Edwin Ward Moore - Later Years

Later Years

After the dissolution of the Texas Navy, Moore spent many years in prosecuting financial claims against Texas. In 1844 the Texas House of Representatives concluded that Moore was owed $26,510.41. He was paid, in installments, with the last payment coming in 1856. Moore married Emma Matilda Stockton Cox of Philadelphia in 1849. She was a distant cousin of Commodore Robert Stockton.

In 1850, Moore and other officers petitioned the U.S. Navy to recognize their rank as officers with the Texas Navy. The House Naval Affairs Committee supported their claim, but the United States Supreme Court did not agree holding that when Texas joined the Union, only property, and not human beings, belonged to the United States. On 3 March 1857 Congress finally closed the books on Moore and the other officers by granting them five years of back pay at the salaries of corresponding U.S. Navy officers.

He was in New York City for a time attempting to perfect a machine to revolutionize marine engineering. His quarrel with Sam Houston over the justice of his suspension from the navy continued during Houston's term as U.S. Senator.

In 1860, Moore returned to Galveston, where he built the Galveston Customhouse. Moore died in New York City on 5 October 1865 of apoplexy, and is buried in the First Presbyterian Church of Germantown, Pennsylvania.

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