Part of the Indiana Biographies Project
Joseph Moore, M.A.
A life devoted to science and education—thus may be summed up, within the compass of half a dozen words, the history of Professor Moore, who has been connected with Earlham College well-nigh continuously for forty-six years. Perhaps to his efforts as much as to those of any other man does this now justly celebrated institution of learning owe the high standing which it occupies in the educational circles of the northern central states of the Union. Few have felt a more loyal and sustained interest in the college than he, and few have labored and planned, night and day for decades, for its welfare and advancement as he has done. Throughout the state he is known as a geologist and scientist, his opinions in these lines being considered authoritative.
The Moores, faithful members of the Society of Friends, resided for some time in North Carolina, and about 1820 Joseph Moore, the grandfather of the Professor, removed from Perquimans county to this state with his wife, Penina (Parker) Moore, and their several children. They located in Washington county, where they carried on a farm successfully for years. Mr. Moore died on the old homestead there and was survived about forty years by his widow, whose age at death was nearly four-score and ten. They were Friends in their religious adherency, and in his political opinions Mr. Moore was a Whig. Their lives were spent in strict accord with the peaceful principles in which they believed. The children included Samuel, Lemuel, Alfred, William, John Parker, Nancy, Mary, Eliza and Jane.
The father of the subject of this sketch was John Parker Moore, who was born in North Carolina in 1810, and was about ten years of age when he came to the state of Indiana. From that time until his death, in 1882, he was a resident of Washington county, where he was known as a prosperous and enterprising agriculturist and an extensive dealer in live stock and produce. Exceedingly limited as were his early advantages, he was well posted on general affairs and manifested a decided interest in education and whatever else he thought promotive of the public good. For his companion and helpmate in the journey of life he chose Martha, daughter of Joseph Cadwallader, of Indiana. The latter was a native of Pennsylvania, and was a relative of the Revolutionary war general of the same name. The marriage of John P. and Martha Moore was blessed with the following named children: Sarah, Joseph, Calvin, Walter, Samuel, Franklin, John, Martha, Barclay, Ellen and Emory. Those who are still living are: Sarah, Joseph, Calvin, Walter, Samuel, John and Ellen.
Professor Moore was born February 29, 1832, near Salem, Washington county, Indiana, and until he reached his majority he lived at home on the farm, save when he was engaged in teaching school. He was educated in the Blue River Seminary, a Friends' school, near his home, and subsequently was employed as a teacher there for one term. His first labors as a pedagogue were conducted in Jackson county, and his third term as a teacher was at a school near Azalia, Bartholomew county. Then he came to the Friends' Boarding School (now Earlham College) for special study, and at the end of the first term was engaged to act as assistant to the principal. From 1853 to 1859 he gave his whole mind to scientific studies, teaching, meanwhile, in the college, and at length he entered Lawrence Scientific School, Harvard College, where he enjoyed the companionship and instruction of such men as Agassiz, Gray, Wyman and Horsford, then the most distinguished educators in their special lines in this country. At the end of two years' work, in 1861, Professor Moore received the degree of Bachelor of Science. Returning to Richmond he accepted a professorship in Earlham College, which had been chartered in that name in the meantime. This position he held for four years, when, on account of failing health, he resigned and entered upon educational work among the Friends in North Carolina and Tennessee, in which he continued for three years. Representing the Baltimore Association of Friends, he looked after the education of the children of Friends in different parts of the state, and introduced the first normal school in North Carolina.
In 1869 he was honored by being called to the presidency of Earlham College, where, for fourteen consecutive years, he earnestly strove to promote the efficiency and high standing of the institution. Beyond all question he was successful in this noble endeavor, and for years it has been the proud boast of many of the citizens of this section that Earlham College is their alma mater. While President Moore was at the head of the college it received its first endowment of fifty thousand dollars. In 1883 he once more withdrew from the college, on account of his health, and went to North Carolina, where a year later he became the principal of the Friends' school at New Garden, Guilford county. He occupied that position for four years and materially aided in the organization of what is now known as Guilford College. Since 1888 he has held the chair of geology and botany in Earlham College and has been the curator of the justly celebrated museum. In 1853 he began the collection of specimens used in his studies, and those specimens were really the nucleus of the present fine museum, considered one of the most comprehensive and useful of any in the state. In his trips to the south and to New England, wherever he went, to the mountains or sea-shore, on the plains or in the valleys, he found most interesting treasures, which he has donated to the museum. Lindley Hall, built in 1888, was constructed with due regard for the storing and classification of the material he had gathered and of which, from the first, he has been in charge. In 1874 he went to the Hawaiian islands and returned with an extensive collection of corals, shells and plants, together with implements and various things used by the natives. He delivered about forty lectures here and there, on his travels and collections.
In 1862 Professor Moore was married to Deborah A. Stanton, who died two years later, leaving a son, Joseph Edward. In 1872 the marriage of the Professor and Mary Thorne, of Selma, Ohio, was celebrated, and their four children are Anna M., Grace E., Lucy H. and Willard E.
Source:
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana, Volume 1, The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, 1899