Here's a glimpse into another epic family story which ticks all of the classic Ulster-Scots-American boxes. The Moores connect the defeat of King James II's army at the Siege of Derry (perhaps the key to the 1688/9 Glorious Revolution) and the defeat of King George III's army at the Battle of Saratoga (the most pivotal battle in the winning of the American Revolution). Sallie Alexander Moore, the granddaughter of the General that this post is about, wrote a short family history in 1920 (online here).
"Andrew Moore was of the Scotch-Irish race ... his grandfather was one of a family of brothers who emigrated from the North of Ireland and settled in the Valley, and in some of the Southern States. His father, David, took up his abode on a farm in the lower part of Rockbridge (then Augusta), now called "Cannicello".
The most remote ancestor of David whom he could remember was a lady whose maiden name was Bante (other sources give her name as Isabel Baxter, and that she was his grandmother), who in her old age came over to this country, and who used to relate that, when a girl, she had been driven to take refuge under the walls of Londonderry, had seen many Protestants lying dead from starvation with tufts of grass in their mouths, and had herself barely escaped alive from the havoc of that terrible scene.
In 1752, at the homestead of "Cannicello," Andrew was born, and was there brought up, availing himself of the advantages of instruction within his reach so effectually as, before manhood, to become a teacher in a school of his own. He determined to study law, and attended, about 1772, a course of lectures under Wythe, at William and Mary...
The Revolution was now in progress, the Declaration of Independence was promulgated, and Virginia had erecte'd a form of government of her own, and appealed to her citizens to maintain it in the field. Andrew Moore hearkened to the call..."
• from The History of the Virginia Federal Convention of 1788 (online here)
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“In 1776 he entered the army as lieutenant, in Morgan's Riflemen, and was engaged in those battles which resulted in the capture of Burgoyne's army, and at the surrender of the British forces at the Battle of Saratoga. For courage and gallantry in battle he was promoted to a captaincy.
Having served three years with Morgan, he returned home and took his seat as a member of the Virginia legislature, taking such an active and distinguished part in the deliberations of that body that he was elected to Congress, and as a member of the first House of Representatives was distinguished for his services to such a degree that he was re-elected at each succeeding election until 1797, when he declined further service in that body, but accepted a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates.
He was again elected to Congress in 1804, but in the first year of his service he was elected to the United States Senate, in which body he served with distinguished ability until 1809, when he retired. He was then appointed United States Marshal for the District of Virginia, which office he held until his death, April 14, 1821. ”
• from Edward Alexander Moore, “The Story of a Cannoneer Under Stonewall Jackson / In Which is Told the Part Taken by the Rockbridge Artillery in the Army of Northern Virginia.”
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This biography is from the National Archives Founders Online:
"... Andrew Moore (1752–1821), born near Staunton, Virginia, of Scotch-Irish parents, read law under George Wythe at William and Mary, and was admitted to the bar in 1774. During the Revolutionary War, Moore raised a company of riflemen from Augusta County, which became a part of Daniel Morgan’s select corp known as Morgan’s Rangers. Promoted to captain, Moore fought with his company at Saratoga in the fall of 1777. After the war he rose to the rank of major general in the Virginia militia. In 1780, Moore began serving as a delegate from Rock-bridge County in the Virginia General Assembly, allying himself with Madison. He voted for ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1788 and served in Congress from 1789 to 1797, where he opposed Hamilton’s policies. Moore briefly retired from politics to rebuild his law practice but again entered the Virginia assembly in 1799 to help secure passage of Madison’s Virginia Resolutions in opposition to the Alien and Sedition Acts. Moore was elected to the Eighth Congress but served only a few months before being appointed to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate, where he served as a Jeffersonian Republican until 1809. Upon his retirement from the Senate, he accepted an appointment as U.S. marshal of Virginia, a position he held until shortly before his death..."
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PS: one of Andrew Moore's sons was Samuel McDowell Moore (1796-1875; sometimes just given as Samuel McD. Moore). He was a prominent Whig, a Congressman, and opposed to slavery. He had probably been named for Captain Samuel McDowell, who was one of the signatories of the Staunton Instructions aka the Augusta Resolves of 22 February 1775, which was one of the many community documents which predated the eventual Declaration of Independence of 4 July 1776. It included this "no surrender" statement –
"... you many consider the people of Augusta as impressed with just sentiments of loyalty to his Majesty King George, whose title to the imperial crown of Great Britain rests on no other foundation than the liberty, and whose glory is inseparable from the happiness, of all his subjects. We have also respect for the parent State, which respect is founded on religion, on law, and on the genuine principles of the constitution. On these principles do we earnestly desire to see harmony and good understanding restored between Great Britain and America.
Many of us and our forefathers left our native land and explored this once-savage wilderness to enjoy the free exercise of the rights of conscience and of human nature. These rights we are fully resolved with our lives and fortunes inviolably to preserve; nor will we surrender such inestimable blessings, the purchase of toil and danger, to any Ministry, to any Parliament, or any body of men upon earth, by whom we are not represented, and in whose decisions, therefore, we have no voice..."
General Andrew Moore gravestone pics from Findagrave.com
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