JONES COUNTY, GA - BIOS Moore, James ***************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm *********************** This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: "Jill Florence Lackey" JAMES MOORE [see letters: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/jones/history.html James Moore was a Creek Indian trader that traded for a time out of Ft. Hawkins in Jones Co., GA. Much of the information published on him is conflictual and it is difficult to discern the "truth" from the later reminiscences of one family descended from him (a primarily white family). [I have the privilege of having copies of letters written to him by his Creek children during Removal from Creek territory, so I know at least some of the "facts" of his life. ] Depending on the source, James was born either in 1760 (his gravesite gives this date) or somewhere between 1765 and 1769 (various other accounts). One account has him born in PA, but there are other possibilities as well. James first shows up in official records in the very late 1700s occupying a trading cabin in Creek territory and apparently working for/with the reknowned Indian trader James McQueen (who at the time was over 100 years old). Later we see him listed in the official Indian traders lists, as trading with the Creeks. James may have had a dual residence early on in GA and in AL. In AL he moved into the Creek town of Okfuskee and was married to at least one Indian woman named Fanny (b. ca. 1790). It is likely he had another earlier Creek wife, given the best guess on the ages of his children (and he may have had a white family somewhere as well). (All this info is available by checking Internet sources except the personal letters--interested parties can just go into google.com and type in the key words.) Early on James Moore seemed to identify with the white cause, as he becomes a "spy" for for the Andrew Jackson forces out of Jasper Co., GA. He reported on the early Creek uprisings in 1813, as he and a James Taylor traveled up the Tallapoosa River to learn what they could. James could never read or write, hence his letter must have been transcribed through a scribe. He has a number of children in the Creek town--their names vary from document to document--but some surely include Peggy Moore (who married both a McLemore and a [chief] Kenard), Catherine (Caty) Moore , Nancy (who married a Hutton), Jackson, John P., and Lucy (only Lucy married a white man named Johnson and it is through the Johnson musings later in print that we get some distorted accounts of the Moore family). There appears to be other children, but accounts vary. James himself might have had some FPC ancestry as the Creek villagers called him "Jimmy Tawny." "Jimmy Tawny" becomes a major informant for Pickett who writes THE HISTORY OF ALABAMA (also online). James, for example, witnessed the speeches of Tecumseh (which led to the Creek uprising) and the murder of chief McIntosh. But by the 1832 Creek census, James has been fully absorbed into the Creek nation out of Okfuskee (AL). James owns a good size plantation and is allowed to stay behind during the Removal. James also had two trading partners--one a Jew named Abram Mordecai and another a James Taylor. The letters I have from them suggest they both lived in Jasper County until about 1814, then moved to Jones. All his "friends" were in the town of Clinton-- Benjamin Hawkins, James Taylor, James McLemore, etc. I also found a court record of this James Moore related to Indian trade where James appears before a judge by the name of Jacob Mordecai. I wonder if this might be a relative of Abram Mordecai. Anyone know anything about this judge? In another letter I only have in print form, a descendant of Moore repeats a story told to him about how Moore went to Okfuskee to find his Creek family (apparently just after this letter or perhaps before) and does not find them and thinks they are dead. He returns in grief to GA to find them at his GA home-- safe and well. His children remain devoted to him and as they are leaving their nation on their own (to explore what is available to them in the West), they write letters back and forth to their father (I have copies of these letters). While I have no letters from James, we see that his white son-in-law is doing both the reading and writing for James. Early on letters from John P. indicate that James had suggested they move into TX because the area is controlled by Mexico and not the US and James feels this would be a good settlement area for them. Here we see such a change over the years in the ethnic identity of James. But the children's movement west comes with tragedy. Several of their closest allies die, as does son Jackson. A letter from Caty describes his illness and death, and a doctor fills in more details at the end. However, somehow we also end up getting letters in the collection from son-in-law Johnson who tries to find some of the children in TX, and he is reporting that something suspicious had happened to Jackson and that daughter Peggy is holding out on his money. James died in his 90s and left 100% of his small fortune to the Johnson family only. There is just much intrigue associated with this family. I don't know the exact location of the gravesite--a relative visited it. It is in Chambers Co., AL somewhere close to the old town of Dudleyville--not sure Dudleyville is around today. Dudley was a white shopkeeper in Creek Territory. James is also tied to some of the larger-than-life traders, such as Durant, Mordecai, and McQueen.