After several hundred hours of
research on the Moore families in pre-1900 Knox and Laurel County, Kentucky,
certain patterns began to appear, namely:
1. Between 1803 and 1807 there were several members of the Moore family
living in Knox County. The earliest arrivals were members of (or related
to) the Thomas Moore / Rosannah Fowler family. The 1803 Knox County Tax
Record lists Thomas, Jesse, William, Isaac and John. It is known that
Thomas and Rosannah had a son named Jesse, so it assumed the Jesse listed was
their son. William and John are probably Thomas' brothers and Isaac was
probably the son of William or John. Thomas and Rosannah migrated from
South Carolina. The 1800 Laurens Co SC census includes Thomas, Ephraim
(Thomas' son), John, William, Lemuel and Mordecai Moore, along with at least a
half dozen Fowler families. Records of a Mordecai Moore were found in
early Pennsylvania records along with a Thomas Moore Sr. It is known that
many early PA residents migrated south into Virginia, South Carolina, North
Carolina and Tennessee prior to and after the Revolutionary War. Early PA
records include many of the surnames of those who went to these various regions,
including Evans, Davis, Philpot, Reynolds, Smallwood and Moore.
2. It is known that Anthony
Moore and several other members of the Moore family migrated from PA to VA to
Greene Co Tennessee, arriving in TN in about 1783, shortly after the
Revolutionary War ended. Among those who were in pre-1790 Greene Co TN
were Anthony, Hugh, James, John, Moses, Robert, Samuel and William Moore.
Some of these families stayed in TN while others went to South Carolina,
Kentucky and Arkansas. Those who went to Kentucky settled in Knox County
very near the other Moore families who were already there (see #1 above).
3. Based on proximity and
migratory patterns of these various Moore families, it became quite apparent
that many (if not all) of them were related to one another. Members from
each group were found living next to, or very near each other in 1810 and 1820
Knox County KY. Members from each group married into the same families,
including Evans, Reynolds, Mullins, Pruitt (Prewitt) and Chesnut, many of whom
were in Greene Co TN prior to moving to KY.
It is not possible to be 100%
certain of the relationships between the various Moores who settled in Knox
County (part of which later formed Laurel and Rockcastle Counties).
However, it is possible to link them to the same roots that go back to
pre-Revolutionary War Pennsylvania. This GEDCOM file attempts to show how
those relationships MIGHT
have been. It is not meant to
present a verified parent/child connection.
Note the use of an Asterisk (*) next to those
names whose parents are unverified. I have included all of my research
notes so some of the documentation is very lengthy. This was done in order
to share the information I found, whether or not it was pertinent to the
specific individual. Your comments are welcome. Please
email
me if you discover errors.