BIOGRAPHY: William A. MOORE, Mifflin County, PA

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The Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of the Juniata Valley, Comprising 
the Counties of Huntingdon, Mifflin, Juniata, and Perry, Pennsylvania.
Chambersburg, Pa.: J. M. Runk & Co., 1897, Volume I, pages 610 & 613.

  WILLIAM A. MOORE, McVeytown, Mifflin county, Pa., son of Archibald and Rebecca 
(Junkin) Moore, was born February 4, 1804, and is of Scotch-Irish extraction.  
His grandfather, William Moore, removed from Lancaster county to Mifflin county, 
and engaged in farming.  He married and had the following children:  Archibald;  
John;  Andrew;  Mary (Mrs. Stanley);  and Ann (Mrs. Wilson).  When the 
Revolutionary war broke out, William Moore was not indifferent to his country's 
call, and while fighting for her cause, he received a wound which proved mortal.  
Archibald Moore was born May 13, 1768, on his father's farm in Mifflin county.  
Later in life, he purchased and resided upon the farm adjacent to the homestead.  
One of the representative men of the county, he was closely identified with all 
local reforms and measures that tended to the advancement of the community.  He 
served as justice of the peace and in various other minor offices, but was 
rather averse to political distinction than anxious for it.  He married Rebecca, 
daughter of William Junkin, of Mifflin county.  Their children were:  Isabella, 
born in 1793;  Jane, born in 1795, married John Owens;  Ann, born in 1798;  
Isabella (2), born in 1800, married Richard Miles;  William A., born in 1804;  
Margaret, born in 1806, married Samuel Hays;  Mary Ann, born in 1809, married 
Mr. Potts; and Catharine, born in 1813, married James McCoy.  All of the 
children have died except William A.  The father died in 1819;  the mother, who 
was born in 1769, died in 1836.  They were both faithful, consistent members of 
the old Presbyterian church which stood on the old Colonel Bratton farm, and 
later became members of the Presbyterian church at McVeytown.  Mr. Moore was a 
farmer all his life, and was a just and conscientious Christian, carrying his 
religion into the everyday affairs of life.  His wife was equally well known.  
The poor or the afflicted asked for no kinder helper than they always found in 
Mrs. Moore, and at her death, friends, neighbors, and acquaintances all felt 
that they had sustained a severe loss indeed.
  William A. Moore was born on his father's farm in Mifflin county.  His 
educational advantages were superior to those usually enjoyed by farmers' sons.  
He pursued his studies, including the languages, under the direction of Rev. 
James S. Woods and Rev. John Hutchinson.  His education being finished, he 
returned to his home, and his father having died some time before, he became 
interested in the management of the farm, to which he succeeded by inheritance.  
Farming continued to occupy his attention until 1841, when he removed to 
McVeytown, and engaged in the grain and warehouse business;  but ten years later 
he resumed the management of his farms.  He had meanwhile embarked in mercantile 
business, under the firm name of Steele & Co.;  this, however, was not long 
continued.  Mr. Moore has been prominently associated in various enterprises in 
McVeytown;  one of these was the establishment of the banking firm of Moore, 
McWilliams & Co., in 1872, of which he became the president.  He was well liked 
and universally respected.  A Democrat, of the Jeffersonian type, his first vote 
was cast for Andrew Jackson for president.  Mr. Moore is a member of the 
Presbyterian church at McVeytown, of which he has been a trustee for many years.