My Moore Family in America - Part 6

My Family Had No Imagination

If there’s one thing the Moore family has done over the past few hundred years, it’s repeat names. I’m the third William M. Moore in four generations. But before me, there were the Gershom Moores. In Part 5, I introduced you to my 10^th great-grandfather, Gershom Moore (circa 1645 – 1691). In Rev. John Moore of Newtown, Long Island, and some of his Descendants, James W. Moore counts at least three more Gershoms. The identical names and overlaps of their lifetimes have caused a lot of confusion among researchers. What follows is their information as I know it today. Don’t be surprised if I make changes if I learn more in the future.

Gershom Moore (circa 1672 - 1722)

Based on life events, the second Gershom Moore was born sometime around 1672. He is sometimes identified as “John Gershom Moore.” But I cannot find anything to support that name, although it would have made it easier to keep him separate from the others. Gershom did have a brother named Jonathan, making it unlikely that his given name would be John. The two appeared next to each other in the 1692 Census of Newtown.¹

James W. Moore’s research provides several facts about this Gershom. On 19 February 1690, he was commissioned as an Ensign in his uncle Samuel Moore's company. On 17 April 1696, he was elected Assessor. He was elected to that post again on 24 March 1703. On 17 December 1700, he was elected Constable. He was elected Commissioner of Highways on 24 March 1703 and 3 April 1722.²

Gershom married Deborah Betts sometime around 1691, based on the birth date of their eldest child. They had at least four children: Gershom, born in 1692, Henry, Mary, and Samuel. The last three are listed based on the will of Thomas Betts, their grandfather.³

Debora died in 1720. Gershom’s date of death is less clear. The last clear reference to him is in 1722.⁴

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Gershom Moore (1692– 1722)

My 8^th great-grandfather, yet another Gershom Moore, was born in Newtown circa 1692. He was the eldest child of Gershom and Deborah Betts Moore. By 1711, Gershom had married Mercy Furman and moved to Maidenhead, Hunterdon County, New Jersey.⁵ At that time, Hunterdon County was still largely inhabited by the Lenni Lenape Native American tribe.⁶ It was still an untamed area despite its relative proximity to Philadelphia. As was the case across America, as the white settlers moved in, the indigenous people were forced to move.

Original area of the Lenni Lenape tribe.

We don’t know a lot about Gershom’s life in Maidenhead. But based upon his will, we can deduce that he was quite prosperous at a young age.

According to Gershom’s will, he and Mercy had five children: Thomas, Nathan (some show as Nathaniel), Gershom, Martha, and Mary. The terms of the will, after providing for his last testament and burial, left the following bequests:

1. Moore, James W., Rev. John Moore of Newtown, Long Island, and some of his Descendants (n.d.; image reprint, Delhi: Alpha Editions, 2019), 37-38.

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid., 38.

4. Ibid.

5. Riker, James, The Annals of Newtown in Queens County, New York (1852, New York: D. Fanshaw), 238, imaged, Library of Congress, Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/annalsofnewtowni00rike).

6. Moore, James W., Rev. John Moore of Newtown, 38-39.