This tombstone was photographed at the Valley Cemetery in
Londonderry, New Hampshire
Henry Moor, M. A.
departed this life Feb 14, 1798
AEtat 34
A lecture silent, but
of sovereign power
To vice, confusion;
and to virtue, peace
Virtue alone has
majesty in death
Henry Moor was the son of William Moor and Martha Mack of
Londonderry. He graduated from Phillips Andover
Academy in 1787, and from Dartmouth College in 1793. He was the first preceptor of Groton Academy (now
known as the Lawrence Academy at Groton) from 1793 – 1796 for a salary of
$745.83. Following his brief teaching
career Henry Moor was a merchant in Londonderry, and died unmarried at age 34. Obviously,
he must have been a Freemason.
The St. Marks Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons is
located at 58 Broadway in Derry, New Hampshire. According to their website,
they were granted their charter in 1826, and met above James Thom’s grocery
store in East Derry, which at that time was still Londonderry. This is too late to have been the lodge where
Henry Moor belonged. I wondered where he became a Freemason?
The New England Historic Genealogical Society’s subscription
website www.americanancestors.org
has a data base of Massachusetts membership cards from 1733 – 1990. I didn't find Henry Moor listed there.
According to the website of the Grand Lodge of New
Hampshire, the first meeting of New Hampshire Freemasons was on 8 July 1789 in
Portsmouth, New Hampshire to create a Grand Lodge for the state. Many local lodges were involved in this
decision, so I’m sure that there must have been a lodge near Londonderry, or
perhaps near Dartmouth College, where he became a member. For example, St. John’s Lodge, No. 1 in
Portsmouth was gathered in 1736, one of the oldest Masonic Lodges in the USA.
My goodness! That is a huge tombstone!!
ReplyDeleteYes, there are some very big gravestones here in Londonderry. Some are taller than me, and made of slate!
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