Rev. Romulus Moore Biography

"He lived for those who loved him,
For those who knew him true,
For the heaven that smiled above him,
And awaits his spirit, too;
For the cause that needed assistance,
For the wrongs that need resistance
And all the good that he could do."

Such was the life of this sketch. Rev. Romulus Moore was born a slave in Taliaferro county, Ga., January, 1818. He was reared in the family of James Moore (white), and was treated as one of his own sons and with this favoritism he came into possession of a very liberal education and enjoyed many other blessings in the days of slavery that few Negroes were allowed to have; consequently, by his industry he was soon able to purchase and own himself long before the war began.

In those days he was very wild, and in 1860 he married Miss Mary Elenor Horton. He then changed his course of living, and in 1862 he was happily converted to the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ, and joined the Baptist Church (white) at Thomson, Ga., and commenced at once to exhort the people around the plantation to seek the Lord Jesus Christ.

At one of his meetings his wife's mistress was present (Mrs. Thomas Hamilton), and so struck was she at the display of his gift to preach that she petitioned her pastor to license him and it was done. In 1867 he was ordained to the gospel ministry by the Rev. Henry Johnson, of Augusta, Ga. Soon afterwards he accepted the pastorate of the Poplar Head Baptist Church in Columbia county. In 1868 he became a member of the Constitutional Committee, and for many years he was a member of the Legislature, as a representative of Lincoln county. In 1869, on account of the K.K.K., he was forced to move to Atlanta, where he connected himself with the Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church, Rev. Andrew Jackson, pastor, now the Wheat Street Baptist Church, Rev. W.H. Tillman, pastor.

Rev. R. Moore was a man of valor, and went for many years in jeopardy for the love and interest of his people. He was a devoted Christian husband and had many very dear friends. He possessed a wide influence, which he used in obtaining and vindicating the rights of his race. In 18__ he passed from this life to the home of rest.

Source:
Carter, Edward Randolph. Biographical Sketches of Our Pulpit, Atlanta, Georgia. 1888, pp. 36b-37