Uncle James Armour Moore

Scholefield Family Tree

I suspect that the Moore Lawsuit1 is between family members. So now I need to determine how those family members are related to the Moore family I am tracing and whether the information leads me to an additional generation.

The first place to look for these people is the 1850 Census. Because they were all alive in 1856-1857, they should be locatable. I tried several search methods – including spray and pray (put in a term and hope that one of the scattered results will match). In this case, I could narrow down my initial search to people with the name who were born in New York or lived in New York City (or nearby).

I think this is one of the couples and their household (they popped right up with a search using his middle initial and birthplace):
James A. Moore, age 61, White Seed Manufacturer, NY 2
Maria S. Moore, age 56, NY
Maria Armour, age 80, NY
John A. Armour, age 54, White Seed Manufacturer, NY
Sarah Ann Castle, age 26, NY
Maria M. Castle, age 8, NY
John A. Moore, age 25, none, NY
DeSa? M. Moore (male), age 23, Lawyer, NY
Also in the home? (I suspect these are other families): Marcus F. Hodges, age 26, Merchant; Sophia A. Hodges, age 26; James M. Hodges, age 6; William M. Hodges, age 4; Annie Hodges, age 4/12; Louisa Gibbons, age 20; Henry M. Dodge, age 9; Catharine C. Dodge, age 6; Nancy Mayer, age 25; Catharine Johnson, age 25; Alexander Thompson, age 20, Laborer; Mary Batten, age 20; Mary Ann Fleming, age 20.

This family is quite exciting because of the matching initials and the connection to an Armour family!

I immediately hopped over to FamilySearch.org to see if I can use James’s date of birth to discover more specifics about this family group. IGI returns a hit for a John Armour Moore and a batch search turns up the following family:

Jacob Moore and Ann had the following children christened at Trinity Church
James Armour Moore, b. 23 Nov 1786, chr. 3 Jan 17873
Michael Moore, chr. 19 Jul 1789 (the one we are looking for?)
Jacob Moore, b. 30 Oct 1791, chr. 20 Nov 1791
John Armour Moore, b. 2 Aug 1796, chr. 28 Aug 1796

A search for Maria Armour (after all, it appeared that the 80 year old mother-in-law was living with James and Maria) returns their marriage. I went out on a limb and guessed that there was a relationship, but remember to not take something like this as a fact until you prove it!

James A. Moore and Maria “Armar” married 13 Apr 1811 at Trinity Church.4

After all this, it appears that the family must have had a close tie with the Armour family for several generations. James was given the middle name of Armour and then married an Armour girl. His nephew, who is in the direct line which we are tracing, also appears to have carried the name. I really want to add all these people into the tree, but I do want to double check to make sure that there is nothing that would contradict my thoughts that this is the correct family (and one more generation to be added to the tree).

Next step – check out the other siblings to attempt to verify the familial relationships.

1. See post dated 22 May 2010.
2. 1850 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey population schedule, Belleville, p. 115B, dwelling 58, family 67, Household of James A. Moore; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 May 2010); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M432, roll 449.
3. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [LDS], “International Genealogical Index,” database, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 23 May 2010), North America Region, entry for James Armour Moore, christened 3 Jan 1787, New York, New York, New York; citing FHL microfilm 1,002,776, item 6 (Trinity Church Parish, New York, New York, New York computer printout; births or christenings, 1749-1809), batch no. C510591. (Use the batch number to verify related records.)
4. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [LDS], “International Genealogical Index,” database, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 23 May 2010), North America Region, entry for James A. Moore and Maria Armar, married 13 Apr 1811, New York, New York, New York; citing FHL microfilm 0,882,993, item 1 (Trinity Church Parish, New York, New York, New York computer printout; marriages, 1746-1861), batch no. M510591.

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