Yuba
County
Biographies
CHARLES MOORE
One of the ablest and most
successful mining engineers of the West is Charles Moore, whose operations have
for many years centered in Utah, but who is an honored resident of Yuba City,
where he has a beautiful and commodious residence and office. Mr. Moore was born near Lebanon, Warren
County, Ohio, August 12, 1871, and is a son of Joe and Mary (Fondren) Moore,
both of whom are deceased. When he was about twelve years of age, the family moved to the
vicinity of Fort Worth, Texas, where the father engaged in farming and
stockraising. He was the owner of
three thousand acres of land, six hundred and forty acres of which were under
cultivation. There Charles Moore was
reared and his early education was received in the rural schools of that
neighborhood. At fifteen years of age he
entered high school in Fort Worth, which he attended three years, after which
he matriculated in the University of Texas, from which he was graduated with
the degree of Civil Engineer in 1892. He
engaged in surveying in western Texas and in New Mexico, but, discovering that
a technical knowledge of mining engineering also was essential in this western
country if he were to succeed, he returned to the University of Texas, at
Austin, and pursued the mining engineering course during 1901-2. In 1903 he went to Colorado and completed his
mining engineering studies in the Colorado School of Mines, at Golden. He took a special course, in which he secured
practical experience at actual work, handling pick and shovel in order to get
practical knowledge of every phase of the business, including mining and
milling. His first practical efforts
were at Leadville, Colorado, where he became financially interested in
mines. Subsequently he went to Utah,
locating at Park City, where he built two mills of his own, and was operating
his mines there when, in April, 1906, word was received of the San Francisco
earthquake and fire. In 1910 Moore’s
mines and mills were merged with the Utah-California Exploration Company, Mr.
Moore being still the principal owner and active manager. It is worthy of note that this mining
property has never missed a dividend since 1910.
Recently Mr. Moore became interested
in two other mines at Park City and is now the principal owner of the Star of
Utah Mining Company and the Mayflower Mining Company. Owing to the long, hard winters in Utah, and
being snowbound in Park City about seven months of the year, Mr. Moore decided
to seek a more agreeable climate in which to establish his permanent home. He at first considered San Diego, California,
but was finally prevailed upon, in 1926, to locate in Marysville,
California. He now has one of the finest
country residences in Sutter County, located at 560 Cooper Avenue, Yuba City. The building is an imposing structure of red
brick, and from his office here he conducts the operation of his Utah mines,
for which work he employs three clerks and stenographers. Mr. Moore is greatly impressed with the
agricultural and horticultural possibilities of Sutter County, but he adheres to
the old adage, “Shoemaker, stick to your lasts,” and confines his entire
business activities to his mining interests in Utah, in which he has been
distinctively successful. However, he is
the owner of a thousand acres of fine land in the Imperial Valley, which he
rents out to good advantage.
On March 21, 1907, in North
Carolina, Mr. Moore was united in marriage to Miss Louise Harris, who was born
in that state and is a daughter of the late J. H. Harris, a planter, who died
in May, 1930, at the age of eighty years.
Mr. and Mrs. Moore are the parents of three daughters, Louise, Mary and
Charlie. Mrs. Moore is a member of one
of America’s old families that came from England to this country in 1733 and
settled in North Carolina. They were
related to the Holmes and Gray families.
The Moore family also is of English origin, having come over and settled
in North Carolina in 1730, and during the subsequent two hundred years members
of the family have been large landowners and planters. Three Moore brothers fought in behalf of the
colonies in the war of the Revolution. Mr. Moore’s mother, Mary (Fondren)
Moore, was a granddaughter of Colonel Block, who fought under General Marion in
the Revolutionary War.
Mr. Moore takes an active interest
in public affairs, though he maintains an independent attitude as far as
political party lines are concerned. For
many years he was a member of the Park City commercial club of Park City, Utah,
and was for nine years its president. He
was several times importuned to accept the office of mayor of Park City, but
each time declined the honor. He
assisted in the organization of the State Bank of Park City and in various ways
contributed to the welfare of that place.
He is identified with a number of Park City’s fraternal organizations,
including the Free and Accepted Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and the Loyal Order of Moose, and for
the past three years has been a member of the Kiwanis Club of Yuba City. He is a man of action rather than words and
has accomplished much through his persistent energy and industry, backed by
sound, practical judgment.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J.W.Major History of Sacramento Valley
California, Vol. 3 Pages 326-330. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Yuba County Biographies