T. O. Moore

T. O. Moore. . Born in Talladega, Alabama, in April 1842, Thomas Oscar (T.O.) Moore was a civic leader in Comanche. After Moore's father's business failed in 1854, the family moved to Texas, settling in Hays County in 1855. By the fall of 1857, the family had moved to Garden Valley in Smith County where T.O. Moore ran engines for his family's mills. , After the Civil War began in 1861, Moore joined Confederate Captain William Smith's company in Tyler, which later organized into the 7th Texas Volunteer Infantry. Moore served in Company F in February 1862, the infantry went to Fort Donelson in Tennessee and fought a battle against Union troops led by General Ulysses S. Grant on February 16, 1862, the Confederate troops surrendered and Moore was separated from his company. In March 1865, Moore was granted a leave of absence because of an illness and went back to Tyler. , In 1845, Moore visited Galveston on business, where he met his wife, Sarah Adeline Thomas (1850-1933). Because of his poor health, the recently married Moores moved to Comanche County in 1872. From 1872 until his death in 1910, Moore served as a community leader in a variety of roles. He served as city secretary of Comanche, director of the Comanche Foundry, an elected trustee of the public schools of Comanche, and in many other positions. In 1892, desiring to heal some lingering sectional tension after the Civil War, Moore invited a Union soldier, Dr. James Thomas, to Comanche so that Moore could return Thomas' book that was found on a battlefield in 1862. When Thomas arrived, the town had a large celebration. As a civic leader, T.O. Moore played an important role in post-Civil War growth and recovery in Comanche.