Alfred Moore

Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Each opens its own page, with its events date by date.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 15 dated events in the chronology →

1. 1782 Alfred Moore prosecutes at Hillsborough and is made attorney general Acting as prosecutor in several major cases at Hillsborough while the state attorney general was away, Alfred Moore of Wilmington did well enough to be appointed attorney general that same year. He held the office until 1790 and built Moorefields west of Hillsborough while serving. People: Alfred Moore Place: Hillsborough · Also mentions: MoorefieldsSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Moorefields, National Register nomination (OR0010), p. 4
2. February 1, 1782 Three of David Fanning's men are hanged at Hillsborough Seven captured raiders were tried before Judge John Williams, with Alfred Moore prosecuting and William R. Davie defending in his first case. Three were hanged despite Fanning's threats, and Burke commuted the other four sentences to a year in the Continental army. People: Thomas Burke, David Fanning, William Richardson Davie, Alfred Moore, John Williams Place: HillsboroughLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 61
3. about 1785 Alfred Moore of Wilmington builds Moorefields near Hillsborough as a summer home Moore, whom President John Adams later appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, built Moorefields as his summer place. Local tradition held that Senator Thomas Hart Benton and Mrs. Henry Clay were born there, but both were born before the house was built, on Hart and Benton family land somewhat to the north. People: Alfred Moore Place: Moorefields · Also named: John Adams, Thomas Hart BentonSearch the index · Historic American Buildings Survey: Moorefields, HABS No. NC-271, written historical and descriptive data, p. 1 · Also: Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952
4. Late 1790 Jesse Benton dies at Hartford Jesse Benton died of consumption before the end of 1790, leaving a large estate heavily in debt. His will, dated October 21, 1790, left his widow Nancy the Meadow Place plantation on McGowen's Creek, divided the enslaved people and western lands among the children, and let his executors, Nancy, Alfred Moore, William Watters and Absalom Tatom, sell Hartford and its mills to pay his debts. It was witnessed by his brothers Samuel and Augustine and proved at Hillsborough in the August 1791 term. He was buried at Hartford. People: Jesse Benton, Alfred Moore, Absalom Tatom Place: Hartford, near Hillsborough · Also named: Nancy Benton, William WattersSearch the index · Internet Archive: William N. Chambers, "As the Twig Is Bent: The Family and the North Carolina Years of Thomas Hart Benton, 1752-1801", North Carolina Historical Review 26 (1949), p. 403
5. July 1791 Trustees adopt a university seal showing Apollo and the rising sun A committee of James Hogg, Alfred Moore and John Haywood, given sole power to choose a device for the corporation's seal, picked the face of Apollo with the rising sun, meant to stand for the dawn of higher education in the state. People: James Hogg, John Haywood, Alfred Moore Place: Chapel HillDocumenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 15
6. December 5, 1792 Trustees name John Williams to the committee that will build the university and lay off Chapel Hill On the day they fixed the university at New Hope Chapel Hill, the trustees appointed seven commissioners to erect its buildings and lay off an adjoining town of 24 two-acre and six four-acre lots. People: John Williams, William Richardson Davie, Alfred Moore, Thomas Blount, Alexander Mebane, John Haywood Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 77
7. December 1792 A trustee committee under Samuel McCorkle reports the university's first plan of studies Named at New Bern on December 4, 1792, the committee proposed teaching languages with English first, history, mathematics, natural philosophy, botany, agriculture and architecture, and buying scientific apparatus. A newspaper notice of December 12 inviting teachers for this course drew no applicants. People: David Stone, Samuel Ashe, Hugh Williamson, Samuel Eusebius McCorkle, Alfred Moore Place: Chapel HillDocumenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 48
8. July 1793 Orange County leads the state in pledges to the university By July, Davie and Willie Jones reported 909 pounds 4 shillings pledged in Orange against 804 pounds in Halifax, out of $6,723 statewide. William Cain and Walter Alves of Orange were among the three largest subscribers at $200 each, and Jesse Neville of Orange gave $100. People: Willie Jones, Walter Alves, William Richardson Davie, Alfred Moore, William Cain Sr. Place: Orange County · Also named: William Cain, Jesse NevilleLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 78
9. August 10, 1793 Commissioners mark out the sites of the university's buildings and grounds Davie, Alfred Moore, Alexander Mebane and Thomas Blount met on the Chapel Hill tract and fixed the building sites, with land set aside for offices, avenues and ornamental grounds. People: William Richardson Davie, Alexander Mebane, Alfred Moore, Thomas Blount Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 79
10. October 12, 1793 The first town lots in Chapel Hill are sold at auction After the Old East cornerstone was laid, the commissioners auctioned the village lots on the spot; 29 lots brought more than 1,500 pounds, and one was held back for the president's house. People: William Richardson Davie, Alexander Mebane, Alfred Moore, Thomas Blount Place: Chapel HillLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 80
11. July 13, 1795 UNC holds its first public examination, announced by Governor Spaight The University's first public examination took place at Chapel Hill on July 13, 1795, after notice appeared in the newspapers over the signature of Governor Richard Dobbs Spaight. The governor's wife, Mary Spaight, was the only woman present, and about a dozen men attended, including William R. Davie, James Hogg, Alfred Moore and James Glasgow. People: Richard Dobbs Spaight, James Hogg, William Richardson Davie, Alfred Moore Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Mary Spaight, James GlasgowSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, Vol. 1 (1907)
12. October 15, 1810 Justice Alfred Moore dies and leaves Moorefields to his son Former U.S. Supreme Court justice Alfred Moore, builder of Moorefields, died and willed the house to his son Alfred, a lawyer who went on to serve in the House of Commons and as its speaker in 1823-1824. People: Alfred Moore Place: Moorefields, near HillsboroughSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Moorefields, National Register nomination (OR0010), p. 4