Genealogy of Captain William Graff Moore and his wife Elmira Seltzer
of Womelsdorf, Pennsylvania and Redlands, California

American Ancestors

The primary purpose of this website is to identify all the direct American ancestors of Captain William Graff Moore and his wife Elmira Seltzer.

Direct ancestors are marked with a tree symbol, making it easier to navigate through children.

The main Moore surname line consists of:

Please contact me if you are particularly interested in any of these families.

Website status

Extended family questions

  • Immigrant William Moore of Reading had two known brothers; Samuel's will hints of other siblings. Who might they be?
  • The Judge James Moore biography says there were more cousins. Who were they?
  • Is William Moore of Reading in any way related to James Moore of Convoy & Womelsdorf? Apparently not.

The James Moore of Convoy family

James Moore of Convoy Ireland and widow Frances Gray married in northern Ireland in 1772 and later resided in Womelsdorf, Pennsylvania. Three of their children wrote wills that name over seventy individuals, including descendants of our William Moore of Reading.  A family bible transcription lists aunts, uncles and relatives of William Moore of Lebanon, the author of one of the three wills.

That family has been untangled and added to this database: James Moore of Convoy (1745-1824); his sons John Moore of Philadelphia (1774 - 1830) and William Moore of Lebanon; Gray (-abt 1770), the first husband of Frances Gray (1740-1783); John Moore of Lewistown (1751 - 1822); John Moore of Lewisburg, 2nd (1759 - 1834); and Samuel Moore of Stouchsburg (1786 - 1848).

The question is whether William Moore of Reading is in any way related to James Moore of Convoy. There is one well-known connection by marriage: Dr. William Moore (grandson of William of Reading) married in 1840 Mary Ann Doll, niece of the wife of William Moore of Lebanon (son of James). Furthermore, Mary Ann Doll, who was orphaned very young, was raised by William Moore of Lebanon and his wife, her aunt. But that marriage was in the third generation, and may explain the few relationship terms used in the wills and bible mentioned above.

Recent research on William Moore and his brother Samuel found no connection to the James Moore of Convoy family.

Please contact me if you have more interest in this question.

About the research

The research emphasis has been on identifying ancestors with some degree of certainty.  So information on this website is firstly evidence of relationships, and, for the direct ancestors, should meet genealogical standards of proof.  Sources are cited for nearly everything.

Biographical information is provided for some ancestors; for others, additional information may be found in the cited sources and by internet searches. Copies of some source materials are available on request.