Charles Albert Moore

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Charles Albert Moore, b. 1840, Matagorda County, Republic of Texas, was the son of James Moore and Jane V. Cavenah. James Moore, a Tennessean, was one of Stephen Austin's "Old 300" colonists, arriving in Austin's Colony in 1824 with wife, Olive, and six children. Olive was deceased by 1837, and on October 10, 1837 James Moore, then forty-five years of age, married seventeen year-old Jane V. Cavenah. James Moore was deceased by October, 1840. Three years later, Jane married William Beaks, who raised Charles A. Moore to become a stockraiser. At the outset of the Civil War, the Beaks' ranch was running over 1000 head of cattle.

Growing up in Wharton County on the William Beaks' ranch provided Charles with the training and background that made him well-suited to serve in Terry's Texas Rangers. Family tradition also motivated him to join the Confederate cause. His father served in the War of Independence from Mexico, narrowly avoiding the Goliad massacre and afterwards guarding Sam Houston's rear in The Runaway Scrape. Charles' grandfather, Charles Cavenah, a veteran of the War of 1812, also performed rear guard duty in The Runaway Scrape. The Cavenah family also had several unfortunate encounters with indians.

Charles Moore's mother, Jane, arrived in the colony in 1826 with her father, Charles Cavenah, mother Sarah and three sisters. The family had been forced from it's league of land in Burnet County by the Comanche Indians and relocated in Matagorda County in 1827. During the winter, Mrs. Cavenah and three daughters were massacred by Karankawa Indians. Jane survived by feigning death when an old indian extracted his arrow from her chest.

When Charles Albert Moore enlisted in Company H, Terry's Texas Rangers, on September 7, 1861, he brought with him superior physical skills and a mental toughness that should have made him an outstanding cavalryman. However, such was not to be. In January 1862, Charles Albert Moore died of "natural causes" in a Nashville hospital. He likely succumbed to measles or pneumonia, two afflictions which greatly depleted the Rangers during their early months. It is doubtful that he ever faced the enemy.

(Charles A. Moore was a half-brother of Hank Lewis' great-grandfather, George Beaks.)