"M" is for Moore, James, Jr. (ca. 1682-1724)

"M" is for Moore, James, Jr. (ca. 1682-1724). Governor. James Moore, Jr., was South Carolina’s first native-born governor. He was a prosperous planter and represented Berkeley and Craven Counties in the Commons House of Assembly. In 1717 as a colonel in the militia, he led an expedition into North Carolina against the Tuscarora Indians that crippled the Tuscarora’s ability to make war and enabled North Carolina to survive. In December 1719, the colonists ousted the proprietary government in the bloodless Revolution of 1719. The revolutionary assembly elected Moore as provisional governor. Under his leadership the colonists quickly reconstituted South Carolina’s government and defeated a short-lived counter-revolution. In 1721, Moore delivered the government safely into the hands of the colony’s first royal governor. James Moore, Jr., returned to the Commons House where served as Speaker until his death.