Alfred Bailey Moore
Alfred
Bailey
Moore
Died
Feb. 23, 1880
Aged
17 years
MOORE
Photo Credit: Rosa G. Gonzales
Biography
The stone that marks the final resting place of the remains of Alfred Bailey Moore bears testimony to his death on 23 February 1880 at the age of 47 years. The stone is similar in style, size, and engraving to the one that marks the grave of Mary Augusta Moore. Her obituary indicates that she was a former slave of the Moore family who remained with the family as a domestic after the Civil War. Her obituary and stone are both probably the work of Cornelia Moore Evans (Mrs. George F. Evans) with whom Mary is listed in the 1880 census. She is named after one of Cornelia’s paternal aunts. It seems most likely, therefore, that Alfred is also a former slave of the Moore family who remained close to Cornelia, the daughter of John Marks Moore. He too is named after one of John M. Moore’s siblings. In her remembrances entitled “Early Negroes of Corpus Christiâ€, Adelaide Schwein Smith (Mrs. Dudley J. Smith) tells the story of her grandparents Sam and Malvina Moore and mentions other members of the African-American community in the area. She writes, “Emancipation was proclaimed in Texas on June 19, 1865. Some of the slave owners kept their slaves in ignorance of their freedom. When Henry and Alfred, led by Sam Moore, heard of this, they took a wagon and team, went to the outlying plantations, and let these slaves know they were free. As many as they could, they brought to Corpus Christi.†It seems most likely that the “Alfred†she mentions here is the Alfred Moore who would have been about 33 years old in 1865 and is buried in Old Bayview with his grave marked probably by the Moore family members he had served. This would mean that both Alfred Bailey Moore and Mary Augusta Moore, former slaves of the Moore family, were named for a brother and a sister of Col. John M. Moore, their former owner prior to the Civil War. John M. Moore’s brother, Fred B. Moore, is still living in the summer of 1880. This “Fred B. Moore†is listed as 55 years old and a native of Georgia (Travis County page 246C). He is working as a railroad agent and resides in Austin with another brother, George F. Moore, who is the Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court at that time.
Research and transcription: Michael A. Howell