John C. Moore

See also Weeks Family.

Before the Civil War

Moore was a prominent sugar planter and judge who served in the Louisiana state legislature between 1825 and 1834. In 1840 or 1841 he married Mary Conrad Weeks, thereby joining the elite Weeks Family and entering a number of business partnerships with his step-sons. Moore also served as a Whig in the House of Representatives in Washington between 1840 and 1843, and again between 1851 and 1853 as a representative from New Iberia, where he had moved.

Among his commercial enterprises, he was the board of directors of the New Orleans, Opelousas, and Great Western Railroad in the 1850s, and also had some dealings with Cornelius Vanderbilt about a proposed railroad-steamer line between Louisiana and Texas.¹

To help manage his plantations, Moore hired Julis A. Johnson (or J. A. Johnson) in 1856, and William Lourd in 1859.

John C. Moore also had two other daughters, Evelina and Adelaide, who married William M. Prescott and Willis B. Prescott, respectively. W. B. Prescott died before the Civil War, and at some later date, Adelaide apparently married John Leigh.

During the Civil War

Moore seems to have remained in northwestern Louisiana in DeSoto Parish, near Shreveport or Mansfield, for most of the war, partly because he served in the Confederate state legislature for at least part of the war.²

During the war Moore was also the legal agent of two estates: that of D. W. Magill and that of the minor heirs of W. M. Prescott. The slaves of these estates were managed by William Lourd and Lewis Moore, respectively, both of whom often communicated with Moore about where to move the slaves. In July 1863, after a series of Union campaigns up the Teche into the sugar country, he told his overseer to move “all the slaves that you may think worth saving” from the Magill estate in St. Martin Parish that he superintended, though with what purpose is unclear.³ Many slaves from these estates were, however, brought to DeSoto Parish, including ones from the Prescott estate living in St. Landry, “to prevent them from becoming spoils to the enemy.” Lourd and Moore received military exemptions to manage them, with the stipulation that 100 pounds of bacon and 100 pounds of beef be provided to the Confederate state government “for each able bodied slave” of a certain age, but by October 1864 Moore was writing to request that these provision stipulations be commuted because the food was necessary to feed the slaves.⁴ Other slaves had been impressed to work on the Public Works, including two who died there, leading Moore to complain that many Confederate officers were insensitive to “private claims.”⁵

Moore occasionally visited family members who had fled to Texas and contemplated sending his slaves there, too, for hiring out.⁶ In July, Moore corresponded with W. R. Johnston, who was about to become the general surgeon-in-charge at the Confederate Chemical Laboratory near Tyler, which shows that Moore was inquiring about the possibility of hiring out slaves to the “Iron Department,” though he was apparently unsuccessful.⁷

By September 1863, Moore had received intelligence from William F. Weeks in Texas convincing him to remain in Mansfield and return home when and if possible. His stepson was considering the possibility of hauling cotton, but Moore was convinced that “the speculation of sending cotton to Matamoras would not pay.” He desired instead to return home, but was prevented from doing so at the moment by a bad buggy, no good horse (since the best had been “stolen” by a runaway named Marcellus), and extreme sickness among the slaves he had brought with him to DeSoto.⁸ Another letter received by Moore around the same time reported that no good Texas places were left to rent.

Still, Moore remained unsettled about whether to stay or go. In October, because of rumors that the federal troops were again on the move, Moore reported that he was still looking for potential places in Texas where he could locate his slaves, even though he was dismayed by reports of extortionary prices being charged by the locals. William F. Weeks again made the case for Texas in October, arguing to his step-father that Texas would be the safest place for slave property, but Moore did not receive it until January 1864.⁹

By that time, Moore’s wife had died on their plantation, suspending any questions about moving. An inventory assessment for 1864 indicates that he still claimed control over as many as 80 slaves (including both his own and those of his deceased wife), but it is unclear how many of these slaves were still around the home plantation.¹⁰ Another inventory made on April 1864 shows that there were about 92 slaves belonging to the Magill estate under Moore’s control.¹¹ William F. Weeks reported to his sister in January that all but two or three of his mother’s slaves had gone, but others may have been removed from the plantation given Moore’s earlier plans and proposals.¹² At any rate, well into the year William F. Weeks and Harriet Weeks apparently still were trying to persuade Moore “on the subject of bringing the negroes belonging to the Magill estate to Texas, where they can make cotton,” and where “it would not be as expensive feeding them.” According to Harriet, “Hiring out a few would get provision to feed the whole,” especially given the plentiful corn in the state. She advised Moore to consider sending them before the cold weather set in, however.¹³

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