JAMES MADISON MOORE AND MARTHA ADAIR HOOTEN

James Madison Moore & Martha Adair Hooten

Robert J. Moore

Our ancestors, James Madison Moore and Martha Adair Hooten have always been shrouded in some mystery. When beginning to research our family, I ran up on every sort of wall, but by being very persistent, we have been able to trace them, to a point. We are still looking for actual death dates and absolute proof of their burial sites.

James Madison's father, Joshua Moore, came from Delaware into Georgia, coming from Greene Co., Jasper and into Henry County.

Martha Adair Hooten's family came from South Carolina into Henry County, GA in the early 1800s where they owned sizable acreage. In 1838, her father, James Hooten, deeded to the Presbyterian Church of Ola, a plot of land for the sum of $1 for the purpose of a cemetery. This cemetery is known as Hooten/Rock and is located just off State Highway 81, just east of the settlement of Ola, which is east of McDonough, GA. It is situated on a private farm, the owner of which, Mr. Lawrence J. Montgomery, sees that the cemetery is maintained in top form. He's a very nice man

In December of 1849, James and Martha married in Henry County, GA. Their first child, Gamaliel Washington Moore, was born October 9, 1850 in Henry County. The 1850 census shows Joshua, at age 61, living with James M., aged 21 and Martha, aged 16.

Sometime between 1850 and 1854, when their second child, Mary Palastine, was born they had moved to Randolph County, AL. The other three children, James Rufus, Coleman Allen and Josephus H. were all born in Randolph County.

James Madison was a farmer and tried very hard to earn a living for his family. Times were very hard. Along came the Civil War, and we have a record that he served a short time in the Confederate army, but we cannot find evidence of him after this time. Martha was left to eke a living for her family.

Others are giving stories on their families, and I will hereby attempt to give a story on the life and descendancy of James Rufus Moore, the third child of James M. and Martha. He was born in 1858.

From early on, James Rufus Moore was in love with Nancy Adeline Collier, daughter of Esquire Thomas and Nancy Blair Collier. Esquire was a Baptist minister. The Collier family moved to Marshall Co., AL near Albertville. James Rufus followed them there and he and Nancy were married in 1878. He continued to farm in that area. He and Nancy had 9 children. After Nancy died, he married Florence Smith and raised two more children.

As an aside, I would like to point out that each of the children of James M. and Martha named their children with the same first names. In looking over our genealogy, please check out dates, etc. to make sure we have the same person in mind. James Rufus' brother Coleman Allen, named his son James Rufus, as an example

James Rufus' first son, James Albert Franklin Moore was a farmer in Marshall Co., AL. He was born in 1879 and died in 1930. He and his wife, Annie Horton, reared the following children, Wade, Joe L., Ollie J., Marie and Paul. Joe L. has a son in Huntsville, AL, and daughter in Gadsden. Wade has a son in Hokes Bluff, AL, and Marie has two sons in Gadsden, A, one of whom is with the Gadsden Police Dept.

The next three children died young and unmarried. They are William Oscar, Cora Lee and Joseph Coleman. They are buried along with their mother and others of her family in the Pre-Civil War cemetery in Albertville, AL. Their grandfather, Esquire Thomas Collier is buried in the Funston Cemetery in Funston, TX.

Wiley Clevland Moore, son of James Rufus, was a very tall and heavily built man. He was very soft spoken and deliberate in his actions. He worked as a salesman. He and his wife, Dora Kilpatrick, had one son, Oscar, who died young but left one daughter.

The next was Jasper, who married Lillian Panola Kirkland, and moved to Memphis, TN where he was a machinist for the Illinois Central Railroad. His three children are John Thomas, who is retired Lt. Col. in the Marine Air Corps and is still in the real estate business in Fallbrook, CA.; Mary Addie Moore was born in Memphis and has two living children, Mark Bradley, in real estate in Memphis, and Kathleen Louis Bright, whose husband in sales and they and their two children live in Nashville, TN.; Robert Jasper is the last child of Jasper. He is retired from Kraft Foods and is now an all breeds dog show judge. He and his wife, Gene Wankel, live in Decatur, GA. Their two sons are Thomas Richard, who has three children and live in Suwanee, GA. Tom is Chielf Financial Officer of SunTrust Services, Div. of SunTrust Banks. Other son, Andrew Kenneth is a DeKalb Co., GA Deputy Sheriff. He and his wife and two children live in Conyers, GA.

Next son is Luther, who married Inez Holcomb. Luther worked for years as a farmer, salesman, and other forms of work. In his later years he moved to Phoenix, Arizona for his health. He and Inez had one adopted son, Bobby.

Next son is Alonzo, who married Alice Carter. Three sons were Earl D. who was with the Gadsden police department and had 4 beautiful daughters, Peggy, Diane, Helen Earl, and Becky. His next son was J.C. who was a very bright young man and was killed during World War II. Last of the sons is Edward Ralph who is retired from Goodyear in Gadsden. He and his wife have a son, Eddie and daughter, Allison.

Next son is Floyd, who married Ruby Sanders. Floyd worked as a machinist for the Illinois Central Railroad in Paducah, KY until the branch was closed, and they came back to Gadsden, where he worked at the Steel Mill. They had two daughters, Dorothy Jean who was married to H. P. Rains, and had 3 sons, Pat, Kim and Rex. Dorothy is secretary for the Baptist church in her neighborhood. The other daughter is Pamela Gay, who is married to Robert Lovely. They have three children, Scott, Karen and Jason. Scott lives in Oregon and has two children. Karen lives in Mesa, AZ and has two children. Jason lives in Sierra Vista, AZ, where he teaches school and he has one son.

The son of James Rufus and Florence Smith was Rufus Benajamin, who was married to Ora Belle Claborn. Rufus worked at the Steel mill in Gadsden and was active in politics of Walnut Grove, AL. Ora Belle was a high school principal. They had two children, James Boyd, Sr. and Doris Jean. James B., Sr. is retired from TVA and works as a consultant in engineering. He and his wife have one son and one daughter and 4 beautiful grandaughters. Doris Jean Moore married Ronald Wissler, who worked at Goodyear in Gadsden. They have 3 sons and one daughter, and they live in Southside, AL.

Willie Mae Moore, daughter of James Rufus and Florence Smith, married C. J. Johnson, who worked at Anniston Army Depot and had worked as a Gadsden Policeman. Their son, Charles is a Contracting Officer of the Army Aviation and Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal at Huntsville, AL.

Most of the descendants of James Rufus have been religious people, but come from several different religions, mostly protestant. James Rufus is buried in the Walnut Grove cemetery. The epithet on his tombstone reads "He died as he lived - A Christian".

Everyone who remembers him tells me that this is the absolute truth. He was a very poor man who had high principles and loved his family. I remember him. As a small child, my father took us to visit with him at least once a year. We would sit in the front yard, and he would whittle while he and my dad talked. I remember him as being very soft spoken and a real "Southern Gentleman", although he was unschooled.

If anyone who reads this has definite proof of death dates and burial places of James Madison and Martha Adair Hooten, we would love to have it. They were pretty well lost from their families for years, because of their having moved from GA to AL at young ages and because of duplications of names. BUT THIS IS OUR FAMILY!

November 17, 1998

Henry County Family Biographies Index

Return to Home Page

This page was last updated on -02/04/2016

by Linda Blum-Barton