Ohio History Journal

WILLIAM EVES MOORE.

1823-1899.

William Eves Moore, D. D., LL. D., was born in Strasburg,

Pa., April 1st, 1823. His parents, Jacob Moore, M. D., (Univer-

sity of Pennsylvania, 1818), and Sarah Faris Moore, came of

Scotch-Irish ancestors, who after the siege of Derry migrated

to the northern part of Newcastle county, Delaware, and for

generations held office in the same Presbyterian church and

owned the original farm land given by grant of Wm. Penn.

Returning from Strasburg to Delaware, Dr. Moore's father died

when this, his eldest son, was six years of age.

With two sisters older, and a brother younger, there then

began for him all the vicissitudes in life of a fatherless boy.

From the home of paternal grandparents in Mill Creek Hun-

dred, he first attended school in New London, and at ten years

of age was trudging on foot over hills and country roads to New-

ark Academy. At twelve and a half years he is a druggist's

apprentice in Philadelphia, laying in stores of practical knowl-

edge to be of use on battlefields in later life.

Following this came a service of one campaign in the war

with the Seminoles in Florida, where first he served his country

in arms and his fellow-soldiers with care of the sick and dying.

Next were a few years upon a farm-a signal benefit to his

future health, and whether ploughing the field or sowing the

wheat his was the expert hand chosen for all difficult tasks. And

now there came the call of the Master, first to consecration of

heart and life to the service of God, and then to the ministry of

the Word. But how should the orphan youth find ways and

means for a long course of preparation ? Educational opportuni-

ties had been few,-of means, he had none. If any part of the

life of Dr. Moore was truly heroic and full of Christian trust and

gratitude, it was in the eight years' struggle following his de-

cision of this great question. At the end of it, without aid from

educational societies, he yet was without a dollar of debt! In

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Willima Eves Moore.               475

ten months, during eight of which he taught a common school, he had progressed from the first page of the Latin grammar into the freshman class of Yale College. From that hour no back- ward step or look was ever taken, and as in all his future life, honors came soon and often, but hard-earned; and ever the Christian life and influence went on, in prayer-meeting and inquiry-rooms, in Sabbath mission work, and in the sacred pri- vacy of personal intercourse. Approaching his graduation in 1847 he wonders how and where the next door shall open for him. When commencement day comes he has been already six weeks chosen and installed Principal of the Fairfield (Conn.) Academy and Preparatory School. Again he is both teacher and student, for now he enters on the study of theology, under the tuition of that prince among theologians, Dr. Lyman Atwater, later of Princeton. It was this experience of struggle and accomplishment which gave him such sympathy and helpful interest in young men and women with like aspirations. He early became the friend and patron of educational institutions. He was long in the service as president of the public school board of West Chester and later entered upon a continuous responsibility as trustee and president of the board of trustees of the now great State Normal School of West Chester. For many years previous to his death he was an active and valued member of the boards of trustees of Marietta College, of Lane Theological Seminary and Columbus Medical College. Dr. Moore was licensed to preach in April, 1850, and was ordained and installed over the First Presbyterian Church, West Chester in October of the same year. He had married a few weeks before to Harriet F., daughter of Rev. George Foot, of Delaware. Outside of the vigorous work of his own pastorate, he did much preaching in the churches of the surrounding coun- try, which labor bore fruit in the organization of several strong churches. For many years, in that first field of his ministerial labors, he preached three times every Sabbath, riding distances of from ten to twenty miles to reach his different appointments. Often in teachers' institutes, almost constantly tutoring young men for college, ever watchful over the young teachers in

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476      Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

the public schools-he was kept in touch with the lives of teacher

and student. Among those who have in whole, or in part, been

fitted for college by him were the late Dr. Daniel G. Brinton,

Col. H. M. McIntire and Col. George F. Smith.

Dr. Moore was a patriot ever ready to die for his country, if

need be. In the early years of the civil war he did noble service

at home, staying weak faith, stimulating and helping by every

power given him-until the day of Lee's advance upon Penn-

sylvania, when enlisting in the Chester County Battery, he be-

came a Lieutenant and served during the Gettysburg campaign.

Later he did much service for the Christian Commission on

various battlefields, and with Bishop Vincent entered Richmond

by the first boat going up the James-after the surrender-with

supplies for the hungry and suffering.

Later in life, in Columbus, O., where he was pastor and

pastor emeritus for twenty-seven years after leaving West Ches-

ter, he was made chaplain of the 1₄th regiment of the Ohio

National Guard, and for 19 years shared with them the expe-

riences of camp, and was with them during the Cincinnati riots.

He was chaplain of both McCoy and Wells' Grand Army Posts

at different times, and of the Ex-Soldiers' and Sailors' Associa-

tion until his death, and was President of Franklin Chapter of

the Sons of the American Revolution. In the State Archaeolog-

ical and Historical Society of Ohio he was and active member

and Vice President. He was also member of the Historical

Society of Pennsylvania.

"For more than forty years Dr. Moore has been," (as was

said of him in the final service in West Chester) "prominent as a

leader in the Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. In Presbytery

and Synod, whether in the East or in the Central West, his ser-

vices were in demand. For seventeen years he was the Stated

Clerk of the Synod of Ohio. His abilities, however, early drew

the attention of the church as a whole, and in 1855 he was

chosen editor of the Digest of the Acts and Deliverance of the

General Assembly, a work of great labor and skill, which ap-

peared successively in four large volumes in 1861, 1873, 1886

and 1898.

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William Eves Moore.               477

These volumes are a testimony to the high ability of Dr.

Moore as an ecclesiastic and of the great esteem in which he was

held by the Church. In consequence of his familiarity with

church and civil law, his opinion and counsel was sought from

every part of the wide Church, entailing immense labor and time

in wholly unpaid service. He served repeatedly upon important

committees, took an influential part in the councils of the Pan-

Presbyterian Alliance in the meetings respectively at Edin-

burg, London and Toronto.

Lane Theological Seminary in 1873 gave him the degree of

S. T. D., and the degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred on him

by Lake Forest University in 1890.

He was called to the highest position in the councils

of the Presbyterian Church when, in the trying period of its his-

tory which marked the meeting of the general assembly at Sar-

atoga in 1890, he was chosen Moderator, the choice of conserva-

tives and liberals alike. This was due not to the idea that he was

a man of negative position and convictions, but to a certain

judicial constitution of mind and a catholic sympathy with the

opinions of others, with which he himself might disagree, and

more than all a catholic charity toward all men which made him

eager to live in unity and peace with his fellow-men.

The office in which Dr. Moore, however, was most widely

known to the Church was that of Permanent Clerk of the General

Assembly. He was chosen to this office in the year 1844, and

till his death it was his principal duty in connection therewith

to keep the records of the Assembly's proceedings. But in addi-

tion to the important work of the care of the journal, his knowl-

edge and his wisdom were often in demand by many persons, in

particular the Moderators of the Assembly. His counsels were

always characterized by good sense and considerateness, and

his duties were performed invariably with fidelity and kindness.

The Presbyterian Church to which Dr. Moore rendered

such continuous and conspicuous service recognized him as one

of its master spirits, and gratefully remembers him as the faithful

pastor, preacher and presbyter. The work he has done has been

monumental, and the church throughout the country acknowl-

edges its obligations to Dr. Moore and reveres him in memory

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478       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

as it honored him in life by intrusting so much to his ability and

fidelity.

Dr. Moore was a large-hearted man. Everyone who came

in touch with him felt his kindly sympathy. He could always be

counted upon to do the manly, christian thing, and never any-

thing disagreeable or ungracious. He was truth itself, abso-

lutely reliable in every relation in life. A benevolent rule of his

life was that no man should come to him in need and go away

without receiving benefit. Dr. Moore was a man of strong mind,

kindly and gentle, conscientious in every undertaking, of sound

judgment and rare tact, observant and exceptional in his good

common sense, a man of deep convictions and benevolent dispo-

sition, fair and generous in all his dealings, and, withal, a modest

man.

A remarkable group of sons survive their distinguished

father. These sons are: Rev. George F. Moore, professor in

Andover Theological Seminary; the Rev. Edward C. Moore,

pastor Central Congregational Church, Providence, R. I.; the

Rev. Charles A. Moore, pastor Congregational Church, Rock-

land, Me.; Frank G. Moore, professor in Dartmouth College;

Henry M. Moore, M. D., surgeon of Ohio Volunteers, and Fred-

erick A. Moore, now engaged in the banking business, New

York City.

Dr. William E. Moore was one of the most zealous and in-

fluential members which the Ohio State Archaeological and His-

torical Society has ever had. He was a man of broad and varied

culture. Not only was he high authority in the history and doc-

trines of the church of which he was such a distinguished mem-

ber, but he was a ripe scholar in literature and the sciences.

The subject of archaeology was one in which he took keen de-

light, and the writer of this note has spent many of his most

pleasurable and profitable hours in the company of Dr. Moore

in visits to localities of archaeological interest. For ten years

previous to his death Dr. Moore was not only a trustee and

member of the executive committee of this Society, but he was

also its vice-president, and gave freely of his valuable time and

wise judgment to the direction of the work of the Society.

He died in Columbus, Ohio, on June 5th, 1899, at a little

over seventy-six years of age.

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