Carolina Governors - James Moore, Sr.





James Moore, Sr.
President of the Council and Acting Governor of Carolina Province 1700 to 1703

Many historians confuse this Governor James Moore with his son Colonel James Moore, Jr. who later became the first elected Governor for the colony of South Carolina in 1719. Upon the death of Governor Joseph Blake on September 7, 1700, the Executive Council elected James Moore as President of the Executive Council and Acting Governor of Charles Town. He remained in this office until March of 1703, when Sir Nathaniel Johnson arrived and took the oaths of office and allegiance as the next governor of Charles Town. James Moore, Acting Governor of South Carolina, was born in Ireland about 1640 and he died in Charles Town, South Carolina, in 1706 during an epidemic of Yellow Fever. He was the descendant of Roger Moore, the leader of the Irish rebellion in 1640. He emigrated to this country in 1665, settled in Charles Town, South Carolina, and in 1700 was elected President of the Executive Council and Acting Governor of Charles Town. He married a year after his arrival the daughter of Sir John Yeamans. They had ten children. In 1690-1691, Carolina colonist Colonel James Moore journeyed up the Savannah River into Cherokee country, crossing the Appalachian summit for the first time. The Cherokee trade flourishes in subsequent years. In 1702, as the Acting Governor of Charles Town, he ordered his son, Colonel James Moore, Jr., to lead an expedition against the Spaniards in St. Augustine, Florida, that proved unsuccessful and caused a heavy burden on the colony. The next year he commanded his son, Colonel James Moore, Jr. to again lead an expedition against the Appalachian Indians, who had done great injury in the Cape Fear region, and completely subdued them. His sons, James and Maurice, were important figures in the formation and settlement of the Cape Fear region in North Carolina. His grandsons were deeply involved in assisting the Patriots during the American Revolution. James Moore (1640-1703), a native of Ireland, was appointed a member of the Governor's Executive Council as a Deputy of Sir Peter Colleton, 2nd Baronet, in 1685. On August 16, 1698, a letter from the Lords Proprietors noted that James Moore was Secretary in Charles Town. He subsequently served as Acting Governor, Chief Justice of the province, and Attorney General. His son James, Jr. became the first elected governor of South Carolina after the rebellion in 1719. But before that resolve reached them the Lords Proprietors had issued a general pardon for all concerned in the late disturbances, except James Moore and Robert Daniell, two of the leaders of the opposition in Berkeley County (circa 1687). Click Here for information on the Executive Council under Acting Governor James Moore, Sr.

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