Colonel Maurice Moore, Winnabow
A mural plaque is dedicated to the memory of Colonel Maurice Moore. The marble tablet is five-feet high by three-feet wide and has an arched top with incised inscription. It is bolted to a wall in the ruins of St. Philip Church in Old Brunswick Town which is now a state historic site.
A MEMORIAL / TO / COL. MAURICE MOORE / GENTLEMAN AND SOLDIER OF THE KING / WHO IN THE / YEAR OF OUR LORD 1725 FOUNDED IN A WILDERNESS / THE TOWN OF BRUNSWICK / RESERVING FOR THE GLORY OF GOD THE PORTION OF LAND / ON WHICH WAS BUILT THIS PARISH CHURCH OF ST. PHILLIP. / ALSO TO THE / HEROES AND PATRIOTS OF THE LOWER CAPE FEAR WHOSE / BRAVE DEEDS ILLUSTRATED ITS COLONIAL HISTORY / BRUNSWICK WAS FOR A TIME THE SEAT OF THE ROYAL GOVERN- / MENT IN THE PROVINCE OF NORTH CAROLINA AND THE / RESIDENCE OF ITS GOVERNORS / JOHNSON, DOBBS, TYRON / IT WAS THE SCENE OF THE FIRST ARMED RESISTANCE / TO THE STAMP ACT IN ANY AMERICAN COLONY WHEN / CITIZEN SOLDIERS UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF / HUGH WADDELL AND JOHN ASHE / DEFIED THE POWER OF GREAT BRITAIN AND PREVENTED / THE LANDING OF THE STAMPS / FROM HER SHIPS OF WAR / NOV. 28, 1765 / THIS TABLET IS THE GIFT OF / SELINA M. HARVEY AND IDA N. MOORE / DESCENDANTS OF MAURICE MOORE / AND WAS ERECTED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE / NORTH CAROLINA SOCIETY / OF THE / COLONIAL DAMES OF AMERICAN / A.D. 1902. / FOR THESE ARE DEEDS THAT SHOULD NOT PASS AWAY / AND NAMES THAT MUST NOT WITHER.
Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site
May 6, 1902
34.040450 , -77.946170
View in Geobrowse
"Brunswick Town / Fort Anderson," North Carolina Historic Sites, https://historicsites.nc.gov, (accessed June 13, 2019) Link
"Colonel Maurice Moore - Winnabow in Brunswick County, North Carolina," Waymarking.com, (accessed June 24, 2017) Link
"Colonel Maurice Moore," The Historical Marker Database, HMdb.org, (accessed June 24, 2017) Link
London, Lawrence F. 1991. “Moore, Maurice,” NCPedia.org, (accessed June 13, 2017) Link
“Annual Pilgrimage.” The Wilmington Messenger (Wilmington, NC), May 4, 1902
“Brunswick County Monument, Markers and Plaques,” The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in The State of North Carolina, (accessed June 13, 2017) Link
“Exercises Yesterday at Old Brunswick.” The Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, NC), May 7, 1902
“To the Societies of the Colonial Dames of American, The North Carolina Society of Colonial Dames Sends a Cordial Greeting,” The North Carolina Historical And Genealogical Register 3.2 (1903), 221-223 Link
Yes
White marble
North Carolina Society of the Colonial Dames of America
The tablet was dedicated during the third annual pilgrimage by the North Carolina Society of Colonial Dames to the ruins of old St. Philip Church; an excursion that required two hours travel aboard the steamer Wilmington to reach the site of old Brunswick Town. A religious service proceeded the unveiling by little Miss Florence Kidder and Master Maurice Moore both lineal descendants of Maurice Moore. Judge H.G. Conner, President of the North Carolina Historical Society, was the keynote speaker. The afternoon was spent picnicking and exploring the ruins of the abandoned town before boarding the steamer for the return trip to Wilmington.
Brunswick Town was founded in 1725 but was largely abandoned and then partially burned by British Troops during the early years of the American Revolution. In 1779 the county seat was moved to a safer location and the town lay in ruins by 1783.
The tablet was carved in Philadelphia.
[Additional information from NCpedia editors at the State Library of North Carolina: This person enslaved and owned other people. Many Black and African people, their descendants, and some others were enslaved in the United States until the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in 1865. It was common for wealthy landowners, entrepreneurs, politicians, institutions, and others to enslave people and use enslaved labor during this period. To read more about the enslavement and transportation of African people to North Carolina, visit https://aahc.nc.gov/programs/africa-carolina-0. To read more about slavery and its history in North Carolina, visit https://www.ncpedia.org/slavery. - Government and Heritage Library, 2023.]
The Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site is at the intersection of St. Phillips Road Southeast and Brunswick Town Fort Anderson Road on the western bank of the Cape Fear River. The address is 8884 St. Philip’s Rd. SE, Winnabow, NC.
The memorial tablet is located on the east wall of the ruins of St. Philip Church.
Not far from the ruins is the Russelborough marker that commemorates the location a residence of colonial governors Arthur Dobbs and William Tryon.
The tablet is affixed to the inside wall of the St. Philips Church ruins. All four walls of the church are standing and in good repair, but there are no roof, windows or doors. The ruins of the church stand in the wilderness of a national park.
Know anything else about this monument that isn't mentioned here? If you have additional information on
this or any other monument in our collection fill out the form at the Contact Us link in the footer. Thank you.
