Charles B. Moores

Charles Moores was born to John H. Moores and Virginia Lafayette Lamon on August 6, 1849, in Benton, Missouri.[1] In 1852, the family moved to the Oregon Territory over the Oregon Trail, arriving in November.[2] This included his grandfather Isaac and uncle Isaac, junior.[2] After living in Portland for a few months, the family relocated south to Salem in March 1853.[2] Moores received his education there where he attended Willamette University, graduating in 1870 with a Bachelor of Arts degree.[3][4] One of his classmates was Theodore Thurston Geer, later Governor of Oregon.[5]

Moores then worked as draughtsman for the Oregon and California Railroad and in their real estate office, working a total of five years for the railroad in Portland before moving to the East Coast in 1874.[3][4] In Washington, DC, he enrolled in a business college before relocating again to Pennsylvania where he studied law at the University of Pennsylvania.[3] Moores then finished his legal studies at the University of Michigan where he graduated from in 1877 with a Bachelor of Laws degree with honors before returning to Salem where he lived for 45 years.[3][4][6] In Salem, he passed the bar and briefly practiced law.[3][7]

He was married to Sarah E. Chamberlain (born October 20, 1853) on November 1, 1881, and they had four children, Merrill, Gordon, Chester, and Gertrude, all born in Salem.[1] In 1880, he was selected to work as the chief clerk at the Oregon House of Representatives.[1] Both Merrill[8] and Gordon would later work as clerks in the House as well.[9] From 1882 to 1887 he worked as the private secretary of Oregon Governor Z. F. Moody.[1]

In 1894, Moores was elected to the Oregon House to represent Marion County and District 34.[10] Serving as a Republican in the 1895 session, his only session, he was elected as the Speaker of the House by fellow House members.[10] Following this term Moores was appointed as the register of public lands at the United States Land Office in Oregon City in 1897, and served in that position until 1903.[1][7] He lived in Oregon City for eleven years.[6]

In 1910, Portland Mayor Joseph Simon appointed him to the public docks commission.[6] He was a commissioner for ten years, five as chairman.[1][4] Moores was also the chairman of the Oregon Republican Party's central committee in 1912 and 1914,[4] and served on the city council in Salem.[3] He ran for the office of Oregon Secretary of State in 1912, but lost to Ben Olcott.[6]

After retiring from public service Moores remained in Portland and became involved in history preservation, as well as a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, being a member of the later for 53 years.[4][6][7] He served as a president of the Oregon Pioneer Association in 1915, and was member of the organization for 17 years.[6] Moores was a director at the Oregon Historical Society from 1910 to 1918 and was the vice president of the board from 1918 to 1927.[4][6][11] He also was employed with the Capital Lumbering Company in Salem and served on the board of trustees at Willamette University for 53 years beginning in 1878.[4][6][7] At Willamette he had previously served as treasurer and secretary, while his father had also been a trustee at the college.[4]

His father John had been in the Oregon State Senate,[12] his grandfather was in the Oregon Territorial Legislature,[13] and his uncle had also been Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives.[14] Son Gordon C. Moores served in the Washington Legislature[4] and son Chester A. Moores served as chairman of the Portland Housing Authority[15] for which he won the 1946 Portland First Citizen Award.[16] Charles Moores died on January 5, 1930, and the age of 80 in Portland, where he lived the last 24 years of his life.[6]

• Oregon Pioneer Wa-Wa
• Salem's First Streetcar Line