The George William Moore papers provide a complex view of life in Michigan in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Correspondence from the family home in Van Buren Township documents rural concerns and daily activities, while deeds and correspondence from the Upper Peninsula detail the explosive growth of land and mining interests in the farthest reaches of the state. Moore's personal materials cast light on the upper strata of Detroit's society at the height of the Gilded Age and his business records encompass a range of legal activities and reveal the frenetic pace of business and speculation in the years preceding the Great Depression. Political materials and personal writings further reflect some of the most contentious issues of his day, from Free Silver to the public ownership of utilities. This collection will be of value to those interested in the history of law, Democratic politics, mining, and industry as well as the social lives of Michiganians in rural and urban settings. The George William Moore papers are divided into three series: Personal, Moore & Moore, and Associated Businesses.
George William Moore was born in Auburn Township, Michigan in 1847 to George Washington and Mary (Emory) Moore, the second youngest of six children (Francis, James, Eliza (Monroe), and Mary (Miller)). He received his early education in Romulus, attended seminary in Ypsilanti, and in 1872 was graduated from the University of Michigan and admitted to the bar. That same year he co-founded the firm of Moore & Moore with his friend and classmate, George Whitney Moore and commenced his legal practice. Despite their political differences (George Whitney Moore was a Republican who was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 1878), the two remained lifelong friends and shared equally in expenses and profits of the firm until George Whitney Moore's death in 1915.
George William Moore married Katherine De Mill, the daughter of prominent Detroit businessman Peter E. De Mill and a cousin of Governor William Comstock, in a lavish ceremony in 1885 and they had a daughter, Katherine Palmer Moore, in 1888. The couple lived largely separate lives after the turn of the century and divorced in 1922. Two years later Katherine married Daniel J. Campau Jr., a close friend and business associate of George, who remained a bachelor for the rest of his life.
Although George William Moore never stood for political office, he was actively involved in the Michigan Democratic Party and was a staunch supporter of William Jennings Bryan in his presidential bids of 1896, 1900, and 1908. Moore was a member of a district branch of the State Central Committee (the ruling body of the Michigan's Democratic party) and his close friend Daniel J. Campau was the Michigan Democratic State Chair. Moore actively campaigned for candidates, maintained correspondence with various political figures, and also wrote and published political pamphlets on the American monetary system and foreign affairs.
The firm of Moore & Moore practiced constitutional, commercial, and civil law and engaged in real estate, loans, and various business endeavors. George William Moore himself was heavily involved in land, mining, and manufacturing enterprises with his family (his brother, Francis M. Moore, was a deputy clerk for the U.S. District Court in Marquette and a distinguished businessman in the Upper Peninsula) and an array of associates throughout the U.S. The Moore family was among the principles of the Barnes Land Company, which leased land to the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Mining Company that was the site of the infamous Barnes-Hecker Mine tragedy 1926, the worst mining accident in Michigan's history. Moore remained active in his various business pursuits up to his death in 1926..
