Mr. Moore is a lineal descendant of Deacon John Moore, the progenitor of the family in America, who came from England in 1630 on the "Mary and John," the same vessel on which the Edwards family and the ancestors of Gen. Grant also emigrated to the United States.    Deacon Moore first landed at Dorchester, Mass., and in company with Rev. Mr. Warham came to Windsor, Conn., in 1635—the same year that John Hooker and his company settled in Hartford. The Moores have nearly all been of a light and florid complexion, and rather tall. John Moore (2), a son of Deacon Moore, and a farmer by occupation, was born in Windsor, and married Hannah Goff.    Their son, John Moore (3), was born in Windsor, and in 1693 married Abigail Strong, a representative of one of the largest and most distinguished families in America.  Their son, John Moore  (4), was also born in Windsor, was a farmer by occupation, and was married Dec. 2, 1724, to Miss Abigail Stoughton. Roswell Moore, son of this worthy couple, was also a native of Windsor, and at an early day moved to Southington, Conn., where he followed agricultural pursuits.   He married Desire Dunham, of that place, and their son, Roswell Moore (2), was born there.  He was a farmer and manufacturer.  He married Lovina Philips, and they had thirteen children.  For fourteen consecutive years he represented Southington in the State Legislature, and his son-in-law, Gen. Grannis, represented the same town for that length of time.

Roswell Moore (3), the father of our subject, was born in Southington June 28, 1793, and was there married Oct. 14, 1823, to Miss Lucy Allen, whose father was an expert engraver on gold and copper, and also a worker in gold. Later Mr. Moore, who was a manufacturer, came to Berlin in order to secure better water power. He held several local offices of honor and trust in Berlin, includ-ing that of justice of the peace, and as a member of the Connecticut Light Infantry, in which he held the offices of captain and adjutant, he took an active interest in military affairs. He was religiously inclined, a consistent member of the Congregational Church, in which he served as deacon, and a strong temperance man. He was well liked by every one. In his family were three children, of whom our subject is the eldest; Ellen Eliza, born Dec. 30, 1828, in Kensington, graduated from Mt. Holyoke Seminary when Mary Lyon, the founder, was principal, and died Nov. 14, 1860. Roswell Allen, born Sept. 2, 1832, is a manufacturer in Kensington. In early life he was in business with his father, under the firm name of R. Moore & Sons, who were the first to make and succesfully introduce hydraulic cement as an article of commerce into the markets of this country.

As the father was a man of some means he was anxious that our subject should take a collegiate course at Yale, but, though the latter received what was then considered a liberal education, he neglected to avail himself of the higher advantages offered by his father, which fact he has in later life often regretted. Between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five years much of his time was spent in the mills, and he became able to do almost anything in the line of mechanical work. The year 1846 he spent in the railroad service, which was then in its infancy, holding the position of local agent at the Berlin station, on the New Haven & Hartford railroad, which then had its termini at those two cities.

During all these years Mr. Moore found more or less time to gratify his taste for drawing and painting, and while at the Berlin station he maintained a studio in the attic of the little depot, where he painted a few portraits for his friends, gratuitously. Of these it might be said that they bore a resemblance to their subjects. Although he always had a love for pictures, his first impulse to paint was when a portrait painter (the father of the present State labor commissioner, S. M. Hotchkiss) invited him to assist in painting by candlelight a portrait, or a study for one, of a little girl who had met with a fatal accident. His "assistance" was that of holding the light, and watching the progress of the study. This was when he was eighteen years of age. After that he embraced every opportunity to practice in a crude way the art of painting. On leaving the service of the railroad company he decided to study in New York, and entered the studio of Thomas S. Cummings, now the only survivor of those who organized the National Academy, of which Mr. Cummings was treasurer, and afterward vice-president. Later Mr. Moore entered the studio of D. Huntington, now and for many years the president of the Academy. On his return from New York he continued to practice his art at his home in Kensington, and soon his love for natural scenery drew him from portrait and figure painting to that of landscapes, to which he has since devoted his attention with great assiduity. Few artists have spent as much time in out-of-door study, in painstaking fidelity to nature, as Mr. Moore. His sketches comprise a great variety of subjects, including all seasons of the year, and have won favorable mention from those having a high appreciation of art.

About thirty years ago Mr. Moore erected his present residence, near the ancestral mansion above referred to, and to its natural beauty of situation he has since with the aid of nature and art, added such adornments as to entitle it now to be considered one of the most picturesque homes in New England. Many of his summers have been spent at Lake George, and prior to building his present residence in Kensington he lived for several years in Hartford, where he has since spent four years, in order to give his children better educational advantages. He has also spent much time in New York City, where at one time he had a studio in the Y. M. C. A. building.

On Jan. 25, 1853, Mr. Moore was united in mar-riage with Miss Ann Maria Pickett, who was born in Litchfield, Conn., June 3, 1832, a daughter of Hon. Alanson Jasper and Marietta (Smith) Pickett, the former a successful manufacturer and merchant of Litchfield. The children born to our subject and his wife are as follows : (1) Edwin Augustus, born Aug. 24, 1858, is also an artist, and has reached a high degree of success as a figure and animal painter, to which department of art his attention has been chiefly devoted. He makes his home with his father. (2) Ellen Maria, born Dec. 4, 1861, and also at home, has made quite a success in miniature painting on ivory, and in water colors. (3) Ethelbert Allen, born Nov. 30, 1864, is superintendent of the Stanley Works, of New Britain, Conn. He was married June 18, 1891, to Martha Elizabeth Hart, only daughter of William H. Hart, president of the Stanley Works, and they have two children —Barbara, born April 13, 1892; and Allen, born Sept. 23, 1896. (4) A. J. Pickett, born May 3, 1867, was married Oct. 14, 1892, to Mrs. Grace Robbins Stanley, and makes his home in New York.

Mr. Moore's ability as an artist has been justly appreciated by some of the best art critics in this country, and the "Connecticut Magazine" of Feb-ruary, 1899, reproduced his painting "The Hang-ing Hills of Meriden." The art critic of the De-troit Free Press truthfully said that his painting of water was so natural that one could drown in it. In making a sketch he studies carefully every point in the picture, even to the atmospheric effects. His canvases have been exhibited in the Academy more or less for the past twenty-five years, and he is a member of the Art Guild of New York. He has painted to order for many leading and wealthy men, and his works arc scattered throughout the world, several being owned by gentlemen in Japan, who are acknowledged as critics as well as connoisseurs of art. As a landscape artist he has an enviable repu-tation, and among his patrons are some of the most noted picture buyers in the country. When Gen. Grant made his trip around the world Mr. Moore had an opportunity to visit Japan, as Yashida Kionara, the Japanese minister to the United States, wanted him to paint a picture of Fujima, the sacred mountain of the Japanese, for the emperor of Japan. 

Politically Mr. Moore was first a Whig, and he is now a stanch Republican. He and his wife hold membership in the Congregational Church, to which they contribute liberally, and she also belongs to the Ladies Aid and Missionary Societies. They are very pleasant, hospitable people, and their friends are always sure of a hearty welcome at their home.