MOORE, William D.

MOORE, HOOPER, MARKS, KLINEHANSE, TEALE, PECK

Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 2/12/2014 at 18:45:56

Biography ~ William D. Moore

"Biographical and Historical Record of
Ringgold and Decatur Counties, Iowa"
(Lewis Publishing Company (1887)), Pp. 614-15 :

WILLIAM D. MOORE, one of the prominent and influential citizens of Decatur, was born in New Orleans, January 25, 1829, a son of WILLIAM and MARY (HOOPER) MOORE, the father a Virginian by birth, and the mother a native of Boston, Massachusetts. The father died of yellow fever in New Orleans, in 1832, and after his death the widowed mother removed with her family to Washington, D. C. of three children our subject was the youngest. He was reared in Washington, and became familiar with the faces of many of the leading men of the nation. He was married in that city to Miss CATHERINE J. KLINEHANSE, May 31, 1849. She was born in Washington, and was a daughter of GEORGE and SUSAN (MARKS) KLINEHANSE, natives of Germany and Washington, D. C., respectively, both now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. MOORE have nine children - WILLIAM C., a business man of Klingman, Kansas; GEORGE A., died in 1883, leaving a wife and three children; FRANK A., a farmer, living in Decatur; CHARLES S., engaged in the nursery with Mr. TEALE, of Decatur Township; MARY, at home; LUNETTIA, wife of FRED PECK, of Pacific Junction, Iowa; ARTHUR, EUGENE and KATIE, all living at home. Mr. MOORE learned the shoemaker’s trade in Washington, which he followed in that city till two years after his marriage, when he removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, and engaged in the boot-and-shoe business there till 1859. He then went to Mason City, Missouri, where he received treats of death from prominent rebels, when a brother Odd Fellow, who was Captain of a Rebel company, assisted him to leave that part of the county, when he went to Bloomfield, Davis County, Iowa. On account of ill health Mr. MOORE changed his occupation, and opened a photograph gallery in Bloomfield, remaining there till 1868. He has been identified with the interest of Decatur County since 1868, in which year he established a general mercantile store in the village of Decatur, and carried on an extensive trade in that business for fifteen years, for several years his business amounting to $25,000 per annum. In 1883, finding his business too confining, he sold his stock, and has since devoted his entire attention to his farm and nursery. His farm, which adjoins Decatur, contains eighty acres of well-improved land, under fine cultivation, and on his residence property with its twelve acres of land, in the village, he established a nursery, in the spring of 1883. Besides the property above mentioned, Mr. MOORE owns other valuable real estate in another part of Decatur Township. Mr. MOORE left Missouri stripped of all his property, and commenced life in Iowa with nothing, since which time he has, by strict and close attention to business, succeeded in making a fine property; and through honesty and industry he has gained the confidences and respect of all who know him. In politics Mr. MOORE affiliates with the Greenback party. He is a member of Decatur Lodge, I. O. O. F. In his religious views he is a Spiritualist. Mrs. MOORE is a member of the Methodist church.

NOTE: William died September 25, 1907. Catherine Joan (Klinehanse) Moore was born February 24, 1831, Washington, D.C., and died May 24, 1894. On Catherine's gravestone, it is engraved that she was the mother of ten children, nine surviving her. William and Catherine were interred at Decatur City Cemetery, Decatur IA.

Also interred at Decatur City Cemetery are Frank M. Moore, born October 22, 1857, died January 22, 1900; George A. Moore, born August 11, 1860 and "Passed To A Higher Life" December 27, 1883; Eugene Moore, born in 1869 and died in 1924.

Submission by Sara LeFleur, Decatur County Historical Society Museum, January of 2014

Note by Sharon R. Becker, February of 2014