John Matthew Moore

{{Infobox officeholder

|name=John M. Moore

|image=John Matthew Moore (Texas Congressman).jpg

|district=8th

|termend=1913

|termstart=March 13, 1905

|predecessor=John M. Pinckney

|successor=Joe H. Eagle

|state=Texas

|state_house2 = Texas

|district2 = 41st

|term_start2 = January 12, 1897

|term_end2 = January 10, 1899

|predecessor2 = Arthur C. Tompkins

|successor2 = Arthur C. Tompkins

|birth_date={{birth date|1862|11|18}}

|birth_place=Richmond, Texas, C.S.

|death_date={{death date and age|1940|2|3|1862|11|18}}

|death_place=Fort Bend County, Texas, U.S.

|party = Democratic

|spouse={{marriage|Lottie Dyer|1883}}

|children=6

|alma_mater=State A&M College of Texas

}}

John Matthew "Jaybird" Moore (November 18, 1862 – February 3, 1940) was an American rancher and statesman from Texas who served in the United States House of Representatives from District 8 from 1905 to 1913.{{cite web|url=https://lrl.texas.gov/legeleaders/members/memberdisplay.cfm?memberID=3555|title=John Matthew "Jaybird" Moore|work=Texas Legislators: Past & Present|publisher=Legislative Reference Library of Texas}} He was engaged in Fort Bend County's Jaybird–Woodpecker War and affiliated with the Jaybirds. Moore was also present during the fighting at the Battle of Richmond on August 16, 1889.{{cite web|last=Frances|first=Joan|url=http://absolutelybrazos.com/moore-house-the-epitome-of-the-south/|title=Moore House: The Epitome of the South|date=July 30, 2013|publisher=Absolutely Brazos|access-date=December 31, 2023}}

Early life and education

John Matthew Moore was born on November 18, 1862, in Richmond, Texas, during the American Civil War as the son of Dr. Matthew A. and Henrietta (née Huddlestone) Moore. His family owned a farm and many slaves near Oyster Creek.{{cite book|last1=Hardy|last2=Roberts|first1=Dermot H.|first2=Ingham S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1uYxAQAAMAAJ|title=Historical Review of South-East Texas and the Founders Leaders and Representative Men of its Commerce, Industry and Civic Affairs|pages=606, 607|volume=II|publisher=The Lewis Publishing Company|publication-place=Chicago|date=1910|via=Google Books|isbn=1-58103-432-6}} He was educated at the State A. and M. College of Texas in College Station,{{cite book|last=Loughery|first=E. H.|url=https://lrl.texas.gov/scanned/members/bios/Texas_State_Government_25th_1897.pdf|title=Texas State Government; A Volume of Biographical Sketches and Passing Comment, by E. H. Loughery. with Rules and Standing Committees of the Senate and House of the Twenty-Fifth Legislature, etc.|date=1897|publication-place=Austin, Texas|publisher=McLeod and Jackson, Printers|via=Legislative Reference Library of Texas|access-date=November 20, 2023|pages=144–145}} which is now Texas A&M University.{{cite web|url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/moore-john-matthew|title=Moore, John Matthew (1862-1940)|website=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=October 10, 2023}} He attended the college from 1878{{cite book|url=https://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/189369|title=Catalogue of the State Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. Session of 1878-9|publication-place=Bryan, Texas|publisher=Pilot Job Printing Establishment|date=1879|page=14|via=Texas A&M University Libraries}} to 1880.{{cite book|url=https://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/189370|title=Fourth Annual Catalogue of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. Session 1879-80.|publisher=Railroad Depot and Postoffice|publication-place=College Station, Texas|page=15|date=1880|via=Texas A&M University Libraries}}

Career

E. H. Loughery wrote in 1897 that Moore was engaged in merchandising and farming from 1880 to 1883, and that Moore was primarily interested in stockraising, banking and farming in Richmond after 1883. He was Chairman of the Democratic Executive Committee of Fort Bend County in 1888, and from 1890 to 1892 Moore was the president of the Jaybird Democratic Association of Fort Bend County. Prior to being elected as a member of the Texas House of Representatives, he had been a delegate to several minor and state conventions.

During the Jaybird–Woodpecker War, a man was killed across the street from his home.{{cite book|last=Wharton|first=Clarence R.|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b725335&seq=211|title=Wharton's History of Fort Bend County|publisher=The Anson Jones Press|publication-place=Houston, Texas|date=1939|page=199|via=HathiTrust}}

John Matthew Moore has often been confused for John Marks Moore, who was the Secretary of State of Texas during Lawrence Sullivan Ross's administration.{{cite book|last=Daniell|first=Lewis E.|title=Personnel of the Texas State Government with Sketches of Distinguished Texans, Embracing the Executive Staff, Heads of Departments, United States Senators and Representatives, Members of the XXth legislature|date=1887|publisher=Press of the City Printing Company|publication-place=Austin|lccn=19016834|page=19}} John Matthew Moore has been erroneously claimed to have been a Secretary of State of Texas by the Fort Bend Herald and Texas Coaster,{{cite web|url=https://www.fbherald.com/obituaries/hilmar-guenther-moore/article_8ae12242-4029-11e2-bd87-001a4bcf887a.html#:~:text=Moore%2C%20Sr.%2C%20was%20a,Judge%20and%20Mayor%20of%20Richmond.|title=Hilmar Guenther Moore|publisher=Fort Bend Herald and Texas Coaster|date=December 6, 2012}} the Houston Chronicle,{{cite news|last=Stottlemyer|first=Cory|url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/life/health/article/UT-scholarship-named-in-honor-of-former-Richmond-9449807.php|title=UT scholarship named in honor of former Richmond mayor|publisher=Houston Chronicle|date=August 21, 2013}} and the University of Texas at Austin.{{cite web|url=https://endowments.giving.utexas.edu/the-honorable-hilmar-g-moore-endowed-scholarship|title=The Honorable Hilmar G. Moore Endowed Scholarship|publisher=University of Texas at Austin|date=June 12, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923050311/https://endowments.giving.utexas.edu/the-honorable-hilmar-g-moore-endowed-scholarship|archive-date=September 23, 2023}}

Personal life and legacy

File:John M Moore House Fort Bend Museum.jpg in Richmond, Texas, currently serves as the Fort Bend Museum.]]

John Matthew Moore married Lottie Dyer, daughter of J. Foster Dyer, on July 30, 1883, in Nashville, Tennessee. J. Foster Dyer was a wealthy farmer and stockman of Fort Bend County. Mrs. Moore was an excellent musician and was educated in Virginia and at Baylor University at Waco. Moore was a member of Houston Lodge, No. 151 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Moore's son, John Jr., served as a two-term Mayor of Richmond, Texas, and a two-term judge in Fort Bend County, Texas.{{cite news|last=Adams|first=Denise|url=http://www.herald-coaster.com/articles/2005/05/06/news/news01.txt|title=Moore's headstone to get historic marker|publisher=Fort Bend Herald|date=May 6, 2005|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130125040617/http://www.herald-coaster.com/articles/2005/05/06/news/news01.txt|archivedate=January 25, 2013}} John Jr.'s son, Hilmar, was the Mayor of Richmond, and the longest-serving elected official in the United States, having served 30 terms from 1949{{cite news|first=Kevin|last=Connolly|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7753033.stm|title=Texas mulls defeat in battle of ideas|work=BBC News|date=November 27, 2008}}{{cite news|url=http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12229545|title=60-year mayor running for re-election|publisher=KLTV|date=March 30, 2010|access-date=March 31, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213011119/http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12229545|archive-date=December 13, 2017|url-status=dead}} until Moore's death on December 4, 2012.