Stephen Moore family papers, 1765-1990s

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Summary

Creator:
Moore, Stephen, 1734-1799
Abstract:
Stephen Moore (1734-1799) was a merchant and slaveholding landowner from Person County, North Carolina. This collection contains papers from him and several Moore family members, particularly children Phillips Moore and Ann Moore, documenting Moore family activities, accounts, and property in Québec, Canada; West Point, N.Y.; and Orange and Caswell (now Person) Counties, N.C., largely dating between the 1760s and 1860s.
Extent:
1.0 Linear Foot (1 box, 1 oversize folder)
Language:
Materials in English.
Collection ID:
RL.13181

Background

Scope and content:

The collection contains assorted materials documenting Stephen Moore and some of his children, particularly Phillips Moore and Ann Moore. It appears these materials were assembled largely by descendents of Phillips Moore. Items include estate papers, including an account book and other financial records from the settlement of Stephen Moore's estate; Phillips Moore's business correspondence and financial accounts, including letters with his son, Stephen Moore, as well as valuation and hiring of the Moore family's slaves; a Mount Tirzah daybook with expenses; a draft of Ann Moore's will; an account book relating to Stephen Moore's business as a ship outfitter in Québec in the 1760s; some correspondence and other genealogical materials; two letters from Benjamin Rush regarding Grizey Moore's health; and several Revolutionary-era land deeds for members of the Moore family for acreage in areas of Orange County and Caswell County, North Carolina (now part of Person County).

Biographical / historical:

Stephen Moore (1734-1799) was born in New York City to Colonel John Moore (1686-1749) and Frances Lambert Moore. He was the youngest of seventeen children, and likely attended school in England before working as an apprentice for John Watts in 1754. He joined the army as a lieutenant in the French and Indian War, and remained in Canada following the war. Stephen married Griselda (Grizey) Phillips (1749-1820) in Québec in 1768. The couple lived in both Canada and at Stephen Moore's inherited estate, Moore's Folly (at what is now West Point, N.Y.) until 1775.

During the Revolutionary War, the Moores opted to relocate to Granville and then Caswell County, North Carolina (later this area became Person County, N.C.). Moore purchased land along the Flat River, and developed a plantation estate named Mount Tirzah. Other relatives also moved south and the family became established community leaders. Moore raised a regiment for the Americans, but was captured almost immediately at the Battle of Camden, S.C., in 1780; he was imprisoned but then released back to Mount Tirzah in 1781. He was nominated multiple times for the North Carolina General Assembly, and finally was elected for one term in 1793.

Moore eventually sold his West Point estate to the government in 1790. At the time of his 1799 death (while visiting his friend at Stagville, N.C.), Moore owned Mount Tirzah plantation which included a mill, a store, and many enslaved people.

Stephen and Griselda had at least ten children, including: Robert (1762-1827), Phillips (1771-1840), Frances (1775-1819), Ann (1777-1864), Mary, Marcus (died in childhood), Portius (1784-1847), Cadmus (died in childhood), Samuel (1789-1871), and Sidney (1794-1838).

Phillips Moore married Rebecca Moore (m. 1794) and later Elizabeth Dudley (m. 1800). Phillips and Eliabeth's sons, Stephen Moore and Alfred Moore, are also represented in this collection.

Sources cited: "Moore, Stephen," NCpedia.org, https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/moore-stephen. Accessed 2026 Jan. 16.

"Stephen Moore of Mount Tirzah Family" blog, https://stephenmoore-mounttirzah.blogspot.com. Accessed 2026 Jan. 16.

Acquisition information:
Portions of the Stephen Moore Family Papers were received by the Duke University Library in 1898 by Mrs. B. N. Cozart of Durham, North Carolina. Additions were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in 1962, 1965, and 1971. An additional gift was received in 2025.
Processing information:

Processed by RL Staff, 1970s. Addition incorporated and collection reprocessed by Meghan Lyon, January 2026.

Accessions described in this collection guide: 1898, 1962, 1965, 1971, 2025-0138.

Arrangement:

Collection is arranged by format and size, and sorted into series: Land grants and deeds; Correspondence and family history; Financial and legal records.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the Rubenstein Library's Citations, Permissions, and Copyright guide.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Stephen Moore Family Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

Permalink:
https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/m1944z