Ed writes:   "I brought home some ancestry information from Dad and Aunt Marjorie and was able to trace some of the Moore Family History.  The chain is posted below, which makes the article more interesting to read.  I plan to find even more with the Moore's, but Great Grandma Kittie Jane's chain is even more interesting.  It traces back to Valley Forge, Ireland and France.  I thought you might want to post so everyone could read." Moore Chain: Robert Moore (1732-1802) Thomas Guthrie Moore 1st (1760-1843) Thomas Guthrie Moore 2nd (1796-1844) Wilson Trent Moore (1820-1896) Elmer Ellsworth Moore (1866-1949) Ralph Cowan Moore (1900-1965) Marjorie, Wilma and Billy

There isn't much on the Moore line. Elizabeth Moore's father is Thomas Moore, her mother was Edith Trent. Thomas was a revolutionary soldier and suffered much at the hands of the enemy in that war, but we don't have any details of his life's work or where he traveled, but he was buried in the Moore cemetery, which was given by himself for that purpose.

The Moore's had lived all winter in their pioneer cabin. In the spring, Edith Trent Moore, looked the place over and said, "We plan to make a new home here and we must have a cemetery, and I have found just the spot for the cemetery."

The next winter some other people, moving west from an eastern state, were passing near there when the winter became so severe they became sick, so were forced to stay. In the spring one of their little girls died. In inquiring of where they could bury her, someone said that Mrs. Moore had chosen a spot on their farm for a cemetery. They went to Mrs. Moore and asked permission of Edith to bury their little child in their cemetery.

She went with them and chose the spot for the child to be buried. The next spring Edith Moore died and she was buried in the spot she had chosen two years before.

The parents of the child went back to their former home, but the next year they sent two dollars to the Moores, asking them to make a fence around their child's grave. That was quite a bit of money then. They made a picket fence around the little grave and painted it white.

MOORE'S CEMETERY

I think that God must love this peaceful place.
The refuge in the hushed and reverent wood;
I think He lingers in approval here
As when of old "He saw that it was good.

Around this sheltered cove; this placid pool,
The living ocean rages madly on,
Intent up it's missions, false or true;
But touches not this favored spot with-drawn.

And here His people chose their last abode,
Their final resting place, and gathered here
Those common men and women whom He loves:
Who labor in His vineyards year by year.

Here in this quiet haven of repose,
Their labor o'er, their slumbers shall endure;
The turmoil and the tumult of the world
Disturb them not; they rest, serene, secure.

And here the living too, shall come at last
To sleep beneath the kindly, silent sods;
Content to rest within this hallowed soil,

 

This acre that is so supremely God's.
by Garet Sten, Carlinville, IL.

The following are some of my thoughts and impressions upon visiting this cemetery. "One wants to go again and again. "This cemetery lies in one of the most beautifully secluded spots I have ever seen. One hears the gargling ripples of Macoupin Creek as it leisurely passes on it's way. The cool fresh breezes of the many, varied trees surrounding the cemetery, which give home to the numerous beautiful birds, that warble forth their sweetest melodies in the summer time, and indeed make it a most sacred and choice spot, known only to God and the many friends and relatives of those whose earthly bodies rest in peace there, while their spirits, that which gave them life and still lives, are happily engaged in a more glorious sphere, awaiting the reuniting of body and spirit in a glorious resurrection".

Thomas Moore was a slave owner and a tobacco raiser while he lived in Kentucky. In 1832 he and his wife and two sons, Robert and Thomas, and their families came to Macoupin County, Illinois in ox-drawn wagons and settled near what is now Carlinville. They all entered Government land and settled on adjoining farms. They had been preceded in 1829 by their son, John and his family, who settled in Brushy Mound township, Macoupin County, Illinois.

When they came to Illinois they lived in a "Squatter's Cabin" until they could build a log house. This cabin stood northeast of the present Moore home, and I think one daughter, Nancy was born there in 1833. Soon after they settled here, Edith Trent Moore, the mother died and was buried on the farm they had entered and settled. Thomas Moore, the father died in 1843, and their son Robert, died of Cholera in 1851.

Thomas Moore, Sr. was discharged from the Militia, as unfit for service, on the 4th of October 1790. Claim for pension was filed and allowed. The amount of his pension was $20.00 per year.

Robert Moore taught school near John Henderson's Springs, in Simpson county, Kentucky. He taught twenty children for six months for $8.00 per child, per year. Half of this was to be paid in goods and half in commonwealth paper. He also was to receive lodging and "diet".

Among his descendants many also taught school, (Osce Yowell, writing) My mother and aunt taught, and of the same generation in Thomas Guthrie's children Rob (Robert C.) Bess and Nell. In the next generation, my sister Pearl and me taught; also Bob's son, Paul, and Neil's daughter, Harriet Bolinger.

plans to be a history teacher and will practice teaching when college begins next week. I think I have mentioned all of us who were teachers.

In my earliest days, one wagon from our two houses would go to Carlinville on Saturday to take the butter and eggs and buy staples, also get library books. The library was in the Court House basement then. I remember hoping each week that Bess would be going for she always selected books we little girls enjoyed so very much.

Osce, states further about the cemetery. She said that the cemetery was virgin forest and that they logged it off for logs to build their big permanent home, and for that they chose a spot where they had found good underground water supply. The family felt very responsible for the area even though it became a community cemetery. They saw to it that it was well cared for. My father did the major part of this during the years he lived beside it. Perpetual care was instituted about 1948. This spot is near the joining of Moore's branch~(Thomas's Namesake) and the Macoupin Creek.