Longstanding Errors: The parents of Edward and William Moore of Orange County, Indiana

It can be a hard blow to find out years of research were wasted on the wrong family. But the feeling that you finally have it right makes it all better again.

For me, it started with a typewritten manuscript about the Moore family that I found at the Orange County [Indiana] Genealogical Society in the 1990s. If it had a cover page, I failed to copy it. I believe it was written in the mid-20th century, and I am sorry to say I do not know who authored it. I am indebted to her for collecting so much information, including many personal stories that would be lost now, and committing them to paper.

However, I believe her link between the first and second generation to be wrong. These are the pages that led me astray:

Initial pages of Moore manuscript

My ancestor was Edward Moore, born 17 Dec 1769 in North Carolina and died 19 Jul 1848 in Parke County, Indiana. He married Pharaba Pearce (26 Jun 1769-18 Aug 1845). Pharaba is the subject of a blog post here, in which I busted the brick wall of her maiden name.

This Edward Moore moved to Indiana along with one of his brothers, William Moore (1754-1832). The above two pages claim that the father of Edward and William was William Moore Sr., who died in Wake County, North Carolina in 1780. I don't know how the author made this connection, whether from the work of others or by William's will, but I took it and ran with it. Researched it for decades, tracing the descendants of William Moore Sr. to Tennessee and North Carolina. It was a wild goose chase. 

When I discovered the maiden name and parents of Pharaba Pearce, I started uncovering information about her husband Edward Moore and who his true parents might be. The first thing that made me question it was this:

Ancestry post by user nikame1

Somehow (thank you Google, I'm sure) this led me to an incredible website called The Wallace Family of Moore County, NC. Don't be deceived, it is not strictly on the Wallace family. It documents many families from the area, including the Moores and Pearces. 

On the Wallace Family website is a family group sheet for the presumed parents of Edward Moore. You can see it here, the family group sheet of Edward Moore and Martha Thompson. What I love about this website is that it has links to actual documents. If you scroll down the page in this link you will find all their documents available right there.

The two pieces of information that convince me these are the right parents for Edward and William Moore of Orange County, Indiana are these:

1. Edward Moore (let's call him Sr.) owned land on Deep River in Moore County, NC. Windsor Pearce, father of Pharaba, also owned land on Deep River, in Randolph County, NC. Deep River spans the two counties, so they were actually fairly close to each other.  Edward Moore Jr. and Pharaba Pearce were likely "neighbors", making a match possible.

2. Edward Moore Sr.'s will lists sons William and Edward, among other children. 

This post is just breaking the surface. I look forward to further research and posts to clarify my findings.

Brick Wall: BUSTED! The maiden name of of Pharaba Moore is...

Have you ever watched a mystery where the super sleuth is hunting diligently for a secret panel or switch to open up a passage, when the bumbling sidekick accidentally leans on it without even trying?

Enter me, the bumbling sidekick. Yesterday I stumbled on some documents on Ancestry that have solved, in my mind, a mystery that has eluded me since I started doing genealogy.

I have blogged about my ancestors Edward Windsor and Susannah Bryant Moore extensively.  Edward's parents were Edward and Pharaba Moore. This is proven by a family Bible belonging to Edward Windsor Moore's brother Thomas Moore.

Third page of Thomas Moore family Bible transcription,
listing his parents and siblings

Other than this, I can find only one other record in my possession that lists Pharaba (in its myriad number of spellings) by name. It is a deed where Edward sold a piece of land, and Pharaba, as his wife, had to be listed. This is a transcription of the deed provided many years ago by my cousin Phyllis Hill.

Deed from Edward and Pharaba Moore to William Wolfington, 1833

Beyond this, 27 years of research hasn't yielded a single clue as to who Pharaba was before becoming Mrs. Edward Moore.

Yesterday, I stumbled onto the metaphorical secret panel:

THE BRICK WALL BUSTER

This document is a petition by Reuben Pearce, who was attempting to settle the estate of his maiden aunt Kiziah Pearce. She died without children so her estate fell to her siblings and their heirs. To quote from above:

"She had a sister named Ferabee who married Edward Moore, who removed from the county with his wife some twenty years ago and neither of them has been heard of for the past twenty years and your petitioner is advised that their long absence, not being heard from by their relatives, is presumptive evidence of their deaths."

This is the magical piece of the puzzle I always hoped to find. But not only this, the great internets yielded up to me the names of Pharaba's parents as well. Ready?

Will of Windsor Pearce, Randolph County, North Carolina

Down towards the end it says this:

"and to My Daughter Pherrebee More They give one Featherbed & Furniture and Two Dollars to her or Her's".

Windsor and Mary Pearce, the parents of Pharaba Pearce Moore. Pharaba Pearce Moore, the mother of...don't forget...Edward WINDSOR Moore! Huzzah! 

In my mind, this is proof. I hope my fellow Moore researchers will read over this, and rejoice with me!

I have much more to share with you, but I'm still processing all this.

Right Under Your Nose, or at Least, Your Fingertips!

Dickey Family about 1909
In Back: Cyprian
In Front l to r: Burnie, Jennie, Audrey, Marion, and my grandmother Alys

THANK YOU, Lisa Louise Cooke!

I woke up a little early to noodle around with my genealogy, and saw I had a new Genealogy Gems podcast to listen to (episode 197). As I made the coffee, I was listening to Lisa talk about how she had found the exact marriage date for her great-grandparents, a fact that had eluded her for several years. She had searched in depth, found nothing, and set it aside. She finished the segment by encouraging listeners to try again on a tough problem.

Well, I too had a set of great-grandparents with a mystery marriage. I actually had the date, but I had never been able to find the civil record. I had come to the private conclusion that perhaps a marriage hadn't even taken place...

I was wrong. Following Lisa's advice, I sat down with my coffee and loaded up FamilySearch. I typed in "Marion Dickey" and "Sarah Jane Reck", and clicked on marriages, with the dates from 1890-1900. I didn't specify a location.

Screenshot of FamilySearch showing my great-grandparents' marriage

I was dumbstruck. I had spent a good chunk of 1994 mailing (with stamps) letters (on paper) to nearly a dozen counties where I thought the marriage could have occurred. This couple lived in both western Ohio and eastern Indiana so I concentrated in that area. I included a SASE (you kids even know what that is?) to ensure a reply, and I kept all those. I saw the above record came from Randolph County, Indiana, and I was curious as to whether or not I had tried that one.  Guess what?

"We're sorry. We have no idea what you are talking about."

I had given them the exact date. The exact woman's name. The correct man's surname with what would be a matching middle initial. Seriously?

So, 22 years after receiving word that my great-grandparents were not in the index in Randolph County, Indiana, I present to you their marriage record:

Francis M. Dickey married Jennie Reck on April 3rd, 1896 in Randolph County, Indiana, courtesy of familysearch.org

I found this record in less than one minute, drinking coffee, before 7 a.m. on a work day. How sweet is that? Thanks again to Lisa Louise Cooke for her great podcasts and encouragements!

P.S.: I love this record because my dad told me that Marion (his grandfather) was named after the Revolutionary War figure Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox. I have seen NO records that show his first name being Francis, until today.

I'm doing the happy dance! Now, go looking for something YOU had given up on.