Birmingham age-herald., 1895-06-09
ANDREW B. MOORE

was native of South Carolina. He was elected to the Alabama house of repre- sentatives from Perry county in 1889. MT. Moore was a lawyer by profession. bIe was a democrat and was defeated by the whig candidate for the legislature in 1S40, but in 1842 he was elected. Though he represented a southern county, he took high ground in favor of the white basis of north Alabama origin, which prevailed in the legislature.
 In 1S43 strong opposition was made to him by the whigs on account of his vote for the white basis, but in spite of all opposition he was elected by a neat ma jority and continued to hold his place in the legislative body for three years At the three latter sessions he was elected speaker of the house.
 MT Moore frequently called some mem Der to the chair when question was taken up which he wished to discuss, and he often freely mingled in debate on the floor. He came with thorough prep aration, and his lucid arguments had considerable influence As a party tac- tician he was skillful and rigid, seldom granting quarter to an adversary and always ready for a contest. He pos sessed a commanding person and an ex- Ih him for a leader His mind was logical and tenacious of facts, always having at his control the necessary data to sup port his statements when required. He was indeed a prominent figure in any discussion, particularly such as involved the representative character of the gov ernment and the sovereignty of the state. On such occasions his power was mani- fest.
 He seldom participated in minor de- bates, but reserved his strength for the more important topics. After 1S45 MT. Moore remained in private life several years, devoting his time and attention to the practice of law. In 1851 Governor Collier appointed MT. Moore to fill a va cancy on the circuit bench. He accepted the appointment and filled the office to the end of the term, and was regularly elected to that office until 1857, when he was nominated by the democratic party for the office of governor, to succeed Governor Winston. There was quite a contest among the aspirants of the party for the nomination, but none for gov ernor.
 He was elected without opposition and served his term through to the satisfac- tion of his party. In 1859 he received the nomination for a second term and was elected by a large majority
 At the session of the legislature in 1859 joint resolutions were adopted au- thorizing the governor to call conven- tion of the people of the state in the event that an abolition candidate was elected president of the United States in 1860
 This emergency having arisen by the election of MT. Lincoln Governor Moore promptly issued his proclamation order ing an election of delegates from the sev- eral counties to meet in convention at Montgomery in January, 1861, for the purpose of taking such steps as might be necessary to withdraw the state from the union, as the legislature had directed. The ordinance of secession was passed on the 11th day of January. Governor Moore had already sent military com mand to take possession of the forts at Pensacola, Fla, as precautionary meas ure to prevent them being occupied by the United States troops as a point from which to invade Alabama.
 This seemingly hasty step was much commented upon in the conventional was regarded by some with favor and others with objection. None. however, questioned the patriotic motives of Gov ernor Moore, who was known to be thor oughly secessionist and much inn pressed with the advantage of disunion to the south.
 The war was fairly in progress when he retired from the executive office in No- vember, 1861. He was a private citizen When the war terminated in 1865 in a manner wholly different from what he anticipated when he was signing docu- ments that added fuel to the flames.
 l If Governor Moore's action were to be stamped with blame he was not alone in the error. He was only acting out the sen timent and wishes of hundreds of people of his state. Governor Moore was con sidered a gentleman of high moral char acter, being a member of the Presby- terian church, and always agreeable and blameless in private life. As leg fslator, judge and chief magistrate he leaves an honorable record. l.. E. M.