Moore, John (IL Treasurer)

Born: 1793-09-08 Lincolnshire, United Kingdom

Died: 1866-09-23 Boston, Massachusetts

Born in England, John Moore migrated to the United States in 1817. He lived and worked in several different places before marrying in Kentucky and settling in Harrison, Ohio. Moore moved to Illinois sometime thereafter and made his permanent home in Randolph Grove in 1830. He set up a wagon-making shop and taught school. Voters elected Moore as a justice of the peace in the early 1830s, and in 1836, to the Illinois House of Representatives, where he represented McLean County in the 10th and 11th General Assemblies (1836-1840). A Democrat, Moore won election to the Illinois Senate in 1840, defeating David Davis, and representing McLean, Macon, DeWitt, and Livingston counties. He won election as Lieutenant Governor in 1842 and served four years before enlisting to fight in the Mexican War as part of the Fourth Regiment. After his service, Moore secured an appointment as State Treasurer and won the office for two additional terms. Moore also served as a trustee of the Illinois Central Railroad. In 1850, he was the State Treasurer and owned $3,000 in real property. He died after a surgical operation on his eyes in Boston.

The History of McLean County, Illinois (Chicago: Wm. Le Baron, Jr., 1879), 481-82; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), McLean County, IL, 80; Gravestone, Randolph Township Cemetery, Heyworth, IL.