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ROBERT A. MOORE. Eminent business talent is composed of a combination of high mental and moral attributes. It is not simply energy and industry; there must be sound judgment, breadth of capacity, rapidity of thought, justice and firmness, the foresight to perceive the drifting tides of business and the will and ability to control them, and, withal, a collection of minor but important qualities to regulate the details of the pursuits which engage attention. Robert A. Moore, superintendent and manager of the Moore Manufacturing Company, of Springfield, affords an exemplification of this talent, if not in its highest development, yet an extraordinary character, and notwithstanding the somewhat limited theater of his operations he has achieved a reputation which places him in the front rank of Greene county's progressive successful men of affairs. Mr. Moore was born in Wayne county, New York, May 11, 1846. He is a son of Robert N. and Sarah (Pollok) Moore. The father was born in Duchess county, New York, in 1818, received a good education in his native state and there married and engaged in farming, later becoming a capitalist and was a promoter in agricultural lines in the South until the war. His death occurred at Burlington, Iowa, in 1876. His wife was a native of Wayne county, New York, and the date of her birth was 1823. She grew to womanhood in her native locality and received an excellent education, including a course in the Elmira Seminary, from which institution she was graduated. She was a woman of culture and many praiseworthy attributes. Her death occurred in Richmond, Virginia, in 1858, when still a young woman. To Robert N. Moore and wife four children were born, namely: James Z., Robert A., Frank P. and Mary.
Robert A. Moore received a limited education in the public schools of his native state, but this early deficiency has more than been made up by wide home reading and contact with the world in later years. He found it necessary to leave school when he was sixteen years old, and, taking Horace Greeley's advice, went West to seek his fortune. He located in Burlington, Iowa, in 1863, and there began railroading with the bridge and civil engineering department of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, with which department he remained for five or six years, then took up contracting, which he followed until the death of his father in 1876. He remained in working as a millwright and superintendent until 1886, when he to Springfield, Missouri, where he continued to work as millwright. In 1892 he opened a manufacturing business at 600 East Phelps avenue, beginning the manufacture of school and church furniture. The business was a success from the first and it was incorporated in 1893. He has continued in this line of endeavor to the present time with ever increasing success, and Moore Manufacturing Company is now widely known throughout the Southwest and has a capital stock of twenty-five thousand dollars. Its products find a very ready market owing to their high-grade workmanship, finish and quality, seating, fine cabinet work and machinery being specialties; also school and church furniture, office fittings, tables, desks, law cases, opera chairs, assembly chairs, hall seatings, railroad seatings, lawn seatings, etc. In connection with the wood work the company handles machinery for various kinds of wood work manufacturing and a large trade is also enjoyed in this department. The plant is a large, well equipped and substantial one, modern in its various appointments, and a large number of skilled mechanics are constantly employed. Only the best grade of material is used and only the highest grade of workmanship is permitted to go out of the factory. The officers of the company are: Flora L. Moore (wife of our subject), president; Robert A. Moore, superintendent and manager; H. A. Hutchins, secretary; Charles I. Moore and Frank P. Moore, directors.
Robert A. Moore was married twice, first in 1871, to Christiana.Morgan, whose death occurred in 1879. To this union three children were born, namely: Charles I., born in 1872, lives on a farm in Laclede county, Missouri; Frank P., born in 1877, is in business with his father; Julia L., born in 1879, died in May, 1900. In October, 1888, Mr. Moore was united in marriage to Flora Hutchins, in Springfield, Missouri. She was born in Greene county, this state, March 5, 1868, and was reared and educated here. She-is a daughter of Thomas A. and Elizabeth A. (Bowker) Hutchins, both natives of Massachusetts, the father born in. June, 1824, and died in Arizona in February, 1893; the death of the mother occurred in Springfield, Missouri., July 11, 1901. Eight children were born to Thomas A. Hutchins and wife, namely: Howard B. is deceased; Mary E., Edward W., Angeline, Harriet, Flora L., Clara E. and Francis S.
Four children were born to Mr. Moore's second marriage, namely: Fred N., born in 1889, lives in Oklahoma and is in the employ of the Frisco Lines; Ester I., born in .1892, is principal of the high school at Miller, Missouri; Ruth W., born in 1895, is attending Drury College, and Katherine S., born in 1901,is also attending school.
Politically, Mr. Moore is a Democrat, and he and his family are members of Calvary Presbyterian church.
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