Jeremiah Moore (June 7, 1746 – February 23, 1815) was an American Baptist minister who was an early advocate of religious freedom and the separation of church and state in Virginia.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Biography

Jeremiah Moore was born on June 7, 1746, in Stafford County, Virginia.[7][8] In November 1765, he married Lydia Reno. They had five sons and four daughters.[7][9][10]

Religious leader

From a young age, Moore became a lay minister in the Episcopal Church, drawing an annual salary of 2,400 pounds of tobacco.[11] While in his twenties, he was baptized and ordinated as a Baptist in 1772.[7]

Because the Episcopal Church was the state-sanctioned religion in Colonial Virginia at the time, Moore became ostracized by many in the religious establishment.[3][12] In 1773, he preached in Alexandria to challenge the restrictions on licensing ministers of other denominations. He was apprehended and jailed by authorities at least once, and continued to preach while briefly imprisoned.[7][3][13]

I have felt the effects of the ecclesiastical establishment and have been told by the Judge from his seat 'you shall lay in jail until you rot' when my only crime was no other than that of preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ....

— Jeremiah Moore, 1808

In 1773, Moore was one of the religious leaders who petitioned the Virginia General Assembly for the freedom to practice their religion without interference or persecution from civil authorities, which eventually led to the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom.[14] Moore's stance of religious liberty and separation of church and state brought him to the attention of various political leaders, including Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Mason.[15][8] Moore continued to work as a preacher in Virginia and was a guest preacher in New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee.[3][9][5]

In 1797, Moore attended the Katocton Baptist Association, which recommended the gradual emancipation of slaves.[16][17] Moore was a founder of the First Baptist Church of Washington, First Baptist Church of Alexandria, and Second Baptist Church of Washington.[5][8]

Military service

Moore served in the American Revolutionary War as a corporal in the Virginia Continental Line.[7][11][18][19]

Death and legacy

Moore died on February 23, 1815, aged 68.[7] He is buried on the grounds of his home.[20][1][19]

Moore's Moorefield home was listed in the National Register of Historical Places.[20]

Works

  • An Enquiry Into the Nature and Propriety of Ecclesiastical Establishments (1808)[21][22]
  • The Jerusalem Which is Above (1808)[21]
  • The Doctrine of Universal Conditional Salvation Examined (1813)[23]

References

  1. 1 2 "National Registry of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Moorefield" (PDF). 1978.
  2. ↑ Netherton, Nan (1978). Fairfax County, Virginia: A History. Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. ISBN 978-0-9601630-1-4.
  3. 1 2 3 4 “To Thomas Jefferson from Jeremiah Moore, 12 July 1800,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-32-02-0036. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 32, 1 June 1800 – 16 February 1801, ed. Barbara B. Oberg. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005, pp. 52–54.]
  4. ↑ Moorefield: Vienna, Virginia : Home of Jeremiah Moore. Southwest Vienna Citizens Association. 1973.
  5. 1 2 3 Semple, Robert Baylor (1810). A History of the Rise and Progress of the Baptists in Virginia. author.
  6. ↑ Russell D. Moore, "Baptist After All: Resurgent Conservatives Face the Future," in Why I am a Baptist (ed. Tom J. Nettles and Russell D. Moore; Nashville: B&H, 2001), 233-46.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Moore, William Cabell (1933). "Jeremiah Moore, 1746-1815". The William and Mary Quarterly. 13 (1): 18–25. doi:10.2307/1922832. ISSN 0043-5597. JSTOR 1922832.
  8. 1 2 3 "Fairfax Resolves SAR - Jeremiah Moore". www.fairfaxresolvessar.org. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
  9. 1 2 Virginia Baptist Ministers. Sheldon. 1859.
  10. ↑ The Latter Day Luminary. Board. 1818.
  11. 1 2 "Founders Online: To James Madison from Jeremiah Moore, 1810 (Abstract)". founders.archives.gov. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
  12. ↑ "God In America - People - The Virginia Experience". God in America. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
  13. ↑ Little, Louis Peyton. Imprisoned Preachers and Religious Liberty in Virginia. Lynchburg, Va.: J.P. Bell Co., 1938.
  14. ↑ R, HImes, Kenneth (2014-04-10). Christianity and the Political Order: Conflict, Cooptation, and Cooperation. Orbis Books. ISBN 978-1-60833-296-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. ↑ “From Thomas Jefferson to Jeremiah Moore, 14 August 1800,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-32-02-0066. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 32, 1 June 1800 – 16 February 1801, ed. Barbara B. Oberg. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005, pp. 102–103.]
  16. ↑ "Founders Online: To Thomas Jefferson from Jeremiah Moore, 17 October 1808". founders.archives.gov. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
  17. ↑ "Primitive Baptist Associations collection - Virginia - Ketockton Primitive Baptist Association // Archives & Special Collections at Southeastern". archives.sebts.edu. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
  18. ↑ Compiled Service Records of Soldiers who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War. Series M881, Roll 1094. Washington, District of Columbia, National Archives and Records Administration.
  19. 1 2 "Moore/Hunter Family Cemetery - Cemeteries - Fairfax County, Virginia". www.fairfaxcounty.gov. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
  20. 1 2 "153-0004". DHR. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
  21. 1 2 Moore, Jeremiah (1810). An Enquiry Into the Nature and Propriety of Ecclesiastical Establishments: In a Letter to Howard Griffith. To which is Annexed a Sermon, Entitled The Jerusalem which is Above. Warner & Hanna.
  22. ↑ Beliles, Mark A.; Newcombe, Jerry (2014-10-21). Doubting Thomas?: The Religious Life and Legacy of Thomas Jefferson (in Arabic). Morgan James Publishing. ISBN 978-1-63047-151-4.
  23. ↑ Moore, Jeremiah (1813). The Doctrine of Universal Conditional Salvation Examined;: And Its Opposition to the Divine Perfections of the Supreme Deity, as They are Revealed in the Sacred Scriptures, Stated; in a Series of Letters to a Lady in Alexandria. Peter Brynberg.
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