Member Biography

Biography

John Moore (Democratic-Republican) Allegheny and Westmoreland Counties 1790-1794 (Democratic-Republican) Fayette and Westmoreland Counties 1794-1795 

Early Life:

John Moore, born 1738, Hempfield Township, Lancaster County, Province of Pennsylvania, British Colonial America; son of William and Jeanette Moore; Frontier Ranger, Captain Jere Lochry's Company, Westmoreland County, Revolutionary War; delegate, Constitutional Convention, 1776; member of the committee on the bill of rights; commissioned Justice of the Peace, 1777; appointed, Surveyor of Public Lands, 1778; county judge, 1779; first President Judge, Westmoreland County Courts, both at Hannastown, Greensburg, 1785-1790; elected, Democratic-Republican, original member, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1790-1794; married, Elizabeth Parr Moore, children, Mary Moore Laird, Elizabeth Moore Snowden; died, February 10, 1811 (aged 72–73), interment, Congruity Cemetery, Congruity, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. 

Pennsylvania Politics: 

Delegate, Provincial Convention, Province of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, January 23, 1775, and continued by adjournments, from day to day, to the 28th. Member, committee on the bill of rights.

Commissioned Justice of the Peace, 1777.

Appointed, Surveyor of Public Lands, 1778.

County judge, 1779, first President Judge, Westmoreland County Courts, both at Hannastown, Greensburg, 1785-1790.

Elected, Democratic-Republican, original member, Pennsylvania State Senate, Allegheny and Westmoreland Counties, 1790-1794; elected, Democratic-Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, Fayette and Westmoreland Counties 1794-1795*

* On 2 January 1795, a Committee of Investigation reported to the Senate that, in their opinion, “the elections of Senators held in the counties of Washington, Allegheny, Westmoreland, and Fayette counties, during the late insurrection, [The so called “Whiskey Rebellion”] were not constitutional, and therefore not valid. The following day, the Senate voted on a strict party line vote to expel John Moore, William Todd, Thomas Stokely, and Absalom Baird from Senate and called for new elections to be held. The newly certified Senators took their seats in mid- February. Todd, Stokley, and Baird were returned to the seats previously vacated. Moore was replaced by Presly Carr Lane.

Presley Carr Lane  - Pennsylvania Senate Library (pasen.gov)

Legacy: 

Daughter, Mary Moore Laird, married, Reverend Francis D. Laird, son Harrison Perry Laird, Pennsylvania State Senate, Westmoreland County 1881-1884. 

Harrison Perry Laird  - Pennsylvania Senate Library (pasen.gov)

Cited:

Constitutional Convention 1776 - PA Constitution

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members M". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

John Moore (1738-1811) - Find a Grave Memorial