On October 15, 1810, Alfred Moore, Revolutionary War officer and associate justice of the United States Supreme Court, died. Born in 1755 in New Hanover County, Moore was descended from the early settlers of the Cape Fear region and was the grandson of the founder of Brunswick Town.
During the Revolutionary War, Moore was commissioned as a captain in the First North Carolina Continental Regiment. He saw action at Brunswick Town, Moore’s Creek Bridge and Charleston before resigning and returning home to manage the family estates. At the war’s conclusion, Moore began a lengthy career in public service, first as a state senator from Brunswick County, and then as state attorney general. He resigned that position in 1791 to return to the state assembly a year later. In 1795, he ran for a United States Senate seat, but lost.
In October 1799, President John Adams appointed Moore an associate justice to the United States Supreme Court upon the death of Justice James Iredell. Moore retired from the Supreme Court in 1804 due to ill health. He is buried in the graveyard of St. Phillips Church in Brunswick Town, and Moore County is named in his honor.
Other related resources:
- The American Revolution, the Reasons Behind the Revolutionary War and the Stamp Act on NCpedia