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<br /> United States Department of the Interior
<br /> National Park Service/National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
<br /> NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No.1024-0018
<br /> Moorefields (Additional Documentation) Orange County, N.C.
<br /> Name of Property County and State
<br /> bequeathed to Moore, Jr. From these various sources, the names of 22 individuals enslaved by
<br /> Moore, Jr. by June 1818 can be derived, although the 1820 U.S. census placed 95 enslaved souls
<br /> at Buchoi and 12 at Moorefields. The identities of the vast majority of these individuals remains
<br /> unknown.
<br /> From the documentary record,the 1820s appear to have been a watershed decade for Moore, Jr. A
<br /> reversal in Moore family fortunes is underscored by a notice in the West Carolinian on April 12,
<br /> 1825, that announced:
<br /> Fire.—We learn with regret that the dwelling house of Alfred Moore, Esq., in Brunswick
<br /> county, was burnt to the ground on the night of 17th inst. The fire was discovered by the
<br /> family at one o'clock in the morning, when it had made such progress as barely to allow
<br /> time for the family to escape,which they happily did,with the loss,we understand,of every
<br /> article in the house,including Mr.Moore's very valuable library. The total loss is estimated
<br /> at seven thousand [dollars]. [Illegible] appeared to have been the work of an incendiary,
<br /> who has not yet been discovered.59
<br /> With the loss of the dwelling at Buchoi and a significant portion of his fortune,Moore,Jr.retreated
<br /> to Moorefields, which became his permanent home thenceforth. This is evidenced by the fact that
<br /> Moore, Jr. was not enumerated in Brunswick County in the 1830 decennial census, but in Orange
<br /> County only.60 In that year, Moorefields was the home of Moore, Jr., his sister Sarah Louise, and
<br /> his two youngest daughters, Emma Sinclair and Caroline Rebecca. Thirty-three enslaved
<br /> individuals were also enumerated at Moorefields.61 The fact that Moore, Jr. desired to be buried at
<br /> Moorefields also suggests that the estate had become more significant to the family than a mere
<br /> summer house. Other documentary evidence that Buchoi ceased to be the primary Moore family
<br /> home in the 1820s is that Moore, Jr. deeded the 696-acre Cape Fear estate to his second-eldest
<br /> daughter, Elizabeth Davis, and her husband, Francis Nash Waddell, in 1830.62
<br /> By the 1830s, Moore, Jr. had become something of a recluse at Moorefields, living out his last
<br /> years removed from his coastal home. An obituary for Moore, Jr. published in August 1837
<br /> suggests that he spent his later years disengaged from politics and,presumably(per his will), from
<br /> his own financial affairs.63 In his will dated January 6, 1837, Moore, Jr. made Francis Nash
<br /> Waddell his executor and trustee over all his property, to be divided equally among his five
<br /> daughters at a future date. He selected Waddell for this responsibility over other sons-in-law
<br /> because, "the said Francis having been for many years past, my sole agent and manager of
<br /> affairs...and in the settlement of my account...transferred almost the whole of my debts to himself
<br /> and in his own name."64 The Moore family had become reduced in circumstances, which would
<br /> only increase in the remaining antebellum years.
<br /> The Moore-Waddells of Moorefields (1837-1911)
<br /> After the death of Alfred Moore, Jr., the Moore family women continued at Moorefields as best
<br /> they could in reduced circumstances. Moore, Jr. had five daughters and no sons, although two of
<br /> his daughters were married before his death in 1837.65 Because of this, Moore, Jr. named his first
<br /> son-in-law,Francis Nash Waddell, executor of his will and trustee of his property,but he bestowed
<br /> Section 8 page 30
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