From the Rice Fields of Low Country, NC to Somerville, NJ. How?
Edition #8. North Carolina Beginnings
The Moore Family genealogical document, meticulously researched by my elders, records five generations of my ancestry. Its names and dates connect me to present-day places and inspire my research. My research endeavors to lift each ancestor’s name off the paper and to bring their experiences to light and to life. This is no easy task. Consider, the lives of my enslaved family members were recorded through monetary exchanges, land deeds, inheritance records, and wills. Understand, human beings were cataloged alongside livestock, household items, and landholdings. Revealing their lived experiences, detached from their enslavers’ attainments, is a challenge. This realization makes delving into my history jarring and disturbing. Through this lens, I ask, How did we, the Moores, find ourselves in Somerville, New Jersey?
The Moores of Mebane, North Carolina
Documents prepared by my great-uncle, Freeman “Skip” Moore, trace the birthplace of my maternal great-great-great grandparents, John H. Moore (1829–1910) and Elizabeth Lee (1833-?) to Mebane, North Carolina. Settled in the early 1700s, Mebane, is located in the low country of Cape Fear. The surname Moore, a derivation of More, was common at that time. In 1725, Maurice Moore, with brothers Roger and Nathaniel relocated to the lower cape after receiving land as a gift. The 1751 will of Roger Moore listed 250 enslaved persons and nearly 60,000 acres of land. By 1760, the area sustained 50 rice-growing enslavement camps within a fifty mile radius. These rice plantations were operated by forced labor; that population grew to 100,572 persons by 1790.
The holdings of Maurice Moore’s descendants were expanded and transferred through gift giving, births, deaths, and marriages. The “Family” as they were then referenced, controlled thousands of acres and operated enslavement plantations including: Orton, Kendal, the Vats, and Mooresfield. By 1830, the year after John H. Moore’s birth, the population of North Carolina’s enslaved population increased to 245,601 persons. With 33% of North Carolina’s population identified as enslaved, it is probable that both John and Elizabeth Lee were enslaved. Given the Moore family influence, holdings, and John’s assigned surname, it is probable that he was enslaved on a rice plantation of Maurice Moore’s descendents.
Life on a North Carolina Rice Plantations
Existence on the rice plantations of the Lower Cape Fear was particularly strenuous, tedious, and cyclical. Enslaved carpenters, blacksmiths, coopers, and farmers maintained the self-sufficiency of the plantation. “Tasks” were apportioned often to the slave instead of hours…All labor performed by slaves was laid out in tasks, which had to be done every day. … He commences work at daylight, and breakfasts at seven o’clock; at eight he commences again, and generally finishes his task by two o’clock,”.
My research revealed the one-sided perspectives of the enslaver or observer. Their perspectives make the monotony of enslaved labor palpable, but what about the unstructured times? What were John H. Moore and Elizabeth Lee’s thoughts and perspectives? What about their familial bonds? I gained some insight from personal stories and slave memoirs. The vignettes in Plantation memories of the Cape Fear river country, recounted the daily labors and described familial relationships. Family ties were sustained between biological relations and constructed family units. It creates a context for John H. Moore and Elizabeth Lee’s union. Like many unions, theirs is undocumented. The absence of this record and the blank lines on the Moore/Freeman ancestry chart force me to wonder…What of the fathers, daughters, and sisters… missing from my history? The Freedmen’s Bureau’s registry of marriages collected after the Civil War affirms the importance of family marital relationships and provides some reconciliation.
The Moores of New Jersey
John H. Moore, Elizabeth Lee and their son William A. Moore (?-1911), my great-great grandfather, were born in Mebane, North Carolina. William A. Moore, moved to New Jersey, married Josphine B. Hurling (1853–1947), resided in, and was laid to rest in Somerville, NJ. William and Josephine’s son, Frederick H. Moore, Sr. (pictured above), and his siblings were the first of five generations of Moores to be born, raised, and reside in Somerville.
Family stories speculate on the ways and reasons why William A. Moore migrated to New Jersey. The strongest theory points to railroad accessibility. In 1852, the North Carolina Railroad began construction of 223 miles of railway. Maintenance workshops were built along the rail lines with surrounding communities established around them. Mebane, North Carolina was one of many towns to develop around a railway stop. William A. Moore’s decision to migrate north and settle in Somerville, New Jersey remains a mystery. Moore’s actions opened the door to educational opportunities for generations of his descendants, myself included.
Further Reading: Glimpses of Enslaved Life on a Cape Fear River Rice Plantation, Plantation memories of the Cape Fear river country, Mooresfield Plantation, The Story of Orton Plantation, United States Census 1850
