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Short Biography of Jeremiah Moore
Short Biography of Jeremiah Moore
From Genealogy of the Reno/Reneau Family in America, 1600-1930: Register Report of Louis Reynaud
The following is from "Genealogies of Virginia Families, Volume III, Notes on Some Moore and French Families in Virginia and Carolina in the Colonial Period, p. 776". "The Vestry Book of Dettingen Parish, Prince William County, 1745-1802, now in the Archives Division of the State Library in Richmond, shows that Jeremiah Moore was one of the lay readers of the church on Quantico, near Dumfries, but offers no suggestion concerning his ancestry.
The Sunday Star, Washington, D.C., July 15, 1917
The Sunday Star, Washington, D.C., July 15, 1917
The following is copied from an edition of The Sunday Star, Washington, D.C., July 15, 1917, part 4, page 3, and is on file in the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.:
Jeremiah Moore was born in Prince William County, Va, June 7, 1746, and died at Moorefield, Fairfax County February 23, 1815. He was a son of William Moore, who settled in South Carolina and the moved to Virginia, and Emma Stickney. William Moore was a son of Sir John Moore, who came from England to Pennsylvania, and he was a son of Lord Thomas Moore. Jeremiah married Lydia Renneau of Prince William County in 1765. The name Renneau came to be generally spelled Renno or Reno and thousands of the descendants of this family are scattered over the United States. Lydia was the daughter of Francis Renneau....... Lydia was born in 1745 and died in 1835 at Moorefield.
Jeremiah Moore had eleven children. They were
Jesse, born 1766, who married Miss Brent of Winchester;
Francis, born 1768, married Sarah Allnut;
John born 1770, who, according to the District of Columbia Daily advertiser of February 10, 1800, married "the amiable Miss Mary Hawley of Alexandria";
Angelina, born 1772, married Col. George Hunter; Tabitha, born 1774;
Elizabeth, born 1777;
Ammishaddai, born 1778, married Susan Lindsay;
William F. born 1781, married Mollie Renneau;
Margaret, born 1783, married James Smith of Alexandria;
Betsey, born 1785, and
Nancy, born in 1789.
Among the old books in the Library of Congress which Hugh Morrison dug out for the Rambler is one entitled "History of the Rise and Progress of the Baptists in Virginia" by Herbert R. Semple, minister of the Gospel in King and Queen County, Va. This book was published by the author and printed by John O. Lynch at Richmond in 1810. Under the heading of "Frying Pan Church, Fairfax County," the Rambler found the following matter relating to Jeremiah Moore.
"'Elder Jeremiah Moore, their present pastor, is about fifty-four years of age. He was born of parents of middle rank in life and raised in the Protestant Episcopal Church. At about seventeen years of age he heard Rev. David Thomas preach, by which his thought was turned to sacred things. He had never given in to the daring vices of the age, but was rather virtuously inclined, having from a very early period had some legal notions of religion. His convictions were extremely pungent and lasted a considerable length of time. At last a revelation of the Redeemer's fullness to save the greatest of sinners was made to his mind and he rejoiced in the hope of his glory. His first profession of grace was in the year 1772 and he was soon baptized. Mr. Moore was not only a preacher but a writer. He published a few years since two or three treatises on defense of his principles in which very considerable ingenuity is displayed.....
...In 1773, while he was preaching in the bounds of the church called "Difficult", a magistrate, attended by the rector of the parish, had him arrested by a constable and ordered to prison. His mittimum was written in these words: "I send you herewith the body of Jeremiah moore, who is a preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and also a stroller." Mr. Moore escaped this imprisonment by obtaining legal license for places of preaching.
At another time a lawless mob, headed by two magistrates, seized Mr. Moore and another preacher that was with him and carried them off to duck them. After they had ducked Mr. Moore's companion, they discharged them both. These, added to the scoffs and ignominious reproaches unjustly thrown upon him were a part of his early sufferings to his Master's service. It is now a little less than forty years since he began to preach, during all of which time he has labored with increasing dilligence.
Jeremiah Moore took part in the establishment at Washington of the First Baptist Church. It was in March, 1802, that this church was organized, it being constituted under the name of "The Baptist Church of Washington City".The National Intelligencer of March 10, 1802, published a brief account of the organization of the church. In that account it was said that "the Reverend Jeremiah Moore, lewis Richards, AdamFreeman and William Parkinson, ministers of the Baptist Church, met and after a sermon by the Rev. Mr. Moore, constituted the church; and that six persons were the constituent members. ....
Mr. Moore was instrumental in the organization of the first church of the Baptists in Alexandria. ...
There is an especially interesting fact or set of facts relating to the Rev. Jeremiah Moore which the Rambler hopes to deal with at greater length in some subsequent narratives. When Moore was arrested in 1773 while preaching within the bounds of the church called Difficult, which, of course, was a church on or close to Difficult Run--he was conveyed to the prison of Fairfax County. In the trial held in the courthouse, the prisoner was defended by Patrick Henry, the able champion of freedom of religious worship....
Additional Notes
Additional Notes
A bronze plaque on the side of the city building in Alexandria indicates that it is the site of the Old City Jail in which Rev. Jeremiah Moore was incarcerated for "preaching the gospel without a license."
(Steve Fancy research)The tradition is that, while jailed, Jeremiah Moore stood at the lattice window of his cell and continued to preach, attracting great crowds.Today he is celebrated as one of the people who inspired George Mason and Thomas Jefferson to fashion the first amendment of the Constitution. He is recognized as the founder of the Baptist Church in Northern Virginia and Washington, DC.From his home Moorefield he traveled over the area, preaching, establishing churches and leading the cause of absolute religious freedom and absolute separation of church and state. (Source: Article in William and Mary Quarterly, Jan. 1933, p. 3-10, "Jeremiah Moore, 1746-1815", by William Cabell Moore; Moorefield - Fairfax County Virginia by Thomas V DiBacco).
Jeremiah served for a short time in the Revolutionary War as a Corporal in the Virginia Infantry. On Oct. 2, 1789 Jeremiah and his wife sold the 264 acres of land they owned on a branch of Difficult Run and moved to their home Moorefield (present day location is in the Townes of Moorefield subdivision off of Nutley Street in southwest Vienna). In 1800 he wrote to and received a reply from Thomas Jefferson on the topic of political freedom. Jefferson ran for President that very year.
Jeremiah's mother was Angelina French, and many of his children were given the middle name of French. In his August 1814 will, Jeremiah wrote about his wife: "She shall not be obliged to take out letters of administration, give any securityor have any appraisement, whatever the law may say to the contrary notwithstanding, for I have more confidence in her justice, integrity and uprightness than in all the Courts that ever sat in this Commonwealth or elsewhere."
Jeremiah's will can be found in Fairfax County, Virginia Will Book K, page 271. The will was written Aug. 1, 1814 and it was probated March 20, 1815. The will mentions wife and Executrix Lydia, sons John (who is to get Moorefield, located south of Ellzey's Church Road), Jesse, Francis, Ammishaddia, William F., and daughters Angelina Hunter (wife of George W. Hunter), Elizabeth S, Nancy T. and Margaret F. Smith. It gives a mill in Jefferson County to sons Jsse and Francis. It was estimated that during his lifetime, Jeremiah rode over 52,000 miles, visiting and preaching in Virginia, Maryland, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and New York. He delivered his last sermon in the winter of 1814 to congregations in Leesburg and Centreville, Fairfax County, Virginia and died at his home in Moorefield on Feb. 23, 1815. He is buried in the Moorefield Cemetery, which is approximately 1000 ft west of Nutley Road at the intersection of Moorefield Creek and Tapawingo Road, S.W. Manassas.
Lydia Reno died at Moorfield inDecember 1835 and is buried there in the family graveyard. They had 11 children.
Jeremiah Moore Jailed
Jeremiah Moore Jailed
A bronze plaque on the side of the city building in Alexandria indicates that it is the site of the Old City Jail in which Rev. Jeremiah Moore was incarcerated for "preaching the gospel without a license."
(Steve Fancy research)The tradition is that, while jailed, Jeremiah Moore stood at the lattice window of his cell and continued to preach, attracting great crowds.Today he is celebrated as one of the people who inspired George Mason and Thomas Jefferson to fashion the first amendment of the Constitution. He is recognized as the founder of the Baptist Church in Northern Virginia and Washington, DC.From his home Moorefield he traveled over the area, preaching, establishing churches and leading the cause of absolute religious freedom and absolute separation of church and state. (Source: Article in William and Mary Quarterly, Jan. 1933, p. 3-10, "Jeremiah Moore, 1746-1815", by William Cabell Moore; Moorefield - Fairfax County Virginia by Thomas V DiBacco).
Jeremiah served for a short time in the Revolutionary War as a Corporal in the Virginia Infantry. On Oct. 2, 1789 Jeremiah and his wife sold the 264 acres of land they owned on a branch of Difficult Run and moved to their home Moorefield (present day location is in the Townes of Moorefield subdivision off of Nutley Street in southwest Vienna). In 1800 he wrote to and received a reply from Thomas Jefferson on the topic of political freedom. Jefferson ran for President that very year.
Jeremiah's mother was Angelina French, and many of his children were given the middle name of French. In his August 1814 will, Jeremiah wrote about his wife: "She shall not be obliged to take out letters of administration, give any securityor have any appraisement, whatever the law may say to the contrary notwithstanding, for I have more confidence in her justice, integrity and uprightness than in all the Courts that ever sat in this Commonwealth or elsewhere."
Jeremiah's will can be found in Fairfax County, Virginia Will Book K, page 271. The will was written Aug. 1, 1814 and it was probated March 20, 1815. The will mentions wife and Executrix Lydia, sons John (who is to get Moorefield, located south of Ellzey's Church Road), Jesse, Francis, Ammishaddia, William F., and daughters Angelina Hunter (wife of George W. Hunter), Elizabeth S, Nancy T. and Margaret F. Smith. It gives a mill in Jefferson County to sons Jsse and Francis. It was estimated that during his lifetime, Jeremiah rode over 52,000 miles, visiting and preaching in Virginia, Maryland, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and New York. He delivered his last sermon in the winter of 1814 to congregations in Leesburg and Centreville, Fairfax County, Virginia and died at his home in Moorefield on Feb. 23, 1815. He is buried in the Moorefield Cemetery, which is approximately 1000 ft west of Nutley Road at the intersection of Moorefield Creek and Tapawingo Road, S.W. Manassas.
Lydia Reno died at Moorfield inDecember 1835 and is buried there in the family graveyard. They had 11 children.
Jeremiah Moore took part in the establishment at Washington of the First Baptist Church. It was in March, 1802, that this church was organized, it being constituted under the name of "The Baptist Church of Washington City".The National Intelligencer of March 10, 1802, published a brief account of the organization of the church. In that account it was said that "the Reverend Jeremiah Moore, lewis Richards, AdamFreeman and William Parkinson, ministers of the Baptist Church, met and after a sermon by the Rev. Mr. Moore, constituted the church; and that six persons were the constituent members. ....
Mr. Moore was instrumental in the organization of the first church of the Baptists in Alexandria. ...
There is an especially interesting fact or set of facts relating to the Rev. Jeremiah Moore which the Rambler hopes to deal with at greater length in some subsequent narratives. When Moore was arrested in 1773 while preaching within the bounds of the church called Difficult, which, of course, was a church on or close to Difficult Run--he was conveyed to the prison of Fairfax County. In the trial held in the courthouse, the prisoner was defended by Patrick Henry, the able champion of freedom of religious worship....
The Rambler has seen a partial register of the Baptist Church and ministers in Virginia, in the counties of Prince William, Fairfax, Farquier, Culpepper, Loudoun, Shenandoah, Frederick, Jefferson, Berkeley, and Hampshire during the years 1766 to 1809, inclusive. This old register shows that Jeremiah Moore was minister at Difficult Run in 1775 (though he was there also in 1773); minister at Back Lick Church in Fairfax County in 1782, Minister at Frying Pan Church, Fairfax County in 1791 and minister at Alexandria in 1803...."
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