Ohio County, West Virginia Biography of James C. MOORE ************************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: Material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor. Submitted by Suzie Crump , March 2000 ************************************************************************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume II, pgs. 255-256 JAMES C. MOORE is one of the leading merchants at Warwood, a thriving industrial place that is now a part of the City of Wheeling, he having been four years of age when the family home was established in the present Warwood District of Ohio County and having been here reared and educated. He was born in the City of Wheeling, October 31. 1874, a son of John Z. and Mary (Cashman) Moore, the former of whom was born at Akron, Ohio, and the latter at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Moore was a child when the family removed to Wheeling, where her father, John Cashman, was in the service of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company until his death, and she was reared and educates at Wheeling, where her marriage was solemnized. She survived her husband four years and died at the age of fifty-three years. John Z. Moore was left an orphan in childhood and was reared in the home of an uncle. At the age of eighteen year he found employment in a nail mill in the City of Pittsburgh, and he became a skilled nailmaker. Later he was employed in a nail mill in New Jersey, and there he enlisted in a New Jersey regiment, with which he served as a loyal soldier of the Union during the Civil war, he having been in the army commanded by General Sheridan and having participated in many engagements, including those of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and the battle of Appomattox. After the war he remained for a time at Pittsburgh, and about 1866 came to Wheeling. For years he was a skilled artisan at the Top Nail Mill, and in 1878 he purchased a farm of twenty-six acres in the present Warwood locality, he having continued in the management of this excellent little farm until his death in 1900, at that age of sixty-three years, and having in the meanwhile continued to work at his trade. He served as a member of the school board of his district and was other wise prominent in community affairs. Of the seven children all but one attained to maturity and five are now living. The son Sheridan is engaged in the practice of law at Huntington; Misses Estella and Nellie reside with their brother James C., of this review, who is a bachelor; and the other sister, Laura, is the wife of Charles Meyer. In earlier years Miss Nellie Moore was a popular teacher in the public schools, besides which she served as postmistress at Glenova, the title of the office having been changed to Warwood, and the village having finally become a part of the City of Wheeling. James C. Moore gained his early education in the public schools, and as a young man he worked in the nail mills. Thereafter he was actively identified with the operation of a large farm in this locality, and about 1905 he engaged in general road contracting. In 1907 he opened a feed and livery establishment at Wheeling, and this he conducted four years, during which he still resided at Warwood. His elder brother, Robert M., engaged in the grocery business at Warwood in 1903, and upon the death of this brother in 1911 James C. assumed charge of the business, which he conducted nine years, in the meanwhile having developed it into a general merchandise enterprise, the first of the kind at Warwood. His sister Nellie became postmistress, the postoffice having been in the store, and in this position she succeeded her deceased brother. It is interesting to note that the original title of this local postoffice, Glenova, represents a combination of the name of Glen Run (by which this part of Ohio County has long been known), the "o" from the initial of the county, and the final syllable "va" representing the current abbreviation for Virginia. In 1920 Mr. Moore sold his store, and thereafter he erected a two-story double-store building, 56 by 56 feet in dimensions, in which he is now conducting two well appointed mercantile places, one being devoted to groceries and the other to hardware. He is the owner also of the residence property which represents the home of himself and his sisters, and all of them are members of the Presbyterian Church.