Supreme Court Justice
Moore was nominated by President John Adams to a seat vacated by James Iredell. Moore's service was terminated on January 26, 1804, due to resignation.
In 1799, Associate Justice James Iredell died suddenly. On December 4, 1799, President John Adams responded to the vacancy by nominating Moore, who was then confirmed by the United States Senate on December 10, 1799, receiving his commission the same day. At 4 feet 5 inches tall he is the shortest justice ever to sit on the Supreme Court and, due to poor health, Moore’s contribution to the court was abbreviated. In his five years of service he wrote only one opinion, upholding a conclusion that France was an enemy in the undeclared Quasi-War of 1798–1799. Moore's scant contribution led one Court observer to place him atop a list of the worst justices in the history of the Court.
In the early 1780s, he married Suzanne Eagles. After leaving the Supreme Court in 1804, he helped found the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He died in Bladen County, North Carolina. His summer home, Moorefields, built around 1785 in Orange County, North Carolina near Hillsborough, still stands, and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Read more about this topic: Alfred Moore
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