Zachariah Walker Moore, known as Zach & Z.W., was born in Sumner Co TN in the year 1824, son of Alfred & Mary H. Green Moore.  He came to Texas with his father & mother, his brothers - John G., Dempsey H., Alfred and Hardin T., and sisters - Margaret H. & Mary P.  They were living in Red River County by 1840.  By 1846 the family was settled in northern Henderson County - that portion that became Kaufman County.

~ See More on Zach Moore's Parents & Siblings Below ~

   In the year 1846 Zach traveled to Bexar County with his brother John G. Moore to participate in the Mexican War.  They were enlisted in Jack C. Hays' First Regiment of Texas Mounted Riflemen for a period of one year.  Zach returned to the family home in 1847, but John did not, choosing to stay in San Antonio where he married.

   On 13 Aug 1848 in Henderson Co TX, Zach Moore married Laura Louisa Damron, daughter of other early Kaufman County pioneers, John Damron and Sarah Elizabeth Shutz.  However, Laura did not live long after their marriage.  They had a daughter, Laura Louisa Moore in March 1850 and Zach's wife, Laura, is listed on the 1850 Kaufman County Mortality Schedule as having died in August 1850.  She is listed as Laura L. Moore, age 22, born TN, died from 18 days of Fever.  It is not known where Laura L. Damron Moore is buried.

   By the 1850 Census, enumerated 8 Oct 1850, Zach Moore's household included his baby daughter, 2 of his brothers, 1 of his sisters and mother.  His father died in early 1849.

1850 Kaufman Co TX Census  -  HH # 2234 / 235

On the 1850 Census Zachariah Moore is listed as a Slave Owner, reporting the following slaves, with a value of $2,300:

After 1850 Zach Moore never reported owning slaves of his own, however he reported on Kaufman County Slave Tax Rolls the following years, slaves owned by his father's estate and his brothers:

By the year 1860 Zach Moore was living alone with his daughter in the town of Kaufman.

Kaufman Co TX Census - HH # 54 / 54

   The Civil War began in 1861 and Zach and his three brothers, all living in Kaufman County by that time, enlisted in the Confederate States Army in Kaufman County.  On 1 Apr 1862 Zach enlisted as a Private in the 19th TX Cavalry.  He was described in his enlistment papers as 5'10" in height, gray eyes and brown hair.  In his papers he was listed as a patient in a hospital at Cottonplant, Arkansas from 1 - 19 Nov 1862, and was promoted to 2nd Lt. On 1 Apr 1863.  At some time after that he was transferred to the 6th TX Cavalry under Andrew J Hardin, who became his father-in-law.

   After the war, Zach remarried on 11 May 1865  to Margaret Agnes Hardin, daughter of A J Hardin & Sophronia Hutchison, as recorded in Kaufman County Marriage Book 1-A.

   The next year his daughter Laura married in Kaufman on 10 Feb 1867 to Samuel W Torbert.  Samuel  was born in GA  circa 1838 and had served in Co G 3rd TX Cavalry from Kaufman during the civil war.  He was a widower with children when they married.  Ironically, just as with her mother, Laura Moore Torbert did not live very long after her marriage and died in November 1870, shortly after giving birth to her son, Samuel Torbert Jr in March.  And just as with her mother, it is not known where Laura Moore Torbert is buried.

By 1870 Zachariah Moore and Margaret had a family of their own.

1870 Kaufman Co TX Census - HH #  207 / 218

   In a bizarre occurrence, on 22 May 1871, Zach Moore was made Legal Guardian of his daughter's son, Samuel Zachariah Torbert, according to Kaufman County Probate file # 75.  It is not known what became of this child, nor why this was done.

   Zachariah Moore moved his family from Kaufman County to Runnels County TX in 1878.  He was enumerated on the 1880 census there.

1880 Runnels Co TX Census - HH # 78 / 78

    While living in Runnels County, Zach was active in the United Confederate Veterans, H E McCullogh Camp No. 557 in Ballinger, TX.   He is listed in their archives as a deceased member who served in the 6th TX Cavalry.

  Zach encouraged others to move to Runnels County.  Charles W Crouch, another early Kaufman Co TX pioneer and his sister Mary's father-in-law, went to stay with Zach in the fall of 1881.  Crouch's health was failing and they felt the change in climate would benefit him. However, he died there 19 Dec 1881.  It was Zach who notified the family and newspapers in Kaufman County of Crouch's death.

   Z W Moore died 27 Mar 1884 in Runnels County.  Research has shown he is not buried there, and as it is with many members of this family, it is not known where his remains are interred.

Kaufman Sun - 29 Mar 1884

Zack W Moore, age 60, died in Runnels County on the 27th ult.  He was born in Sumner County Tennessee; came to Texas with his father's family in 1835.  He lived in Kaufman County many years. He was an Indian fighter and soldier participating in the Mexican and Civil Wars.  He served in the 19th TX Cavalry throughout the civil war. He was a brother of H T Moore and his wife was the daughter of Capt. Hardin of Terrell.

After Zach's death, Margaret moved her family to Wilbarger County where her mother and father lived. By that time their eldest daughter, Mary, had also died and son, Alfred, had married and was living with his in-laws in the same county.

1900 Wilbarger Co TX - HH # 73 / 78

1900 Wilbarger Co TX - HH # 78 /79

It is not known when Margaret died, or where she is buried.

Known Children of Z. W. Moore

Family of Z. W. Moore

His Parents

   Zach's father, Alfred Moore, was a veteran of the War of 1812, and according to "Old Sumner, A History of Sumner County TN from 1805-1861" by W. T. Durham, he served in a volunteer cavalry commanded by John Allcorn from 24 Sep 1813 - 1 Feb 1814.  It is not known when Alfred and Mary married, nor exactly how many children they had, but documents show that in the late 1830's Alfred Moore brought his family to Texas, settling by 1840 in Red River County.  With him and Mary, making the move to Texas, were sons Alfred Jr., Zachariah W., John G., Dempsey H. and Hardin T., and daughters Margaret and Mary P. Moore.

   Not much is known about Alfred and Mary Moore before or after they arrived here.  Indications are that they lived in what was the northern portion of Henderson County, that part that is now the northeastern portion of Kaufman County, north of the Cedar Grove community.  To prove residency in this area the early records are where we first find mention of Alfred Moore.  He is listed on the 1846 Henderson County Poll Tax Lists and is referred to with the title of "Captain" in many early Kaufman County documents.  Alfred is mentioned as such in "A Part of the Lord's Big Garden-Kaufman County's Early Years" by Dr. Horace P. Flatt, page 48:  "...Cedar Grove was the largest and most prosperous town in the county and furnished Kaufman County its first sheriff & clerk. It was the first part of the county settled.  In 1848, I believe it was, Captain Moore, the father of Hardin & John Moore, settled on Duck Creek near here, and the same year William H McBee, Adam Sullivan & William Gibbard located their Headright certificates here & laid out the town of Cedar Grove."

   When persons arrived in a new place back in early Texas one of the first things they did was register their livestock brand and ear marks with the county clerk's office at the county seat.  According to "Marks & Brands of Henderson Co TX- Book A, 1847 - 1849", page 165,  Alfred Moore registered his mark and brand on 12 Jan 1847 and they were duly recorded by the clerk in the record on 22 Oct 1847.

   Family history states that Alfred Moore, Jr. died in Henderson County in the year 1847 and was buried on the Moore homestead.  There is a small cemetery in Kaufman County where the Moore land was situated.  Supposedly this is the burial site of Alfred, Jr., as well as that of Alfred Moore Sr and Mary Green Moore.  See the Moore's Chapel webpage HERE.  Many researchers and Kaufman historians do not agree with the family lore that Alfred Moore was returning to Tennessee when his son died, as scripted on the Moore Chapel Cemetery page.  Records have no indication that the family was moving, and they seemed quite settled when Alfred Moore Sr. died in 1850.

   We know from Kaufman County Slave Tax Rolls that Alfred Moore was a slave owner.  He reported and paid taxes in 1849 on 8 slaves, he valued at $2,050.00.  Also, we know from tax and probate records that Alfred Moore died late in 1850.  On the Kaufman Co Slave Tax Rolls for that year he reported owning 8 slaves worth $2,300.00 and his son Z. W. Moore, also made documentation in his father's name for those slaves in the same amount as "Administrator for Alford Moore", after Alfred died.  Alfred Moore's probate was filed in Kaufman County, File # 9-A, with his son Z. W. Moore as Executor, filed 16 May 1850.  Per his Probate, four Slaves belonging to Alfred Moore were inherited by his wife Mary, and each of his eldest four children were given 1 slave.

   Mary Green Moore remarried on 19 Oct 1851 according to Kaufman County Marriage Record Book 1.  She married Joseph H. McCarty.  McCarty reported the slaves inherited by Mary on every tax roll from 1852 until 1860.  Also, in another strange legal transaction, after Mary's marriage to McCarty, Z. W. Moore was made Legal Guardian of his siblings - Mary's 2 youngest children  -  Hardin T. & Mary P. Moore, per Kaufman County Probate Record file # NCN328, dated 25 Nov 1851.

   Mary is enumerated in McCarty's home as his wife on the 1860 Kaufman Co TX Census.

HH # 428 / 428

   On the 1880 Kaufman Co Census, Joseph McCarty is living with Mary's son, Dempsey Moore.

   Mary Green Moore McCarty died before 1870.  It is not known for certain where she is buried.  Harold O'Neal, who was an authority on early Kaufman County history and burial sites, did not think Mary was buried at Moore's Chapel, even though the tombstone placed there by her descendants states she is.

John G Moore
Brother of Z. W. Moore
"A Founding Father of Terrell, Texas "

   John G. Moore, eldest brother of Zachariah Moore was was born in Sumner Co TN on  20 Jan 1826.  Nothing is known about his education but he did fight in the Mexican - American War, serving in Co D of Col. John C. "Jack" Hays' First Regiment, Texas Mounted Volunteers, from March 1846 until late in 1847.  He also participated with Hays in a battle with the Waco Indians on the Llano River in August of that year, and in April 1848 fought the Waco Indians on the Pedernales River in what is now Blanco County.  After the Mexican War John Moore was stationed in San Antonio under Hays in one of two companies of rangers garrisoning the town.

   John was stationed in San Antonio for 4 years, and after his enlistment ended he decided to stay in Bexar County.  There he met and married on 31 Dec 1856 Miss Susan Vermillion Wills, who was called Virginia by John.  She was born 15 Jan 1840 in VA, the daughter of Edmond R. Wills and Emerine Virginia Tiffany.

   By early 1861 John and Virginia had moved to Kaufman County.  Not long after the threat of Civil War began John joined the Kaufman County Militia in the 3rd Precinct.  After Texas seceded and the war began he enlisted in the Confederate States Army on 2 Sep 1863 in Co G 2nd TX Cavalry of the Texas State Troops, and was discharged 27 Jan 1864 after claiming an exemption as a "stock raiser".

1870 Kaufman Co TX Census - HH # 214 / 215

   John G. Moore was a very enterprising man.  He envisioned what the future might be in Kaufman County and that the railroad would benefit the county and its residents, so he and his business partner, Charles Cornelius Nash, decided to purchase 320 acres of the J. W. Crude survey where the city of Terrell is now located.  The price for the land was $5.00 per acre.  He and CC Nash collectively gathered the $1,600.00 needed to make the deal and because John Moore was familiar with the country between Kaufman and San Antonio he made the journey to Bexar County on horseback to make the real estate deal.  John Moore wrapped the money around his leg, covered it with his sock and boot, climbed on his horse and rode to San Antonio.  After the purchase was complete the two men donated 100 acres of the land to the railroad so it would pass through the county, then platted out the town and sold the lots for a profit.  Moore Ave. - the main street that runs the width of the town from east to west - and Virginia Street in Terrell are named for John Moore and his wife, and Nash Avenue and Josephine Street are named for C. C. Nash and his wife.  The deal made John Moore a wealthy man.

   John G. Moore was also a very generous person.  He took many orphans and relatives into his home when they were faced with difficult times and he was certain all the children in his house were educated, as the census records show.

1880 Kaufman Co TX Census -

   Unfortunately John did not live long enough to fully see all that his vision for the town of Terrell, and for Kaufman County, became.  He died 2 Jul 1880 and is buried in the Oakland Cemetery in Terrell, TX next to his wife and near some of his children.

Kaufman Sun - 9 Jul 1880

Terrell - Mr. John G Moore of Terrell died Friday, the 3rd inst., of typhoid fever. He leaves a wife and several children.

Texas Christian Advocate - 24 Jul 1880 - Vol. XXVII, pg 45

J G Moore died at his residence near Terrell Texas on July 2, 1880.  He was born in Tennessee on January 20, 1826; moved with his father, Alfred Moore, to Texas in 1836, and settled in Red River County.  He served as a soldier in Col. Jack Hays' regiment of San Antonio in the Mexican conflict and was a soldier until 1856.  In 1861 he moved from San Antonio to Kaufman County.  Member of the Masonic Order, Knights of Honor and the Methodist church.  Buried in Terrell Cemetery. He leaves a wife and nine children.

   Susan V. Moore died 6 Jan 1904 and is buried next to John at Oakland Cemetery.

Known Children of John & Virginia Moore

Margaret Horton "Peggy" Moore
Sister of Z. W. Moore

Margaret Horton "Peggy" Moore Beard
Photo Circa 1865 - provided by Ed Horton

   Peggy Moore was born 1828 in TN, the first daughter of Alfred and Mary Moore.  She married circa 1846 to William Henry Beard.  William was born in Mobile, AL in 1820.  They settled in Kaufman County before 1849 as William Beard is listed on the Poll Tax List that year and they are enumerated on the 1850 Kaufman Co TX Census.

HH # 238 / 239

By 1860 Peggy and family were living in Lynchburg, Harris Co TX.

HH # 71 / 68

William Henry Beard
Photo circa 1865 - provided by Ed Horton

   William H. Beard served in the Confederate States Army - Morgan's Reg't Texas Cavalry.  The war was hard on Peggy's family, as during the years 1863 - 1865 the name "Margaret Beard" is on every Confederate Indigent List generated in Kaufman County.

Peggy & William are listed on the 1870 Kaufman Co TX Census - HH # 81 / 89

1880 Kaufman Co TX Census

William H. Beard died 7 Sep 1880.  He is buried Oakland Cemetery in Terrell.

1900 Kaufman Co TX Census - HH # 422 /429

1910 Kaufman Co TX Census - Terrell - HH # 301 / 301 - 569 Catherine St.

**Fannie Beard was a renown Milliner in north Texas.  Frances Street in Terrell Texas is named for her.

Terrell Daily Tribune - July 26, 1921

"Miss Fanny Beard died at the home of her niece, Mrs. Addie Helen D. Thresh in Dallas. Daughter of William Henry and Margaret Moore Beard, born Kaufman county."

Known Children of Peggy & William Beard

Persons buried in the Beard Plot at Oakland Cemetery in Terrell, TX

Dempsey Harrison Moore
Brother of Z. W. Moore

   Dempsey Moore was born 1830 in TN.  Like his siblings he came to Texas as a small child with his parents.  As a boy he worked the family's farm and herded cattle as a young man.  On 1 Jul 1858 in Kaufman County he married Rebecca Achlaslo Davis  (31 Dec 1841 - 13 Nov 1934).

   Oddly on the 1860 census Dempsey and Rebecca are not enumerated in the same household.  She is with her parents and he is living with P. C. Stuart in Kaufman County, HH # 190 / 190, listed as:

MOOR
D	M	30	TN	Stock Raiser	$1786. / $7315.

The most probable explanation of the couple living apart is probably one of pregnancy on the part of Rebecca, as she gave birth to a daughter in 1860.

   In 1861 Dempsey enlisted in Co G 19th TX Cavalry on 4 May 1862, and is shown on Muster Rolls until the end of the war.

1870 Kaufman Co TX Census - HH # 68 / 74

By 1880 Mary Moore McCarty had died, and her second husband Joseph McCarty is living with Dempsey and family in Terrell, TX.

1880 Kaufman Co TX Census

1900 Kaufman CO TX Census - HH # 375 / 381

Known Children of Dempsey & Rebecca Moore

Dempsey H. Moore died 12 Apr 1907, although his tombstone has the year 1908.  He is buried next to Rebecca and most of his children at Oakland Cemetery.

Terrell Daily Transcript - 13 Apr 1907 , Saturday

Dempsey Moore Sr died at the home of his daughter, Mrs Walter Russell in this city.  He lived in Terrell before being founded by his brother.  He was born in Tennessee seventy-seven years ago and came to this state in 1835. He was the son of Alfred and Mary Moore. Only two of his siblings remain, Mrs Margaret Beard and Capt. Hardy T Moore.  He was married to Rebecca Davis, who survives him along with four sons and six daughters. He was a Confederate soldier.

Hardin T. Moore
Brother of Z. W. Moore

   Hardin T "Hard" Moore was born in 1833 in TN and came to Texas with his parents, settling by the late 1840's in Kaufman County.  In 1860 Hardin is living in the household of J D Ballew, listed in HH # 61 / 61 as:

MOORE
H T	M	26	TN	Master Carpenter	$2,955. / $1,422.

The Ballew household was next door to the Nichols household, and Susan Nichols had a daughter named Virigina.  As recorded in Kaufman County Marriage Book 1-A Hardin married 20 Jun 1861 to Virginia A Nichols.  Born 1847 she was the daughter of early pioneers Andrew T. & Susan Temple Nichols, sister of William T. Nichols.

   Only 3 months after his marriage Hard Moore enlisted as a Private in Co A 6th TX Cavalry of the CSA on 10 Sep 1861, and remained with that company until the surrender when he was discharged as a 1st Lieutenant.

1870 Kaufman Co TX Census - HH# 17 /17

Virginia Nichols Moore died 10 Nov 1872 and is buried in the Kaufman City Cemetery.

Hard Moore married Susan Jane "Sallie" Vaughan Douglass, a widow, in Kaufman County on 20 Aug 1874.  She had been married to William D. Douglass.

1880 Kaufman Co TX Census

Sallie Moore died 29 Apr 1888 and is buried in the Kaufman City Cemetery next to her son, Robert D. Douglass.

On 13 Jan 1892 in Ellis Co Texas, Hardin Moore married a third time to Malinda Jane Anderson.

1900 Ellis Co TX Census - HH # 414 / 415

1910 Ellis Co TX Census - Ennis - HH # 184 / 188

Hardin T. Moore died in Ennis, TX and is buried next to Malinda in the Myrtle Springs Cemetery in Ellis Co TX.

Known Children of Hardin Moore

Mary Priscilla Moore
Sister of Z. W. Moore

   Mary was born in Red River Co TX in 1839.  In 1856, Kaufman Co TX, Mary married John E. Crouch, son of Charles W. Crouch & Lucretia Nash.  John was born circa 1832 in TN.  He came to Texas when only 3 years old.

   During their short married life Mary & John had 3 children - Charles William Crouch born 1857, Mary Crouch born 1859 and John Crouch born 1861 -1885.

1860 Kaufman Co TX Census - HH # 513 / 512

According to the 1860 census, John Crouch owned 2 slaves:  a mulatto male age 24 and a mulatto female age 15.

   When the Civil War started John Crouch joined Co A  6th TX Cavalry.  He enlisted 10 Sep 1861, and he was killed 19 Dec 1861 at Bentonville, AR.  Mary died in 1861 after the difficult birth of John Crouch Jr.

   In the Kaufman County Probate Misc. Records, Vol.1, pg 226 is listed the "Estate of John E and Mary P Crouch, deceased"  In it an Inventory of their assets is dated 19 Sep 1862 - the two slaves are named in the appraisal and their value appraised as: man, Jord - $2000.00; girl, Ardine -$1500.00.

   It is not known where Mary Moore Crouch is buried.  After Mary's death her brothers took her children into their homes.  On the 1870 census Mary & John Crouch are living in Hardin Moore's household, and Charles Crouch is living in John G. Moore's household.

   In 1880 John is living with Hardin T. Moore and John married Lula Carrie Barnes in August 1880.  Charles is living alone in Terrrell and is owner of a Prop Shooting Gallery, and Mary is married to Charles Madeley and residing in Milam Co TX.