspectives on Life in Colonial America, (Maryland: London Town Foundation, 1998), 28.
6. Keith, 74.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. Kerns and Ridout, 24.
13. Keith, 75.
14. Ibid.
15. Ibid.
16. Ibid.
17. Ibid., 91-2.
18. Ibid., 74.
19. Ibid.
20. Ibid.
27. PREROGATIVE COURT (Inventories) Richard Moore, 1734, Liber 21, folio 12, MSA S534-21, MdHR 1095.
28. Mechelle L. Kerns, London Town: The Life of a Colonial Town, (University of Maryland Baltimore County: Masters of Arts Thesis, 1999), 296.
29. PREROGATIVE COURT (Wills) Richard Moore, 1734, Liber 21, folio 254, MSA S538-31, MdHR 1299-1.
30. PREROGATIVE COURT (Inventories) Richard Moore, 1734, Liber 21, folio 12, MSA S534-21, MdHR 1095.
31. PREROGATIVE COURT (Wills) Richard Moore, 1734, Liber 21, folio 254, MSA S538-31, MdHR 1299-1.
32. Ibid.
33. Ibid.
34. PREROGATIVE COURT (Testamentary Proceedings) Richard Moore, 1737, Liber 30, folio 306, MSA S529-47, MdHR 986.
35. PREROGATIVE COURT (Testamentary Proceedings) Richard Moore, 1737, Liber 30, folio 376, MSA S529-47, MdHR 986.
Researched and written by Sarah Hartge, 2012.
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