John H. Moores

John Henry Moores was born in Huntsville, Alabama, on June 26, 1821.[1] He was the oldest child of Isaac R. Moores and Jane Alexander.[1] He grew up in Danville, Illinois, before moving to Benton, Missouri, where he began working.[1] Moores married Virginia Lafayette Lamon (July 14, 1825 – June 9, 1897) on May 11, 1847.[2]

In 1851, Moores returned to Danville before heading west over the Oregon Trail to the Oregon Territory in March 1852.[1] John joined his family in this trek, and all arrived in November 1852 in Portland.[1] He then moved to Salem in March 1853.[1] In 1856, he went into business with his younger brother Isaac R. Moores, Jr., operating a mercantile store in Salem until 1865.[1] They would build the brick Moores block in that city, now site of the Pioneer Trust Building.[1][3]

In 1858, Moores served as mayor of Salem for a brief time prior to the city charter legally passing the state legislature,[4] after he had already served on the city’s first city council.[1] He returned to the post of mayor in 1864, and then served three consecutive terms from 1866 to 1869.[5] In 1870, he was elected to the Oregon State Senate.[6] He served four years, representing Marion County as a Republican.[7] John Moores also served as Marion County Treasurer and on the board of trustees at Willamette University.[1] Additionally, he was on the board of directors for the Salem school district and the Oregon State Agricultural Society.[1]

Moores would buy the South Salem Flour and Lumber Mills, selling off part of it in the 1870s while combining the timber interest with the Capital Lumbering Company.[1] He worked as manager and secretary of the company beginning in June 1876, until his death.[1] Along with George H. Atkinson, he selected the site of the Oregon State Insane Aslyum (now Oregon State Hospital) and the Oregon State Penitentiary as part of a special commission.[1]

John’s wife Virginia was a founding member of Salem’s Children's Aid Society in 1865.[8] Children of John and Virginia were Charles B., Albert, Gertrude, Bertha, Carrie, and Althea.[1] Charles would later serve in the Oregon House of Representatives and was Speaker of the chamber in 1895.[9] The couple were also members of the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Salem.[1] John Henry Moores died on December 16, 1880, at the age of 59 in Salem.[1] He was buried at Salem Pioneer Cemetery where many in his family are buried.[1]

• The Political Graveyard