Collection is open to researchers by appointment.
Gift, 2000.
Collection is arranged by format. The Wade Hall Collection of American Letters has been processed into discrete collections based on provenance.
Samuel Johnston Cramer Moore (1826-1908) was born in Charlestown, West Virginia to Thomas Moore (1803-1889) and Jane S. Cramer (1808-1833). His father was the Clerk of the County Court of Jefferson County, West Virginia and had Moore educated at Charlestown Academy. At sixteen he became a deputy clerk of the court, under his father, and worked there until 1849. While working at the court Moore studied the law and was able to pass the bar entrance exam in 1847. In 1850, Moore married Ellen G. Scollay (1821-1855), and together the couple had one surviving son, Reverend S. Scollay Moore (1853-1935). Two years after the passing of his wife, in 1857, Moore and his son moved to Berryville, Virginia. In 1858, Moore married a second time to Ellen Kownslar (1838-1888), with whom they had six surviving children: Lawson B. (1862-1923), Jane C. (1866-1937), twins Anna L. (1871-1944) and Lydia K (1871-1913), Mary K. (1874-1937), and Nora B. (1878-1952). Upon moving to Berryville, Moore became the commissioner in chancery for Clarke county until the outbreak of the Civil War. In 1861, Moore enlisted in the Confederate army, serving as a first lieutenant in the 2nd Virginia regiment of the infantry that was part of the
American Letters collector Wade Hall (1934-2015) was a native of Union Springs, Alabama. Starting in 1962, he lived in Louisville, where he taught English and chaired the English and Humanities/Arts programs at Kentucky Southern College and Bellarmine University. He also taught at the University of Illinois and the University of Florida. He held degrees from Troy State University (B.S.), the University of Alabama (M.A.), and the University of Illinois (Ph.D.). He served for two years in the U.S. Army in the mid-fifties. Dr. Hall was the author of books, monographs, articles, plays, and reviews relating to Kentucky, Alabama, and Southern history and literature. His most recent books include
2009ms132.0271: [identification of item], Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Samuel J.C. Moore papers, 1833-1936, 1955-1968, undated, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
The Samuel J.C. Moore papers (dated 1833-1936, 1955-1968, undated; 0.69 cubic feet, 1 box and 8 folders) comprise correspondence, personal writings, legal documents, meeting minutes, and newspaper clippings that document the life of Samuel J.C. Moore and his family in Berryville, Virginia in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The letters were sent from friends and family to Moore, both his first and second wives, his son Rev. S. Scollay Moore, and a grandchild. The letters discuss having visitors, their daily lives, plans to visit each other, and news of births and marriages. One letter to Rev. Moore discusses the Moore and Scollay family genealogy, including wills and relationships. The papers include essays discussing patriotism, duty, and religion. The collection also includes storage accounts, devotionals, study questions, poems, and one photograph. The legal documents include wills, liens, leasing agreements, estate costs, property boundaries, and settlements between private citizens. The meeting minutes are for the board of trustees for the female seminary in Clarke County, Virginia, a private academy for women, during the board's first four years. The newspaper clippings are mainly of poems, except for two, which announce the death of two of Samuel Moore's grandchildren.
The Samuel J.C. Moore papers are part of the Wade Hall Collection of American letters, which includes correspondence and diaries from all over North America covering the time period of the Civil to Korean Wars. The materials were collected by Wade Hall and document everyday men and women.
The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.