William Robert Moore (March 28, 1830 – June 12, 1909), known as Wm. R. Moore,
[Lauderdale, Vance (November 1, 2012)]
William R. Moore
''Memphis Magazine''. Retrieved December 18, 2021. was a
U.S. Representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
from
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
, and founder of the William R. Moore College of Technology.
Biography
Moore was born in the hills near
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in t ...
on March 28, 1830, son of Robert Cleveland and Mary F. (Lingow) Moore. Both families were considered aristocratic,
[ and Moore's father traced his ancestry back to Oliver Cromwell. When his father died just six months after Moore's birth, the family was left destitute, and subsequently took up farming. They moved around frequently, eventually landing in the little community of Beech Grove, Tennessee.
When Moore was six years old, the family settled in Fosterville, Rutherford County, Tennessee. He attended the district schools.]
Career
Forced to leave school at age 12, Moore went to work as a farm hand. He worked barefoot in the fields for $24 a year with room and board. When the year was over he had saved $12. At the age of fifteen, Moore became a clerk in a dry-goods store in Beech Grove.[ He was also a clerk in ]Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
. He engaged in the wholesale dry-goods business in New York City as a salesman 1856–1859. He married Charlotte Blood, on February 14, 1878. He moved to Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
in 1859, when he was less than 30 years old, and organized a wholesale dry-goods store, Wm. R. Moore, Inc. Today, this building is listed on the "National Register of Historic Places".
When residing in Memphis, Moore was regarded as the city's "most insulted resident."[ Opposing secession in the Southern state of Tennessee and also staunchly supporting Republican President ]Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
, a historian noted:
During the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, Moore maintained a low profile and made clever business decisions. Correctly predicting that money in the Confederacy would become of little worth in the likely circumstance that the South lost, he spent his money on downtown property rather than save it.[ Following the war, when the Union emerged victorious, Moore became a wealthy landowner while rival businessmen faced ]bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
.
During the yellow fever
Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...
epidemic of 1879, Moore was among the first to promote a committee on sanitation in Memphis that would improve the city's drinking water system.[ As a result, breeding grounds for ]mosquito
Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...
activities, which caused the plague, were eliminated.
U.S. House of Representatives
Moore was elected as a Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
to represent Tennessee's 10th District in the Forty-seventh Congress, serving from March 4, 1881, to March 3, 1883. He declined to accept a renomination in 1882, and resumed his business activities.
During his two years in Congress, Moore held a mostly conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
voting record, with the DW-NOMINATE system giving him a score of 0.456 on the first dimension. He was also considered more conservative than 90% of all House members during the congressional session, in addition to being more conservative than 81% of Republicans overall.
Moore declined to run for re-election in the 1882 midterms, instead retiring from the House after one term. He was succeeded by Young.
Moore votes against the Pendleton Act
Little substantial information is known about Moore's short congressional tenure, though he notably was one of seven House Republicans (along with Benjamin F. Marsh
Benjamin Franklin Marsh (November 19, 1835 – June 2, 1905) was a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from Illinois in the late 19th century to early 20th century. He was also a lawyer, soldier, agriculture manager, s ...
, George W. Steele
George Washington Steele (December 13, 1839July 12, 1922) was an American lawyer, soldier, and politician who twice served as a Representative for Indiana, from 1881 to 1889 and again from 1895 to 1903. Steele was also the first governor of Ok ...
, John R. Thomas, Orlando Hubbs, James S. Robinson
James Sidney Robinson (October 14, 1827 – January 14, 1892) was a U.S. Representative from Ohio and a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He served two terms in Congress from 1881 to 1885.
Early life and career
Born near ...
, and Robert Smalls
Robert Smalls (April 5, 1839 – February 23, 1915) was an American politician, publisher, businessman, and maritime pilot. Born into slavery in Beaufort, South Carolina, he freed himself, his crew, and their families during the American Civil W ...
) to vote against the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act
The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act is a United States federal law passed by the 47th United States Congress and signed into law by President Chester A. Arthur on January 16, 1883. The act mandates that most positions within the federal governm ...
in the lame duck session
A lame-duck session of Congress in the United States occurs whenever one Congress meets after its successor is elected, but before the successor's term begins. The expression is now used not only for a special session called after a sine die adjou ...
preceding the 48th Congress.
The Pendleton Act replaced the traditional spoils system
In politics and government, a spoils system (also known as a patronage system) is a practice in which a political party, after winning an election, gives government jobs to its supporters, friends (cronyism), and relatives (nepotism) as a reward ...
with a civil service system
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
, and was favored by Democrats led by George H. Pendleton
George Hunt Pendleton (July 19, 1825November 24, 1889) was an American politician and lawyer. He represented Ohio in both houses of Congress and was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for Vice President of the United States in 1864.
After study ...
who resented Republican usage of patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...
to benefit blacks. Civil service reform was opposed during the late 1870s by conservative Stalwarts, most of whom ultimately caved into voting for the Pendleton Act following the assassination of James A. Garfield
James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until his death six months latertwo months after he was shot by an assassin. A lawyer and Civil War gene ...
by the mentally ill Charles J. Guiteau
Charles Julius Guiteau ( ; September 8, 1841June 30, 1882) was an American man who assassinated James A. Garfield, president of the United States, on July 2, 1881. Guiteau falsely believed he had played a major role in Garfield's election vic ...
.
Later career
He served as member of the Tennessee state House of Representatives from 1889 to 1891.
On December 9, 1891, Moore gave a tribute to the late president William McKinley
William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...
, who had been assassinated.[December 10, 1899]
POET'S SONG OF EXPANSION.; "Political Polliwogs," by ex-Congressman William Robert Moore of Tennessee.
''The New York Times''. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
Death and legacy
Moore died in Memphis on June 12, 1909, and is interred
Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...
at Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis. His epitaph reads "He did the best he could". He left approximately $500,000 to establish a college. A group of trustees invested the money until there was over a million dollars, and on April 11, 1939, the brand-new William R. Moore School of Technology opened. Perhaps because of his own lack of "book learning" he didn't want an emphasis on liberal arts. The school's first president put it, "He didn't say anything about wanting academic subjects taught. He wanted boys to get training that would enable them to make a good living."[
]
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, William Robert
1830 births
1909 deaths
American Presbyterians
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee
19th-century American politicians