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[A quarter of a century has passed since that tragic day in August, 1935, when an entire community was saddened by the death of “the old country preacher.” That was the only title desired by Bro. William Dudley Moore, who chose to be a servant among his own people rather than to sit in the seats of the mighty, or to mingle with those who craved high honors in the ministry.
The only child of Hamilton G. and Lucy Ann Moore, Bro. Moore lived his entire life on or near the farm where he was born about four miles south of Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. He was born June 9, 1856. His father, a veteran of the Mexican-American War, fought at Buena Vista in 1847. Hamilton Moore died in 1857, leaving his infant son to be reared by the widowed mother. The father is buried at Old Salt River where his gravestone bears the inscription, “He fought on Buena Vista’s bloody field.”
The young mother gave herself untiringly to the rearing of her son, and even until the time of his death Bro. Moore made frequent mention of “Mother.” She died at her home in 1901. She is buried at Hebron.]
We can take now [2006] the family's story back in history quite a bit further. Lucy Ann Searcy Moore (1830-1901) was the daughter of Sarah (Sallie) Morton Searcy, the daughter of William (d. 1826) and Elizabeth Moore Morton of Woodford County. William Morton, a Revolutionary War soldier, had migrated to Kentucky with his parents, John (d. 1810) and Sarah Morton, about 1790. This family lent its name to the scenic old Woodford County village of Mortonsville.
In the late 1820s, Sallie Searcy married Dudley Searcy, son of Henry and Elizabeth Haynes Searcy. Henry Searcy died during the cholera outbreak of 1833 at Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. He was preceded in death by his son Dudley (Sallie’s father), in May, 1831. Henry and Dudley both show up in the 1830 Census for Anderson County. In the summer of 1831, then, Sallie Searcy found herself a widow with an infant daughter (Lucy Ann was born July 29, 1830). She and her daughter and one slave are listed in the 1840 Census of Anderson County, living on a plot between the families of her brother Reuben and the Arthur Moore family. Anderson County records show her purchasing land in 1849 in the area of Ripyville. In the 1850 census of Anderson County, we find her sharing the household in Ripyville with Lucy, her brother Elijah, and seven slaves, several of whom she had purchased during the 1840s. Her brother Reuben lived in the neighborhood with his family, including his son William (Will) Morton, who would prove to be a good friend to young W. D. Moore.
Lucy Searcy must have grown up knowing her neighbor, young Hamilton G. Moore (b. 1822), son of Arthur and Nancy Plough Moore. Hamilton G.'s young adulthood included service in the Mexican War, 1847-1848. Several well-written, intelligent letters from Hamilton to Lucy exist. The couple were married March 23, 1854, by Rev. Jordon Walker, a local Baptist minister and civic leader. Things did not go smoothly. By the time their son, William Dudley, was born in the summer of 1856, Hamilton and Lucy were separated. Lucy Moore’s mother, Sallie Searcy, apparently questioned Hamilton Moore’s ability to support her daughter financially.
One of Hamilton’s letters to Lucy survives, a plaintive request, in light of his failing health, to at least see his new son. Family tradition has it that one of the slaves took little “Dudley” to Salvisa for the meeting. Sadly, Hamilton G. Moore died young, May 12, 1857. W. D. Moore, of course, had no recollection of his father, but in later years respected his name and kept in touch with his father's half-brother, Noel Moore. In addition, he inherited from his father some land in far Western Kentucky near Clinton. He spent a lot of time and energy in the 1880s and 1890s trying to figure out how best to make money from this land.
For most of his first ten years, then, “Dudley” Moore grew up on the old home place in a household consisting of himself, his mother, his grandmother Searcy, and the slaves, with other family members in the neighborhood.. The 1860 census of Anderson County lists the little family by name, along with eight slaves. The peace and quiet of their country life was interrupted by the coming of the Civil War. In early October, 1862, Union and Confederate armies were on a collision course in Central Kentucky. Columns of soldiers from both armies marched through Lawrenceburg. There were skirmishes with the Confederates all along the roads. Family tradition has it that the decisive battle was anticipated in southern Anderson County, near Ripyville. The little Searcy/Moore family, including six-year-old Dudley, left the home place in a "two-horse" buggy for a safer location. However, the battle took place farther to the Southwest, near the town of Perryville.
In the early months of the Civil War, on October 26, 1861, Lucy Moore had been baptized near Salvisa by Rev. Frank H. Hodges, becoming a member of Salvisa Baptist church. A letter written by W. D. Moore to his mother while he was in college recalled that he was upset at the baptismal scene--as a little fellow he thought the preacher was trying to drown his mother! Later, of course, he himself would baptize dozens, if not hundreds. Many letters written by Lucy Moore survive, revealing a strong-minded, capable, intelligent woman, who was a loyal Baptist. She had a powerful influence on her son as long as she lived.
[The lad attended the one-room rural school near his home. Like many other small boys, he was not at all fond of school. Not infrequently did he insist (successfully) that his mother bridle a favorite horse and take the youngster to school. The apt pupil, however, was not long in becoming adjusted, and he learned rapidly.