James Moore (South Carolina politician)
Encyclopedia
James Moore was the British
governor of colonial South Carolina
between 1700 and 1703. He is remembered for leading several invasions of Spanish Florida
, including attacks in 1704 and 1706 which wiped out most of the Spanish missions in Florida
.
, an outlying area of Charleston
.
In 1683 Moore was granted 2400 acres (971.2 ha) by the Lords Proprietors. He called his estate "Boochowee". Part of this land is known today as Liberty Hall Plantation.
Since 1691 Moore was the acknowledged leader of the Goose Creek Men, the main political opposition to the ruling "Dissenter" faction. Moore's rise to governorship in 1700 was a major shift in the politics of the colony. The Dissenters contested Moore's "unjust election". But the Lords Proprietors saw to it than Moore remained governor, and they made it clear that the Dissenters were no longer in favor.
Moore was the British
governor of colonial South Carolina
between 1700 and 1703 (which was then in the process of dividing into the provinces of North
and South Carolina
). During this period, he led a number of attacks from the Carolinas into Spanish Florida
. He relied on allied Indian tribes, especially the Yamasee
for most of his military force. On news of the outbreak of Queen Anne's War
in 1702, he led 500 colonists, 300 native allies, and 14 small ships on an invasion of Spanish Florida along the coast, destroying the remaining Spanish missionary Indians of Guale
and Mocama
, and devastating the lands around St. Augustine
. While the town of St. Augustine was razed, its central fortress, Castillo de San Marcos
, where the Spanish and numerous allied Indians had taken refuge, resisted Moore's siege
. The 1702 campaign was viewed as a disaster due to the failure to take the fortress, and Moore resigned his post.
In 1704, Moore lead an expedition of 50 Englishmen and 1,000 Creek
, Yamasee, and other allied Indians, into western Florida, leading to the Apalachee Massacre
. The Apalachee
were the last powerful Spanish-allied Indian nation in the region. Their defeat in 1704 resulted in many Appalachee being enslaved and exported from Charleston to the West Indies. Other Apalachee were forced to relocate to the Savannah River
to live in semi-serfdom. Another result of the defeat of the Appalachee was the collapse of the final defence of the Indians of Florida. During the years following 1704, Carolinian and Indian slave raiders decimated the Indian population of Florida all the way to the Florida Keys
.
Moore's defeat of the Appalachee and Spanish Florida in general was hailed as a major victory for Carolina, which had been fighting with the Spanish for control of the region for decades. It also served to strengthen ties between various southeastern Indians and Carolina. The Creek Indians and the Cherokee became much more closely allied with Carolina. With these two Indian nations as strong allies, the English rose to a position of dominance over the French and Spanish in the American southeast.
Governor Moore died in 1706, in debt. His son by the same name was elected to the same office in 1720.
in his youth. During his life he was said to be a son of Roger Moore (Ruairí Óg Ó Mórdha), leader of the Irish Rebellion of 1641
was his father, and that he had supposedly inherited his father's rebellious nature. Moore was also the great-grandfather of General
Robert Howe
.
James Moore married Margaret Berringer, daughter of Lady Margaret Yeamans (by a previous marriage). Their daughter, Mary Moore, married Job Howe, another of the "Goose Creek Men". Altogether James and Margaret had ten children, many of whom moved to the Lower Cape Fear
region, where they and their descendants became known as "The Family", the most powerful family in the region.
The Moore family imported over 4,000 slaves into the Carolinas, mostly for its own extensive plantations and farms in and about Cape Fear area of what later became North Carolina.
James Moore also had a Charleston house and a house in the Goose Creek area nearby to Charleston.
Another Moore family descendent of note is Maurice Moore qv , Justice of US Supreme Court.
=?
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James Moore (died 1706)
=Margaret Berringer
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|______________________
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Maurice Moore Colonel James Moore
=Mary Porter
|
|_____________________________
| | |
| | |
James Rebecca Maurice
=John Ashe
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
governor of colonial South Carolina
Province of South Carolina
The South Carolina Colony, or Province of South Carolina, was originally part of the Province of Carolina, which was chartered in 1663. The colony later became the U.S. state of South Carolina....
between 1700 and 1703. He is remembered for leading several invasions of Spanish Florida
Spanish Florida
Spanish Florida refers to the Spanish territory of Florida, which formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the Spanish Empire. Originally extending over what is now the southeastern United States, but with no defined boundaries, la Florida was a component of...
, including attacks in 1704 and 1706 which wiped out most of the Spanish missions in Florida
Spanish missions in Florida
Beginning in the second half of the 16th century, the Kingdom of Spain established a number of missions throughout la Florida in order to convert the Indians to Christianity, to facilitate control of the area, and to prevent its colonization by other countries, in particular, England and France...
.
Biography
James Moore a leader of one of colonial South Carolina's political factions, called the Goose Creek Men (after Goose CreekGoose Creek, South Carolina
Goose Creek is a city in Berkeley county in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 35,938 at the 2010 census. Most of the Naval Weapons Station Charleston is in Goose Creek. As defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, and used by the U.S...
, an outlying area of Charleston
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
.
In 1683 Moore was granted 2400 acres (971.2 ha) by the Lords Proprietors. He called his estate "Boochowee". Part of this land is known today as Liberty Hall Plantation.
Since 1691 Moore was the acknowledged leader of the Goose Creek Men, the main political opposition to the ruling "Dissenter" faction. Moore's rise to governorship in 1700 was a major shift in the politics of the colony. The Dissenters contested Moore's "unjust election". But the Lords Proprietors saw to it than Moore remained governor, and they made it clear that the Dissenters were no longer in favor.
Moore was the British
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
governor of colonial South Carolina
Province of South Carolina
The South Carolina Colony, or Province of South Carolina, was originally part of the Province of Carolina, which was chartered in 1663. The colony later became the U.S. state of South Carolina....
between 1700 and 1703 (which was then in the process of dividing into the provinces of North
Province of North Carolina
The Province of North Carolina was originally part of the Province of Carolina in British America, which was chartered by eight Lords Proprietor. The province later became the U.S. states of North Carolina and Tennessee....
and South Carolina
Province of South Carolina
The South Carolina Colony, or Province of South Carolina, was originally part of the Province of Carolina, which was chartered in 1663. The colony later became the U.S. state of South Carolina....
). During this period, he led a number of attacks from the Carolinas into Spanish Florida
Spanish Florida
Spanish Florida refers to the Spanish territory of Florida, which formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the Spanish Empire. Originally extending over what is now the southeastern United States, but with no defined boundaries, la Florida was a component of...
. He relied on allied Indian tribes, especially the Yamasee
Yamasee
The Yamasee were a multiethnic confederation of Native Americans that lived in the coastal region of present-day northern coastal Georgia near the Savannah River and later in northeastern Florida.-History:...
for most of his military force. On news of the outbreak of Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War , as the North American theater of the War of the Spanish Succession was known in the British colonies, was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought between France and England, later Great Britain, in North America for control of the continent. The War of the...
in 1702, he led 500 colonists, 300 native allies, and 14 small ships on an invasion of Spanish Florida along the coast, destroying the remaining Spanish missionary Indians of Guale
Guale
Guale was an historic Native American chiefdom along the coast of present-day Georgia and the Sea Islands. Spanish Florida established its Roman Catholic missionary system in the chiefdom in the late 16th century. During the late 17th century and early 18th century, Guale society was shattered...
and Mocama
Mocama
The Mocama were a Native American people who lived in the coastal areas of what are now northern Florida and southeastern Georgia. A Timucua group, they spoke the dialect known as Mocama, the best-attested dialect of the Timucua language. Their territory extended from about the Altamaha River in...
, and devastating the lands around St. Augustine
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...
. While the town of St. Augustine was razed, its central fortress, Castillo de San Marcos
Castillo de San Marcos
The Castillo de San Marcos site is the oldest masonry fort in the United States. It is located in the city of St. Augustine, Florida. Construction was begun in 1672 by the Spanish when Florida was a Spanish territory. During the twenty year period of British possession from 1763 until 1784, the...
, where the Spanish and numerous allied Indians had taken refuge, resisted Moore's siege
Siege of St. Augustine (1702)
The Siege of St. Augustine was an action in Queen Anne's War during November and December 1702. It was conducted by English provincial forces from the Province of Carolina and their native allies, under the command of Carolina's governor James Moore, against the Spanish colonial fortress of...
. The 1702 campaign was viewed as a disaster due to the failure to take the fortress, and Moore resigned his post.
In 1704, Moore lead an expedition of 50 Englishmen and 1,000 Creek
Creek people
The Muscogee , also known as the Creek or Creeks, are a Native American people traditionally from the southeastern United States. Mvskoke is their name in traditional spelling. The modern Muscogee live primarily in Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida...
, Yamasee, and other allied Indians, into western Florida, leading to the Apalachee Massacre
Apalachee Massacre
The Apalachee massacre was a series of brutal raids by English colonists from the Province of Carolina and their Indian allies against a largely pacific population of Apalachee Indians in northern Spanish Florida that took place during Queen Anne's War in 1704...
. The Apalachee
Apalachee
The Apalachee are a Native American people who historically lived in the Florida Panhandle, and now live primarily in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Their historical territory was known to the Spanish colonists as the Apalachee Province...
were the last powerful Spanish-allied Indian nation in the region. Their defeat in 1704 resulted in many Appalachee being enslaved and exported from Charleston to the West Indies. Other Apalachee were forced to relocate to the Savannah River
Savannah River
The Savannah River is a major river in the southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of South Carolina and Georgia. Two tributaries of the Savannah, the Tugaloo River and the Chattooga River, form the northernmost part of the border...
to live in semi-serfdom. Another result of the defeat of the Appalachee was the collapse of the final defence of the Indians of Florida. During the years following 1704, Carolinian and Indian slave raiders decimated the Indian population of Florida all the way to the Florida Keys
Florida Keys
The Florida Keys are a coral archipelago in southeast United States. They begin at the southeastern tip of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and extend in a gentle arc south-southwest and then westward to Key West, the westernmost of the inhabited islands, and on to the uninhabited Dry...
.
Moore's defeat of the Appalachee and Spanish Florida in general was hailed as a major victory for Carolina, which had been fighting with the Spanish for control of the region for decades. It also served to strengthen ties between various southeastern Indians and Carolina. The Creek Indians and the Cherokee became much more closely allied with Carolina. With these two Indian nations as strong allies, the English rose to a position of dominance over the French and Spanish in the American southeast.
Governor Moore died in 1706, in debt. His son by the same name was elected to the same office in 1720.
Family
His heritage is disputed, but what is known is that he lived in BarbadosBarbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
in his youth. During his life he was said to be a son of Roger Moore (Ruairí Óg Ó Mórdha), leader of the Irish Rebellion of 1641
Irish Rebellion of 1641
The Irish Rebellion of 1641 began as an attempted coup d'état by Irish Catholic gentry, who tried to seize control of the English administration in Ireland to force concessions for the Catholics living under English rule...
was his father, and that he had supposedly inherited his father's rebellious nature. Moore was also the great-grandfather of General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Robert Howe
Robert Howe (soldier)
Robert Howe was a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.-Early life:His great-grandfather was James Moore, colonial governor of South Carolina...
.
James Moore married Margaret Berringer, daughter of Lady Margaret Yeamans (by a previous marriage). Their daughter, Mary Moore, married Job Howe, another of the "Goose Creek Men". Altogether James and Margaret had ten children, many of whom moved to the Lower Cape Fear
Cape Fear (region)
Cape Fear is a coastal plain and tidewater region of North Carolina centered about the city of Wilmington. The region takes its name from the adjacent Cape Fear headland, as does the Cape Fear River which flows through the region and empties into the Atlantic Ocean near the cape...
region, where they and their descendants became known as "The Family", the most powerful family in the region.
The Moore family imported over 4,000 slaves into the Carolinas, mostly for its own extensive plantations and farms in and about Cape Fear area of what later became North Carolina.
James Moore also had a Charleston house and a house in the Goose Creek area nearby to Charleston.
Another Moore family descendent of note is Maurice Moore qv , Justice of US Supreme Court.
Family tree
Rory Óg Ó Mórdha, died c. 1653.=?
|
|
James Moore (died 1706)
=Margaret Berringer
|
|______________________
| |
| |
Maurice Moore Colonel James Moore
=Mary Porter
|
|_____________________________
| | |
| | |
James Rebecca Maurice
=John Ashe