Moore Hall: From Tory Mansion to a Place Where Washington's Command was Challenged
The Owner of Moore Hall
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As a young boy, William Moore (1699-1783) was sent to England to be educated. Ten years after graduating from the University of Oxford in 1719, his father John gave him a lot of 240 acres on the Pickering Creek in Charlestown Township in Chester County, PA. There William built an elegant home dubbed Moore Hall. He also built a sawmill and the Bull Tavern. He joined the military and became a colonel of one of the Chester County militia regiments during the Indian conflict. William also became involved in politics, and was sent to the Assembly in 1733. His term ended in 1740. During his tenure, he was part of the Quaker and anti-proprietary party.
"I once made myself believe I could act the Patriot and made Interest to be chosen for a Representative. Then I loudly all Proprietary Innovations and was warm for the Liberty my Country but getting nothing but the Honour of serving my Country I found that a Post of Profit might with my skill be more advantageous."
- William Moore (1757)
Feud with Isaac Wayne
"A few days agoe a noted minister of the Gospel beyond New Garden and several of his congregation told me they were Informed by Isaac Wayne that thee declines Serving the County as a representative in Assembly the ensuing year and has Consented that he shall put thy name with his on a Tickett for Sheriff in order to Establish him in that post. This Information flies like the wind and has given a vast number of those who were in thy Interest a violent shock to hear that a Gent. on whom they so much relied should desert their service at a time when ye Publick affairs seem to challenge the Strictest attendance for to help a p son of so feeble a charracter as Wayne into an office which so little Concerns the true Interest of an English Subject as that of Sheriff."
- Letter written to William Moore
In 1741, Moore was appointed by the Governor a justice of the piece and judge of the Chester County Court. On November 23, 1755, 2,000 men marched to Philadelphia from Chester County to convince the Assembly to pass the militia law, a law that many Quakers in the Assembly opposed. After two years of struggle, the citizens of Chester County asked Moore to resign and charged him with tyranny, injustice, and even extortion. With the accusations against Moore, he blamed his Easttown neighbor Isaac Wayne for starting the petitions against him.
Charged with Extortion
After hearing from the petitioners, the Assembly asked Moore to defend himself, but he refused. The Assembly found him guilty of extortion and other corrupt practices. On October 19, 1757, William wrote in the Pennsylvania Gazette, stating the treatment he received from the Assembly was "virulent and scandalous" and a "continued string of the severest calumny and most rancorous epithets conceived in all the terms of malice and party rage."
As a result, his home was seized by the new Assembly, and he was imprisoned in Philadelphia. In August 1758, the Governor examined a number of witnesses against Moore. In the end, the Governor announced that Moore had "purge himself of all the original charges," giving the best defense he heard. In the end Moore, along with University of Pennsylvania provost Dr. William Smith, were released and returned to their normal lives.
Becoming a Tory
During the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, Moore was an old man of 66 years old suffering from gout. Despite his health, he spoke loudly on the side of the Crown. Jacob Smith, a political eavesdropper, heard Moore say the citizens during the 1775 conflict in Boston were a "vile set of rebels" and that "he was determine to commit every man to prison who would associate or muster."
The Associators committee of Chester County, headed by Isaac's son "Mad Anthony" Wayne, visited Moore Hall on June 6, 1775 to investigate. While visiting his home, they saw a "beautifully wrought sword," possibly an heirloom of his.
"They were about to carry it off, when the judge asked permission to see it once more. It had scarcely been given to him before with his foot on the floor, he snapped the blade from the handle. Then clinching tightly the hilt he threw to them the useless blade, and with a gesture of contempt, and eyes gleaming, cried, 'There, take that if you are anxious to fight; but you have no business to steal my plate!'"
Conflict at Moore Hall
While the Continental army was encamped at Valley Forge, Colonel Clement Biddle and Nathanael Greene were quartered at Moore Hall. They occupied the estate from January to March of 1778. During those few months, members of Congress went to Moore Hall in January to investigate whether Washington should be replaced as commander after allowing the British capture Philadelphia. John Laurens, Washington's aide de camp, sent four members of Congress to Moore Hall: Joseph Reed, John Harvie, Gouvernor Morris and Francis Dana.
"One night Dana is reported to have had insomnia. He wanders outside to find the commander in chief also wondering how he can keep an army together without any resources. For Dana this is a transcendent moment. It is not the general but the dearth of supplies from the colonies that form the source of the army’s weakness. Lauren’s son had said this, but now Dana and his fellow Congressmen witnessed it and the efforts to replace Washington begin to dissipate."
- Mark Ashton, Chester County, A Modern History
To read the letter written at Moore Hall by Washington and his officers, click HERE!
Bibliography
Futhey, John Smith and Gilbert Cope. History of Chester County, Pennsylvania: With Genealogical and Biographical Sketches. (Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts, 1881): 662-663.
Pilligalli, Michael. "William Moore & Moore Hall." Chester County Day (blog). July 6. https://www.chestercountyday.com/articles/williammooreandmoorehall.