Alice Moore was born in Paris, Illinois, June 18, 1850. Her father, the Gen. Jesse Hale Moore, scholar, clergyman, soldier and statesman, who died while serving his government as United States Consul in Callao, Peru, was at the time of her birth, president of the Paris academy. He came of an old Virginia family whose ancestors were noted for their participation in the wars of 1776 and 1812. Her mother, Rachel (Hines) Moore, a native of Kentucky, was a daughter of one of Kentucky's prominent families, which included the clergyman, William H. Thompson, and the Indiana jurist, John W. Thompson. From both sides of her family, she inherited literary taste.