James Moore Sr. ( – ) was a military officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of Carolina from 1700 to 1703. He is best known for leading several invasions of

Spanish Florida Spanish Florida () was the first major European land-claim and attempted settlement-area in northern America during the European Age of Discovery. ''La Florida'' formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and th ...

during

Queen Anne's War Queen Anne's War (1702–1713) or the Third Indian War was one in a series of French and Indian Wars fought in North America involving the colonial empires of Great Britain, France, and Spain; it took place during the reign of Anne, Queen of Gr ...

, including attacks in 1704 and 1706 which wiped out most of the

Spanish missions in Florida Beginning in the second half of the 16th century, the Kingdom of Spain established Christian missions, missions in Spanish Florida (''La Florida'') in order to convert the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous tribes to Roman Catholi ...

. He captured and brought back to Carolina as slaves thousands of

Apalachee The Apalachee were an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, specifically an Indigenous people of Florida, who lived in the Florida Panhandle until the early 18th century. They lived between the Aucilla River and Ochlockonee River,Bobby ...

Early life

James Moore was born . It has been claimed that Moore was a son of Irish military officer

Rory O'Moore Sir Rory O'Moore (; c. 1600 – 16 February 1655), also known Sir Roger O'Moore or O'More or Sir Roger Moore, was an Irish landowner, and is most notable for being one of the four principal organisers of the Irish Rebellion of 1641. Early life ...

, a leader of the

Irish Rebellion of 1641 The Irish Rebellion of 1641 was an uprising in Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, initiated on 23 October 1641 by Catholic gentry and military officers. Their demands included an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and ...

, and that he had inherited his father's rebellious nature. However, Moore's official seal bore the swan and arms of the Moore family of

Devonshire Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the wes ...

, suggesting his origins were English. It appears Moore emigrated from England to

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

, then eventually to mainland

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. He first appears in provincial records in 1675 representing Margaret Berringer Yeamans, widow of Sir

John Yeamans Sir John Yeamans, 1st Baronet (bapt. 28 February 1611 – 1674) was an English colonial administrator and planter who served as Governor of Carolina from 1672 to 1674. Contemporary descriptions of Yeamans described him as "a pirate ashore." ...

, before the provincial council. At about the same time he married her daughter by her first husband, also named Margaret.

Career

In 1677, 1682, and 1683, Moore served on the provincial council. He played a leading role in a 1690 expedition into the Carolina back country, crossing the

Appalachians The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

to investigate possibilities of trade with the local Indian population. In 1698 he was elected to the provincial assembly, and was described as the right-hand-man of proprietor Sir John Colleton. The next year he was named chief justice of the province, a post he held until he was named governor in 1700, replacing the deceased Joseph Blake. Moore was a leader of one of Carolina's political factions, called the "Goose Creek Men", after Goose Creek, an outlying area of Charleston. In 1683, Moore was granted by the

lords proprietor A lord proprietor is a person granted a royal charter for the establishment and government of an English colony in the 17th century. The plural of the term is "lords proprietors" or "lords proprietary". Origin In the beginning of the Europe ...

. He called his estate "Boochowee". Part of this land is known today as Liberty Hall Plantation. From 1691, Moore was the acknowledged leader of the Goose Creek Men, the main political opposition to the ruling "

Dissenter A dissenter (from the Latin , 'to disagree') is one who dissents (disagrees) in matters of opinion, belief, etc. Dissent may include political opposition to decrees, ideas or doctrines and it may include opposition to those things or the fiat of ...

" faction. Moore's rise to governorship in 1700 signalled a major shift in the politics of the province. The Dissenters contested Moore's "unjust election". But the lords proprietor saw to it that Moore remained governor, and they made it clear that the Dissenters were no longer in favor. Between 1700 and 1703, Moore was the governor of Carolina, which was then in the process of dividing into the provinces of

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. During this period, he led a number of attacks from the Carolinas into

. He relied on allied Indian tribes, especially the

Yamasee The Yamasees (also spelled Yamassees, Yemasees or Yemassees) were a multiethnic confederation of Native Americans who lived in the coastal region of present-day northern coastal Georgia near the Savannah River and later in northeastern Florida. ...

for most of his military force. On news of the outbreak of

in 1702, he led 500 colonists, 300 native allies, and 14 small ships on an invasion of Spanish Florida along the coast, destroying the remaining Spanish missionary Indians of

Guale Guale was a historic Native American chiefdom of Mississippian culture peoples located along the coast of present-day Georgia and the Sea Islands. Spanish Florida established its Roman Catholic missionary system in the chiefdom in the late 16th ...

and

Mocama The Mocama were a Native American people who lived in the coastal areas of what are now northern Florida and southeastern Georgia. A Timucua group, they spoke the dialect known as Mocama, the best-attested dialect of the Timucua language. Their ...

, and devastating the lands around

St. Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

. While the town of St. Augustine was razed, its central fortress,

Castillo de San Marcos The Castillo de San Marcos ( Spanish for “ St. Mark’s Castle”) is the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States; it is located on the western shore of Matanzas Bay in St. Augustine, Florida. It was designed by the Spanish en ...

, where the Spanish and numerous allied Indians had taken refuge, resisted Moore's siege. The 1702 campaign was viewed as a disaster due to the failure to take the fortress and the expenses incurred, and Moore resigned his post. In 1704, Moore led an expedition of 50 colonists and 1,000

Muscogee The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek or just Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language; English: ), are a group of related Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands Here they waged war again ...

, Yamasee, and other allied Indians, into western Florida, leading to the

Apalachee massacre The Apalachee massacre was a series of raids by English colonists from the Province of Carolina and their Muscogee allies against a largely peaceful Apalachee population in northern Spanish Florida which took place in January 1704 during Qu ...

. The

were the last powerful Spanish-allied Indian nation in the region. Their defeat in 1704 resulted in many Apalachee being enslaved and taken from Charleston to the West Indies. Other Apalachee were relocated (some voluntarily, others not) to the

Savannah River The Savannah River is a major river in the Southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and South Carolina. The river flows from the Appalachian Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, ...

to live in semi-serfdom. Another result of the defeat of the Apalachee was the collapse of the final defence of the Indians of Florida. In the following years, Carolinian and Indian slave raiders virtually wiped out the Indian population of Florida all the way to the

Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral island, coral cay archipelago off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami a ...

. Moore's defeat of the Apalachee in Spanish Florida was hailed as a major victory for Carolina, which had been fighting with the Spanish for control of the region for decades. It also served to strengthen ties between various southeastern Indians and Carolina. The

Creek people The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek or just Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language; English: ), are a group of related Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern WoodlandsCherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

s became much more closely allied with Carolina. With these two Indian nations as strong allies, the English rose to a position of dominance over the French and Spanish in the American southeast. Moore died in 1706 of a tropical disease, possibly yellow fever. He was significantly in debt. His son by the same name was elected to the same office in 1719 following the overthrow of the proprietary governor.

Personal life

Moore married Margaret Berringer, daughter of Lady Margaret Yeamans (by a previous marriage). Their daughter, Mary Moore, married Job Howe, another of the "Goose Creek Men". Altogether James and Margaret had ten children, many of whom moved to the

Lower Cape Fear Cape Fear is a coastal plain and Tidewater region of North Carolina centered about the city of Wilmington. The region takes its name from the adjacent Cape Fear headland, as does the Cape Fear River which flows through the region and empties ...

region, where they and their descendants became known as "The Family", the most powerful family in the region. Moore was the grandfather of

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

Brigadier General James Moore, and great-grandfather of Continental Army Major General Robert Howe. The Moore family imported over 4,000

slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

into the Carolinas, mostly for its own extensive plantations and farms in and around the Cape Fear area of what later became North Carolina. James Moore also had a house in Charleston and another in the Goose Creek area near Charleston. Another Moore family descendant,

Alfred Moore Alfred Moore (May 21, 1755 – October 15, 1810) was an American judge, lawyer, planter and military officer who became an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Moore Square, a park located in the Moore Square Histo ...

, became a Justice of the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

Early life

Career

Personal life

Family tree

References

Further reading