Thomas Overton Moore
| Thomas Overton Moore | |
|---|---|
 |
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| 16th Governor of Louisiana | |
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In office January 23, 1860 – January 25, 1864 |
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| Lieutenant | Henry M. Hyams |
| Preceded by | Robert C. Wickliffe |
| Succeeded by | Henry Watkins Allen |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
April 10, 1804 Sampson County, North Carolina |
| Died | June 25, 1876 (aged 72) near Alexandria, Louisiana |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Bethiah Johnston Leonard |
| Relations | Grove Stafford (great-grandson) |
| Religion | Presbyterian |
| Signature |  |
Thomas Overton Moore (April 10, 1804 – June 25, 1876) was an attorney and politician who was the 16th Governor of Louisiana from 1860 until 1864 during the American Civil War. Anticipating that Louisiana's Ordinance of Secession would be passed in January 1861, he ordered the state militia to seize all U.S. military posts.
Moore was born in Sampson County, North Carolina, one of eleven children of James Moore and Jane Overton. The Moores were a Carolina planter family, and Jane Overton was the daughter of General Thomas Overton, a Tennessean and friend of Andrew Jackson. In 1829, Moore moved to Rapides Parish, Louisiana, to become a cotton planter. The next year, he married Bethiah Johnston Leonard, with whom he had five children.
Originally the manager of his uncle's plantation, he bought his own (Moreland), along with two others (Lodi and Emfield) and became highly prosperous. He was elected to the State House of Representatives in 1848, and the State Senate in 1856. In the Senate, Moore was chairman of the Education Committee and led the effort to establish the Louisiana State Seminary, now known as Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College. Moore played a role in the selection of William Tecumseh Sherman as the first Superintendent of the La. State Seminary.
He was elected Democratic governor in November 1859, defeating Thomas Jefferson Wells, and shortly thereafter had the occasion to meet W.T. Sherman, superintendent of the newly created Louisiana Military Academy in Pineville, the forerunner of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. He took the oath of office on January 23, 1860. In his inaugural address, Moore told the legislators and visitors at the Capitol that a powerful party in the North threatened the existence of the slave-holding states:
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