Biography of Samuel Thomas Moore
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Samuel Thomas Moore
By Dan R. Moore
Isaac Moore and his family came from Tennessee to the Republic of Texas where Isaac obtained a headright of 1280 acres on May 19, 1837, near the small community of Woodland in the northwestern quarter of present Red River County. At their new home on this land, Hixey Moore gave birth to her and Isaac’s second son and fifth child, Samuel Thomas Moore. He was born on November 3, 1843. Sometime between his birthdate and 1850, the family moved to Lamar County, from which they again moved between 1850 and 1860 to the community of Klondike, a part of Hopkins County that is now Delta County. Sam lived the remainder of his childhood in Hopkins County.
Even though he was raised on this new frontier, Sam lacked the robust constitution and appearance usually expected of a frontiersman. The natural color of his hair was blond; but by the age of fifty, it had turned white. This white hair was emphasized by his moustache and beard, which he was always remembered as having. Naturally, as one would expect of a blond-haired person, he had a fair complexion. In addition, Sam was about five feet and ten inches tall. His average weight was about 175 pounds; but during his youth, he weighed approximately 30 pounds less than normal, which may have been a result of his poor health. His blue-gray eyes were weak and often red.
As a result of long hours and hard work, people on the frontier had little time for an education. Nevertheless, Isaac and Hixey knew the value of a good education and enabled all of their children, including Samuel, to be educated so that they could at least read and write. Samuel took advantage of this education and read whenever he was able.
Furthermore, a warm-hearted personality and a steadfast attitude and religious devotion caused him to be loved and respected. He regularly attended church; and as so many other relatives in the Moore family, he was a member of the Church of Christ. Sometimes after Church services and on other occasions, the family gathered together; and at these meetings, Sam enjoyed talking and telling stories to his children and grandchildren. His sons and grandsons especially enjoyed the stories of his experiences in the Civil War.
On the seventeenth of August, 1861, Samuel and his older brother, Robert Houston, were mustered into the Ninth Brigade of Texas State Militia. This unit later became a part of the Confederate States Army, and the two brothers were privates in a cavalry regiment that was possibly a part of Sul Ross’ Brigade, which was one of the best fighting units from Texas.
Some of the tales he told his children and grandchildren describe how near death he came. In a battle “he stepped behind a sapling to load his gun, and while he was doing this, a musket ball hit the tree that he was behind. If it were not for the tree, he would have been hit between the shoulders.” In another situation
"Grandpa caught the measles; and unfortunately, he and Robert Houston had to ride all day in a cold rain. About nightfall, they came to a deserted farmhouse where they spent the night. Luckily, they found a quart of whiskey there. Grandpa said he felt he owed his life to that whiskey, since it took care of his measles."
Near the end of the war when the Confederate cause was apparently lost, Samuel and his brother left the army and went north to prevent being imprisoned and held indefinitely until their discharge could be arranged. They disposed of their uniforms and caught a steamboat up the Mississippi River to Illinois. This incident occurred during the winter, and the weather was cold and icy. On this steamboat, Samuel ate ice cream for the first time.
The two brothers returned home several months after the end of the war. Samuel took a job driving a large freight wagon pulled by five yoke of oxen. He drove this wagon until late December, 1866, when he and Martha Catherine Pratt were married in Hopkins County. Their first son, John Leeman Moore, was born there in Hopkins County on December 2, 1867.
Early in 1868, Sam Moore and his family began their journey to Johnson County. The trip took two or three weeks because of rainy weather. They spent one night in a wagonyard in Dallas where the Santa Fe building on Commerce Street is now located. The next morning, the owner offered them the wagonyard for their team and wagon, but they refused. They crossed the Trinity River on a ferry, and a few days later, on March 8, 1868, they arrived in the southwestern part of Johnson County near the farm of John and Mary Jane Cameron, Samuel’s uncle and aunt.
Within the next few months, they moved a short distance to where Isaac and Hixey Moore had moved and were living. This farm is now known as the “Old Brewer Place” which is in the bend in the Brazos River above Camp Creek. Samuel and Martha’s second child, William Perrian Moore, was born at this place on January 3, 1870.
In the autumn of 1870, Samuel and his family moved southeast of the Old Brewer Place to the Goatneck Community, where Sam had obtained his first tract of land of 100 acres on November 8, 1869. He obtained another tract of 150 acres on October 10, 1870. On this land, Sam built a temporary one-room log cabin which they occupied until he could build their permanent house. They occupied their permanent home when the roof was only half completed, and they had to spend part of the following winter with the house in that condition.
Samuel finished the house by completing the chimney on Christmas Day of 1871. This house was built from the ground up. Sam cut the trees and had the logs sawed into planks. The walls were made of Cottonwood, and the floor was made of Mulberry. He roughly fashioned the stones used in building the chimney and laid them with mortar made from buttermilk. Originally, the house had one room, but several other rooms were added as the family grew. This house was still standing until it burned in 1958.
On March 19, 1873, Samuel purchased 500 additional acres of land; thus his acreage totaled 750 acres with this addition. In the following years, much of this land was sold; but when he retired, about 240 acres remained.
After he was 40 years of age, he never worked very hard. Usually, he would sit on the porch and direct his tenants, most of whom were his sons or sons-in-law. From this porch, he could survey most of the work, and later, when his family would reunite on holidays, he could keep watch over his 30 or 40 grandchildren.
In about 1918, he rented his farm, and he and Martha moved to Cleburne where they lived the remainder of their lives. Samuel Thomas Moore died on the fifteenth of March, 1923, and was interred in the Baker-Lain Cemetery near the Old Brewer Place where his parents were buried.