Alfred Moore
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| Alfred Moore | |
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| In office April 21, 1800 – January 26, 1804 |
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| Nominated by | John Adams |
| Preceded by | James Iredell |
| Succeeded by | William Johnson |
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| Born | May 21, 1755 New Hanover County, North Carolina |
| Died | October 15, 1810 Bladen County, North Carolina |
Alfred Moore (May 21, 1755 - October 15, 1810) was a distinguished North Carolina judge who became a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
[edit] Family and early education
His father, Maurice, preceded him in the practice of law and served as a colonial judge in North Carolina. Alfred was sent to Boston to complete his education, but he returned to North Carolina and apprenticed at the law with his father before being admitted to the bar at the age of twenty.
In 1775 the American Revolutionary War broke out and Alfred served as a captain in the First Regiment, North Carolina Line, of which his uncle, James Moore, was colonel, and took part in the defense of Charleston, S.C. in June, 1776. He resigned in 1777, but served in the militia against Cornwallis after the battle of Guilford Court House. The war was costly to the Moore family. British troops captured the Moore plantation and burned the family home, and Alfred’s father, brother, and an uncle were among those who served and died.
[edit] Political career
In 1775 the American Revolutionary War broke out and Alfred served as a captain in the First Regiment, North Carolina Line, of which his uncle, James Moore, was colonel, and took part in the defense of Charleston, S.C. in June, 1776. He resigned in 1777, but served in the militia against Cornwallis after the battle of Guilford Court House. The war was costly to the Moore family. British troops captured the Moore plantation and burned the family home, and Alfred’s father, brother, and an uncle were among those who served and died. In 1775 the American Revolutionary War broke out and Alfred served as a captain in the First Regiment, North Carolina Line, of which his uncle, James Moore, was colonel, and took part in the defense of Charleston, S.C. in June, 1776. He resigned in 1777, but served in the militia against Cornwallis after the battle of Guilford Court House. The war was costly to the Moore family. British troops captured the Moore plantation and burned the family home, and Alfred’s father, brother, and an uncle were among those who served and died.
- At the end of the war Moore was elected to the North Carolina General Assembly, which eventually elected him to serve as Attorney General; a position he held from 1782 to 1791. As Atttorney General in 1787 he argued the State's case in Bayard v. Singleton [I NC (Mart) 5], which as decided (against the State) became an important early instance of the application of judicial review. Moore was an ardent Federalist favoring a strong national government and he took a leading role in securing North Carolina’s ratification of the United States Constitution after the state had initially rejected it in 1788. After North Carolina’s admission to the Union as the 12th state, Moore worked as a lawyer, was active in political affairs, and served as a judge. He served in the North Carolina State legislature, but lost by a single vote in his run for the United States Senate.
[edit] Supreme Court Justice
In 1799, James Iredell, a North Carolinian and a member of the U.S. Supreme Court, died while serving on the bench. President John Adams responded to the vacancy by nominating Alfred Moore. At 4 feet 5 inches tall he is the shortest justice ever to sit on the Supreme Court and, due to poor health, Moore’s contribution to the court was nearly as abbreviated as he was. In his five years of service he wrote only one opinion, upholding a conclusion that France was an enemy in the undeclared Quasi-War of 1798-1799.
In the early 1780s, he married Suzanne Eagles. After leaving the Supreme Court in 1804, he helped found the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
| Preceded by James Iredell |
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States April 21, 1800 – January 26, 1804 |
Succeeded by William Johnson |
| The Ellsworth Court |  |
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| April–December 1800: | Wm. Cushing | Wm. Paterson | S. Chase | B. Washington | A. Moore | |
| The Marshall Court | ||
| 1801–1804: | Wm. Cushing | Wm. Paterson | S. Chase | B. Washington | A. Moore | |
- This article incorporates text from an edition of the New International Encyclopedia that is in the public domain.
