Category: Treasure Chest Thursday

Here we are again with a new week and a new “bible”. Okay, so technically this week isn’t a bible. It is very connected to it though, so it fits with my theme from last week. This book is called Four Thousand Questions & Answers.

The copyright is from 1898, so for a book over a hundred years old, it’s in great condition. As you can tell from the title page, this book was for Students and Sunday-School Teachers. This wasn’t a surprise to me, because Llewellyn and her family were very involved with the church. I believe Llewellyn even taught Sunday School herself if her Diary is any indication. Before taking the pictures for this blog post, I just assumed this book was my Grandfathers since I have so much documentation from his early years.

I thought that until I actually read through the whole inscription.

Presented to William Moore by his S.S. teacher for his punctual attendance 51 Sundays. Xmas 1913

Well, that is definitely not Grandpa’s book because he was born in 1930. This must be his father’s book! To have such an old memento from the Moore family is very rare. In the first place, there aren’t a lot of people around that can identify any Moores in pictures. Secondly, for a few generations the mothers died early on and the children were working from a young age, leaving little time for many mementos. That’s what makes this one so special.

Great-Grandpa would have just turned 12 when he got this book from his teacher. In just a few years he will have started working for numerous companies as a bookkeeper. His mother could already have passed away. I haven’t found her death certificate yet, but it happened between 1910 and 1915. Within 10 years the whole family dynamic will change. They’ll move from their decades long residence in Brooklyn and move to Caldwell, New Jersey to live with his grandfather and aunt. There he meets his future wife, probably at church. His father and grandfather will pass away in 1925 and 1928. In 1925 he’ll go to work for AT&T as a bookkeeper and he’ll stay there until he retires over 35 years later. In 1926 he’ll marry Llewellyn and they’ll have one son and 5 grandchildren.

I never met William L. Moore, my great-grandfather, but from the records and memories he’s left behind I can tell you a lot about his personality. He came from a family who experienced a lot of hardships and instability. Even though the family was struggling, he still made it to Sunday School for 51 Sundays. He still graduated from night school. He got the education to work as a bookkeeper. From Llewellyn’s diary when they were dating, he worked a lot of overtime but still made sure to meet her at the train everyday. Amidst all that chaos and change, he became one of the most dependable men I think I’ll ever know about. Even through all the hardships they went through the decades they were married, to this day everyone remembers William and Llewellyn as being rocks of the community. They were there when people needed them and everyone speaks so kindly of them. It’s enough to make me sad I was born too late to know them.

Man, who knew I’d get so emotional about a little book, right?

I will save you from hearing about how great of a record keeper my Great-Grandma was. Obviously Treasure Chest Thursday would not have been the same without her, but we will just move straight to the point of this post. Newspaper articles! (Copyright Notice: I was given permission by The Progress to post these clippings. Thank you! theprogressnj.com)

Like any proud mother, my great grandma saved newspaper clippings of her only child’s achievements. Lucky for me, she not only saved these articles but in a large group of them, she wrote the paper’s name, The Progress, and the date of publication. I am still scanning in some so I thought putting these articles about Grandpa’s time with the North Caldwell Police Department would be a cool post.

Here is an article about some of his training shortly after he joined the police department. Being a skilled marksman was a family trait it seems. When my father joined the Marine Corps, he also was one of the top shots. A few weeks ago, on my private Facebook page, I posted a scan of one of Grandpa’s old report cards from 1947-48. He was an okay student but for the year of that report card, he got straight A’s in his Safety class.

Even though they call him Danny in the caption, he did indeed build the desk at the police station that consolidated all the different systems. When I would talk to Grandpa about his earlier years, his time as police chief was one of his favorite topics. One of his favorite stories was about this desk. He thought it was such a waste of resources that they all couldn’t talk to each other.

This actually reminds me of the Christmas that he spent with us in 2011. We had an old tree topper star that didn’t work anymore. My Mom was hesitant about throwing it out because it was the one we used for many years. Well, Grandpa asked if he could give it a shot. Sure enough, he took the thing apart and found the problem. He knew exactly how to fix it. It’s no surprise to me now that so many of his grandchildren are gadget geeks. It’s in our blood from the looks of it!

In 1967, the department promoted Grandpa from Sergeant to Lieutenant. It’s so amazing some of the details you can get from articles like this. From the article I learned that Grandpa also volunteered with the Fire Department. It tells you that his parents lived on Park Avenue. I know from the records that they lived there for almost 60 years. It even tells you that he had a wife, Florence, and four children (Hi Dad! You made the paper!).

It’s really great to have so many of these articles that help me to verify not just his occupation, but some of the other details surrounding his life. It is only a glimpse though. Throughout all the newspaper clippings, we have these achievements and good news announcements. The one article missing from Great-Grandma’s collection is any mention of Stevie and his tragic car accident. That one I’ll have to search out myself. I understand 100% the reason for its absence among all the other articles. As the family historian, I’m going to have to search out the sadder family events in addition to the happier times.

Speaking of happier times, in 1972 “dashing Captain Bill Moore” made the papers once again for of all things, his mustache.

In 1976, the Chief of Police resigned from his position. They named Grandpa as acting Chief and he kept the position until his retirement. This article gives us some great dates for his career as a police officer. He joined the force in 1958, promoted to sergeant in 1962, promoted to lieutenant in 1967, and then to captain in 1971.

As a genealogist I look at these years when he is having a great career and I think about what was going on in his family. Grandpa and Grandma were married in 1951, and he joined the force in 1958. They had four children by that time. Stevie would be born in 1959. By the time he was named acting chief in January of 1976, he had lost a child, gained five grandchildren, been divorced and re-married, gained three stepchildren, and was essentially estranged from his children.

In 1977, many local officials were given safety awards. That means thirty years after receiving straight A’s in a secondary school safety class, Grandpa proved he still considered safety a top priority.

Finally we make it to 1983 when he retired from the police force. Picture above with his second wife, Jackie, you will see they gave him a gold pocket watch. The thing is, Grandpa was an antiques dealer and yes I have the newspaper article to prove it!

Every item he came across would be analyzed and valued monetarily, and if it was of some value then it would be sold. There are very few valuables that weren’t sold or traded. In the article, he talks about leaving space in the basement for historical furniture. I definitely remember that he always had historical furniture in his house. I also remember that none of it was heirloom furniture from our family. The only things that weren’t sold were these mementos from the police department and the documents that his mother had in her house. There are so many things in his life that he had no attachment to, but those mementos from the police department, he kept.

This pocket watch is the only “valuable” item from Grandpa’s past besides Llewellyn’s bits and pieces. That isn’t an insult to him, I am just saying that you can tell what he really valued by the items that were kept. I never expected to inherit the porcelain tea set listed in Llewellyn’s gift registry. It is interesting to see how Llewellyn and her son differed on the value they placed on objects from the past. From the article where he talked about antiques, you get the sense that he took a great interest in history. From his actions, it seems to me that he saw the profit in the objects from history. I know it might sound like I’m insulting him. I’m really not. Our family just had to learn that he valued these items differently than we did.

I love this badge, it is my absolute favorite keepsake. I couldn’t explain it if I had to. It kind of sums him up perfectly by the end of his life. A little battered and bruised, but still strong and proud.

Source List:

Llewellyn’s Boxes, privately held by Kathleen Moore, [address for private use,] Lexington Park, Maryland, 2005. This collection originally compiled by Llewellyn Thorward-Moore. After her death they resided with her son until 2005, when they passed to Kathleen Moore, his grand-daughter.