My Genealogy Hound

Hon. Joseph T. Moore. Prominent among the leading men of Marshfield, and among those deserving special recognition for their long residence in Webster County, stands the name of the above mentioned gentleman, who was born in Giles County, Tenn., January 11, 1839. His parents, Jonathan F. and Mary (Camper) Moore, were both natives of Tennessee, and both born in the year 1818. The father died in Webster County, Mo., in 1844, and the mother in the same county in 1876. They were the parents of two children, their daughter dying in 1863. Joseph T. Moore is the only one of the family now living. In the fall of 1839 he came with his parents to what was then Pulaski County, and settled on the James Fork of White River. This county was afterward changed to Wright County, and then to Webster County. Mr. Moore was mainly self-educated, and in April, 1861, he enlisted in the Home Guards, and served with them until the Wilson’s Creek battle, August 10, 1861. He then went to Raleigh and enlisted in Col. John S. Phelps’ regiment, and here continued until he was discharged by reason of expiration of term of service. He then enlisted in the Eighth Missouri Cavalry, and upon the organization of Company B he was elected second lieutenant. He was discharged in the winter of 1863, on account of physical disability. He was at the battles of Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove, and rendered effective and useful service. Having regained his health, he entered the militia service of the State of Missouri, and was elected captain of Company A, and continued in that position until peace was declared. He then began farming in High Prairie Township, where he now lives, and where he owns 204 acres of land. He taught one term of school in the fall of 1869. Previous to this, in 1863, he married Miss Sarah White, who died in 1870. To this union were born three children. Mr. Moore was married the second time, in 1872, to Miss Martha Jane Morton, who was born in North Carolina in 1850, and they have seven children. Mr. Moore has resided in this part of the State for forty-nine years, and is a representative citizen of the county. He has been a life-long Republican in politics, casting his first presidential vote for Lincoln in 1864. In 1878 he was elected justice of the peace, and re-elected in 1882. In 1886 he was elected representative of this county by 122 majority, being the first Republican (straight) elected to the Legislature from this county in sixteen years. In 1888 he was elected to the same office by 158 majority. He is one of the leading Republicans of the county, and is a member of the G. A. R., Post No. 225.