US Congressman, US Senator. He was born at 'Cannicello,' near Fairfield, Rockbridge (formerly Augusta) County, in the State of Virginia, in about 1752. He was educated locally and later attended the prestigious Augusta Academy (later Washington and Lee University), in Lexington, Virginia. In his early life, he made a voyage to the West Indies and was shipwrecked becoming a castaway on a desert island, where for three weeks he and his companions lived on a species of lizard. He then studied law under law professor, classics scholar, judge, and United States Declaration of Independence Signer George Wythe, was admitted to the bar in 1774, and practiced. He then entered military service with the rank of Lieutenant and served in the American Revolutionary War with John Hays and a company of nineteen other men. He was then promoted to the rank of Captain in the Continental Army and saw action at the Battles of Saratoga in 1777. Following the war, he was then promoted to the rank of Brigadier General in 1779, and then to the rank of Major General when he served with the Virginia Militia in 1803. He then entered politics and served two terms as a Member of the Virginia State House of Delegates from 1780 to 1783, and again from 1785 to 1788. He was also a Delegate to the Virginia Convention that ratified the Federal Constitution in 1788. He then decided to run for a seat in the United States Congress and was elected defeating Independent George Hancock with 84.16% of the vote. A Member of the Democratic Party, he then served Virginia's 2nd District, and 3rd District, (First Congress and to the three succeeding Congresses, reelected unopposed in 1790, 1793, and 1795), in the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1789, to March 3, 1797. After his term in the United States Congress expired he was succeeded in office by United States Representative Joseph Neville Jr., for his term representing the 3rd District from 1789 to 1793, and he was succeeded in office by United States Representative David Holmes for his term representing the 2nd District from 1793 to 1797. He served two terms as a Member of the Virginia State House of Legislature from 1791 to 1789, and again from 1799 to 1800, and he also served a term as a Member of the Virginia State Senate from 1799 to 1801. A Member of the Democratic-Republican Party, he then successfully contested the election of United States Representative Thomas Lewis Jr. to represent the 5th District (Eighth Congress) as an At-Large Delegate in the United States House of Representatives and served in that position from March 5, 1804, to August 11, 1804. After his term in the United States Congress expired he was succeeded in office by United States Representative Alexander Wilson. A Member of the Democratic-Party, he then was appointed to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy in the term beginning March 4, 1799, caused by the resignation of United States Representative Wilson Cary Nicholas, and took his seat on November 6, 1804, resigned on December 4, 1804, and was subsequently elected on December 4, 1804, to fill the vacancy in the term beginning March 4, 1803, caused by the resignation of United States Senator Abraham Bedford Venable and served two terms in that position from August 11, 1804, to December 4, 1804, and again from December 4, 1804, to March 4, 1809, serving alongside the United States Senator William Branch Giles. After his term in the United States Senate expired he was succeeded in office by United States Representative and lawyer Richard Brent. He lastly was appointed to the position of United States Marshall for the State of Virginia in 1810 and served until his death on April 14, 1821. He passed away in Lexington, Virginia, on April 14, 1821, at about the age of 69, and he was buried in Lexington Cemetery in that city. He was married to Sarah McDowell Reid on March 31, 1795, in Rockbridge County, Virginia, and they had three children together, three boys. His wife Sarah passed away in 1860 at the age of 83, and was buried beside her husband. His three sons all became successful including Andrew Moore who became a lawyer, Samuel McDowell Moore who became a United States Representative from the State of Virginia, and David Evans Moore who became a lawyer and a Member of the Virginia State Legislature.