John Henry Moores was an American businessman and politician in the state of.
Background
The son of Isaac R. Moores, he was born in Alabama and moved to the Territory in 1852. John Henry Moores was born in Huntsville, Alabama, on June 26, 1821. He grew up in Danville, Illinois, before moving to Benton, Missouri, where he began working.
Career
In, he would serve in the State Senate and as the mayor of Salem. He was the oldest child of Isaac R. Moores and Jane Alexander. Moores married Virginia Lafayette Lamon (July 14, 1825 – June 9, 1897) on May 11, 1847.
In 1851, Moores returned to Danville before heading west over the Trail to the Territory in March 1852.
John joined his family in this trek, and all arrived in November 1852 in Portland. He then moved to Salem in March 1853.
They would build the brick Moores block in that city, now site of the Pioneer Trust Building. In 1858, Moores served as mayor of Salem for a brief time prior to the city charter legally passing the state legislature, after he had already served on the city’s first city council.
He returned to the post of mayor in 1864, and then served three consecutive terms from 1866 to 1869.
In 1870, he was elected to the State Senate. He served four years, representing Marion County as a Republican. John Moores also served as Marion County Treasurer and on the board of trustees at Willamette University.
Additionally, he was on the board of directors for the Salem school district and the State Agricultural Society.
Moores would buy the South Salem Flour and Lumber Mills, selling off part of it in the 1870s while combining the timber interest with the Capital Lumbering Company. He worked as manager and secretary of the company beginning in June 1876, until his death.
Along with George H. Atkinson, he selected the site of the State Insane Aslyum (now State Hospital) and the State Penitentiary as part of a special commission. Children of John and Virginia were Charles B., Albert, Gertrude, Bertha, Carrie, and Althea.
Charles would later serve in the House of Representatives and was Speaker of the chamber in 1895.
John Henry Moores died on December 16, 1880, at the age of 59 in Salem. He was buried at Salem Pioneer Cemetery where many in his family are buried.
Membership
John's wife Virginia was a founding member of Salem’s Children"s Aid Society in 1865.