Isaac R. Moores

Infobox Politician
name = Isaac R. Moores


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office = Member of the Oregon Territorial Legislature
termstart = 1855
termend = 1856
constituency = Lane County
nominator =
appointer =
predecessor =
successor =
office2 = Delegate to the Oregon Constitutional Convention
constituency2 = Lane County
termstart2 = 1857
termend2 = 1857
nominator2 =
appointer2 =
predecessor2 =
successor2 =
birthdate = March 23 1796
birthplace = Madison County, Kentucky
deathdate = death date and age|1861|4|15|1796|3|23
deathplace = Eugene, Oregon
party = Democrat
spouse = Jane AlexanderCol. Isaac R. Moores (March 23 1796– April 15 1861) was an American soldier and politician in Illinois and Oregon. A native of Kentucky, he would serve in the Seminole War and the Black Hawk War before immigrating to the Oregon Territory. In Oregon, Moores served in the Territorial Legislature and at the Oregon Constitutional Convention. His son, Isaac R. Moores, Jr. would become Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives.

Early years

Isaac Moores was born in Madison County, Kentucky, on March 23 1796. [http://www.open.org/pioneerc/pg31.html Burial Details.] Salem Pioneer Cemetery. Retrieved on March 24 2008.] His father, Henry, was a veteran of the American Revolutionary War. Moores grew up in the south and in 1814 he enlisted in the United States Army to fight in the Seminole War. In 1818, he served under future president Andrew Jackson in the Seminole War, fighting two campaigns.Hodgkin, F. E., & Galvin, J. J. (1882). "Pen Pictures of Representative Men of Oregon". Portland, Or: Farmer and Dairyman Pub. House. pp. 153-154.]

In 1818, he married Jane Alexander (December 27 1793-January 28 1868) in Tennessee. They would live for a time in Alabama before moving north to Illinois. Moores was a friend of Sam Houston and the later attempted to recruit Moores for settlement in Texas. The Moores family would settle in Danville, Illinois, in 1824. During the Black Hawk War in 1831 he was selected as a colonel and led the 4th regiment of the Illinois Volunteers. Moores also formed a company of soldiers to serve in the Mexican American War, but never enlisted as the state had reached its quota for soldiers.

Oregon

Isaac Moores and his family left Danville in March 1852 and traveled the Oregon Trail to the Oregon Territory in a wagon train of 70 wagons. The family arrived in Portland in November 1852. Col. Moores moved to the southern end of the Willamette Valley, settling in Lane County. There he acquired a farm totaling 1,710 acres.

In 1855, Moores was elected to represent Lane County as a Democrat in the Oregon Territory House of Representatives. [ [http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/legislative/histleg/territorial/1855reg.htm Oregon Legislative Assembly (7th Territorial) 1855 Regular Session.] Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on March 24 2008.] Moores was elected as a delegate to the Oregon Constitutional Convention in 1857. Held in Salem, the convention created a constitution as Oregon prepared to become a state. Moores represented Lane County again as a Democrat, serving on the military affairs committee. [http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/exhibits/1857/during/bios/moores.htm Biographical Sketch of Isaac Moores.] Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on March 24 2008.]

Later years and family

Opposed to slavery, he would become a Republican when that party organized. The Republican Party nominated him for the Oregon State Senate in 1860, but he lost the election. Moores’ children were John H. (June 26 1821-December 16 1880), Martha A. (February 1 1824-March 23 1847), Mary Matilda (January 21 1826-April 20 1864), Charles W. (November 2 1828-June 10 1864), and Isaac Ross Moores (February 14 1831-July 25 1884). Isaac R. Moores, Sr. died in Eugene on April 15 1861, at the age of 65 and was buried in the Salem Pioneer Cemetery.

References

External links

* [http://books.google.com/books?id=1SALAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA228&dq=isaac+moores&lr=&ei=nvrnR5i1BIjgswPb3eXcBA Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library]