Moore, Alfred

▪ United States jurist

born May 21, 1755, New Hanover County, N.C., U.S.

died October 15, 1810, Bladen County, N.C.

      associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1800–04).

      Moore's father, Maurice Moore (1735–77), and uncle, James Moore (1737–77), were both prominent in the early American Revolutionary cause. Moore himself was admitted to the bar in 1775 but spent the next two years as a military officer in the Revolution. He took part in the defense of Charlestown (later Charleston), S.C., in 1776. Upon his return to North Carolina in 1777, he resumed management of his family's plantation but headed a local militia that harried the British. In 1782 he entered politics, gaining prominence as attorney general of North Carolina but resigning in 1791 after the legislature forced him to divide his duties with the newly created office of solicitor general. He served a term in the state legislature and returned to private practice. His reputation continued to grow, and he was elected a judge of the state Superior Court in 1798. The following year Pres. John Adams appointed him to the U.S. Supreme Court to replace James Iredell.

      Moore's only opinion, Bas v. Tingy (1800), in which the court held that a “limited, partial war” existed with France, was welcomed by Federalists but criticized by Republicans. Moore retired in 1804 because of ill health.

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