The Moores Family Page


    The Moores family originated from the Devon area in England. Before that it is believed they came from both Ireland and Scotland and had the surname of O'More. My family line of the Moores settled in Newfoundland in the middle 1600's.  Some of the Moores came to the Blackhead area of Newfoundland and married into the Garland family.  A John Moors Sr. 1713-1793 married Mary Garland. She was the daughter of Ann Garland. Ann died at the age of 117 years (1684- 1801).  Mary and her daughter Ann are buried  in Saint Pauls church yard. John Moors S is buried in Carbonear Methodist Cemetery. It is believed that John might be the son of Thomas Moorers who signed the Queen Anns Petiton in 1709. This petiton was a request for supplies for the people of Carbonear who successfully faught off the French who were trying to take over.
    The Moors/Moore/Moores/Moors seem to be Church of England at first then they are listed as Methodist in the 1790's
     For my research, the line of the Moores that I am following is from Freshwater, Newfoundland. William Moors married Patience Mercer in 1815 12 06. Witness William Ellis and Geo. Trapnell. Meth. VS50A. William could be the son of John and Grace Moors and the grandson of John Moors b.c.1713  and Mary Garland b.c. 1714.
    William and Patience children were:
1816 09 28 - Dorcas Moors b. daughter of William and Patience, Freshwater, Meth VS48
1831 01 26 - Claudius Moors b. son of William and Patience, Freshwater, Meth VS48 planter.
                    Died 1853 01 07 Meth Burial 07 22 age 22 years.
1834 04 19 - Stephen Mores bapt. son of William and Patience, Freshwater. Meth VS48.
1836 02 05 - Lavenia Moor b. daughter of William and Patience, Freshwater. Meth VS48.
                    Died 1837 12 21, age 1 year 11mos.

1861 06 05 - Stephen Moors, FI.FW. married Pauline Pottle, Flrk, Wit. Joseph Moors and Agnes Parsons. VS50A.Meth

Stephen and Pauline Moores (Pottle) children were:
1862 03 24 - William Thomas Moors b.s. of Stephen and Polynia Fi. Freshwater. Meth VS49
1863 10 09- Horatio Moores b.s. of Stephen and Paulina. Fi. Freshwater. Meth VS49
                  Died 1919  age 56 years.
1865 04 27 - Archelaus Moores b.s. of Stephen and Paulina. Fi. Freshwater. Meth VS49
1876 07 20 - Elizabeth Moors b.d. of Stephen and Paulina. Fi. Freshwater. Meth VS50
1878 09 20 - Abigail Moors b. d. of Stephen and Paulina. Fi. Freshwater. Meth VS50.

1871 03 10 - Patience Moores b. daughter of Stephen and MaryA.,PI. Freshwater. Meth VS50.
1872 11 20 - Mary Hazel Moores b. daughter of Stephen and Mary A., PI. Freshwater. Meth VS50.

    William Thomas Moores is my great grandfather. He was the son of Stephen and Pauline Pottle from Freshwater, Newfoundland. William was listed as a Seaman and traveled the seas all over the world. On May 31, 1883 he married Laura Butt from Otterbury, Nfld. Laura was the daughter of Adam and Sarah Butt, (Wareham) from Otterbury.

    Laura and William had ten children, but when William was away at sea, Lauras boys came in contact with diphtheria. It is said that her boys found an old toy boat in an abandon shed or house and the boat belonged to a child that died from diphtheria. Laura was left to care for her dying children as her place was quarentined. The neighbors would leave food at the door for Laura. Eventually Luara lost 4 or 5 of her boys. She would dress them in there Sundays best and the neighbors would take the children one by one and bury them.

    Late 1895 or early 1896 William was trying to return home on a schooner called the "Lady May".  The "Lady May" was a 62 ton Schooner that was launched in 1878 and had seen its day. A storm had come up, but the Captain of the ship thought he could make it home from PE I, where they were carrying a load of produce.  They left PEI and after a good run they anchored in the Strait of Canso to await for better weather. The Captain (Capt. Burke) thought the weather had cleared and so started out again. A heavy storm came on the fifth of January and lasted for 2 days. It was never heard from again. It was thought she was lost on Christmas day but no one knew for sure. It was a great lost for Carbonear. The Schooner carried five men who were all heads of households and had made the trip because times were hard.

    When Laura was told of the sinking of the Lady May, she seemed to have a warning or a feeling that something had gone wrong. Her granddaughter who lived with her quoted Laura as saying "There was a shadow, that was blacker than black, that went passed my window" at the time when they think the "Lady May" sunk.
 

     Laura tried very hard to take care of her remaining boys. She worked as a housekeeper and it is said that she remarried another Moores but not one that was related.  Her boys did not get along with this gentlemen so Laura would take care of her boys (doing the cooking and cleaning ) and then go to her husbands place and take care of things there. It is not known what happend, but Laura eventually came to Cape Breton Island with her boys, Thomas Heal, Eugene, William and Albert and moved to North Sydney.
     The children of William and Laura Moores:
Thomas Heal Moores 1883- 1947 (my grandfather)
Elizabeth Heal Moores 1883-???? (a possible twin)
Stephen 1887
Hayward 1887 (twin to Stephen)
Ada- 1888
William 1890
Albert
Eugene 1893-1976
Ernest??

       Eugene Moores Married Winnie Pearl Way from Pilleys Island Nfld. on May 25, 1916 in North Sydney, Cape Breton. Eugene and Winnie raised a large family of ten. They were:
Clarence Frederick ( 1917-1953)
Harold Gordon (1919-  )
Phyliss Mrytle ( 1921-1922)
Hazel Jean (1924-  )
Louis Eugene ( 1926 -)
William Albert ( 1928- )
Donald ( 1929-  )
Victoria Stanley (1932 -  )
Gerald Thomas ( 1935 -)
Cecil Raymond (1937 - )
    Eugene and Winnie lived on a farm and helped to care for Laura in her later years. They eventually moved to Markstay, Ontario where Laura is buried. She died in 1939 in Markstary, Ontario. Laura and her four sons, Eugene, Thomas, Albert and William Thomas all became Seventh Day Adventist and it is reported that Eugene helped to build the church in 1917.
Some of the Moores served overseas during the war.

     The Moores men were also known as excellent carpentars, like Eugene and William Moores. This is a trait that seems to have been passed down the line.

     Thomas Heal Moores and Jessie Kennedy : Thomas b. 23.July 1883  Freshwater, Nfld. Jessie Kennedy b. 8 of Aug. 1882 in Western Bay, Nfld.
      Thomas died 4th of March 1947 in Glace Bay, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. He made his living as a road maker. Jessie died 1957 Glace Bay, Cape Breton. Jessie was the daughter of James and Bridget Kennedy from Western Bay, Newfoundland.
      The children of Thomas Heal Moores and Jessie Moores (Kennedy) are:
Laura  1906-1986
William 1907- 1984
Almeia (Milley) 1908=1086
Robert 1911-1990
Albert 1914-1986
Leah Cavell 1915-1986

    Robert Moores the son of Thomas Heal Moores and Jessie Moores (Kennedy) was my father. He was a coalminer for over 47 years in No. 20 Coliery in New Aberdeen, Cape Breton. He was a motor man and would take the men to there place of work. He was a hard worker and many a times would do double shifts. As children we would always wait for his return from work. Sometimes we would go to meet him as he came around the horse race track not far from our place. We would always like to carry his lunch bucket. He would always entertain us kids with his horsing around as a Vampire. It always got us girls laughing our heads of. He and Vincent Price made a good pair. They even shared a birthday. When he came into the house he would take his hat and threw it across the room to land on the doorknob. He rarely missed!! He would play badminton with us in the back yard and he give us a good run for our money. He also had this trick that he would do with a cigarette. He would put it on his hand and then flip it in his mouth. As a child there was nothing that he could not do.
     Robert married my mother Agnes Moores (MacLean) daughter of Alexander and Dolena MacLean (MacKenzie). My mother was very athletic and loved basketball, all 5ft of her. She was on the Junior Maritime Championship Basketball Team of 1933. Our mother was the glue that held us altogether. She had a great sense of humour and was dangerous with cats. She had a hearing problem but was always able to overcome any situation she was in with a quick nod of the head or an oh yes. One funny story about my mum was when our cat had crawled into the oven door that was left down at night time. (We had an old coal stove in the kitchen) The cat must have crawled in there to get warm as these old company houses could get quite cold in the winter. In the morning my mum got up and put on this warm fire but for some reason the oven door would not stay closed. After fighting with the oven door all day, my mom decided late in the afternoon to see what was the problem with "this stupid oven door". Well low and behold, when she bent down to look in the oven, there was our cat, all toasty and warm to say the least. She rolled the cat out of the oven and put it on the steps. After pouring water ever the cat, it got up after a half hour and walked away to enjoy another day. I would like to say that this was the only time she had problems with a cat but I would be lying. There was this time my mom was cooking breakfast for my dad, hot sizzling bacon and eggs. While talking to my dad, my mom drained some of the hot bacon grease into the coal bucket beside the stove. She failed to notice that the cat had its head in the bucket looking for scrapes, and proceeded to drain the hot grease down the cats back. Well to this day, there are grease stains on our kitchen ceiling, from the cat jumping so high and leaving its mark. I would like to say that both cats survived and lived long and healthy lifes, believe it or not!

    Through good times and bad times our parents were always there for us. It is to them that I dedicate the above pages to.

    I would like to send a special thank you to all that helped me with information that I have gathered. A special thank you to Les Winsor and Bill Walsh as none of the above would have been possible wihout there generous help. Also a very special thank you to my sister, Audrey Moores, who had the idea in the first place to research our roots. Thank you to all the members at Myfamily.com for there support. Thank you everyone.

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