Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection open for research.

Use Restrictions

No physical characteristics affect use of this material.

Preferred Citation

Captain John Moore Collection (SC 0113), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.

HISTORICAL SKETCH

John Moore (1801-1878) and his wife Matilda L. Moore (1804-1877) lived in Aldie, Virginia. Moore leased the Mill owned by Charles Fenton Mercer (1778-1858), later known as the Aldie Mill, from 1832 until 1835 when he purchased both the mill and adjoining miller's house. Moore's children and descendants would continue to own and operate the Aldie Mill until 1971.

Along with operating the mill, John Moore served in the 56th Regiment of the Loudoun militia, obtaining the rank of captain. In 1839, Moore purchased fifty-seven acres of land from Ruth Lacey (d. 1865) along the Old Braddock Road, then known as the "Old Turnpike Road." Moore farmed this property, raising crops that in 1850 included wheat, oats, and potatoes along with livestock. Census information and other records indicate Moore owned slaves (eleven in 1850), using them as labor on the farm and as mill workers. In 1851 he purchased an additional ninety-five acres of adjacent land. Moore's son Alexander Moore (1836-1914) built Fair Oaks Farm on a portion of this property in 1881. The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2014, and includes the Moore Family Cemetery where John Moore, Matilda Moore and several of their children are buried.

Scope and Content

This collection consists of two documents, a letter and a property survey, both related to John Moore of Aldie, Virginia. The letter dated 23 September 1828, to Captain John Moore from Fleming W. P. Hixson (1809-1841) of Waterford, Virginia requests the delivery of a boy, John, to Mr. William Featon Braden (1806-1832) at the conclusion of his term. The property survey, dated 19 August 1839 includes both a written and a drawn description for a tract of land purchased by Captain John Moore from Ruth Lacey. The drawn plat shows the property line of Dr. Elias Lacey and the "Old Turnpike Road". Property owned by "C.F. Mercer" and the heirs of Joseph Moore (1765-1845) are mentioned in the narrative description of the boundaries of the property conveyed.

Adjunct Descriptive Data

Bibliography