John was the eighth of twelve children born to John Wesley Moore and Elizabeth Keath. John married first to Grace Mahalia Johnson. They married on March 29, 1905 and divorced by the end of the following year. They had one daughter, Dorothy Elizabeth (1905-1997). John then married Helen Eleanor Ramey, a daughter of William O. Ramey and Mary Ellen Cunningham. They married on May 10, 1921 in Chicago (Cook County), Illinois. They had five children; Mary Elizabeth (1922-1958), Charles Bernard (1923-1923), Helen "Eleanor" (1924-2010), Kenneth Eugene (1926-2008) and John William (1928-2003).

NEWS ARTICLE: Illinois Chronicle Harold; Hoopeston (Vermilion County), Illinois; article dated Thursday, January 12, 1956. Excerpt " John Moore has recently opened up his rug weaving shop in the Alpert building on W. Main St., is starting in his 30th year in art of weaving. Moore started weaving when he lived in the Lee addition about 30 years ago. Since that time he has operated a shop in Hoopeston and in East Lynn, Cheneyville, and later in Wellington, where he has been the past 10 years. He said that there were still women who try to economize in the household expenditures and use scrap material in fashioning attractive rugs for their homes. This he is able to do do to the bright colored warp used in weaving and with the better equipment in use now. He can complete a rug one and a half yards long by 27 inches wide in about 30 minutes. This can be done if the rags which have been prepared by the housewife are uniform in thickness. That way they weave into the machine better and faster. Moore said that he has placed some of his weaving in many states and makes rugs, runners, stair carpet, and pillow tops. Rag rugs are used by women to complement antique furniture in some instances, he stated."

NEWS ARTICLE(Society Page): California News Messenger; Lincoln, California. Article "NONAGENARIAN FETED AT BIRTHDAY PARTY", dated March 8, 1967. Excerpt "The 90th birthday of John H. Moore of Lincoln was celebrated at the home of his son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Zappa (Eleanor). Moore's sons, Kenneth Moore of Riverton, Ill. and John W. Moore of Pasadena, Ca., together with a grandson, Kenneth Zappa, were surprise guests. Also present were Mr. and Mrs. Donald Zappa and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Delbert Hedges, Mr. and Mrs. Clyde McKune, and Mr. and Mrs. Jim McKune. The guest of honor's two sons brought home movies which were greatly enjoyed."

EXCERPT FROM LETTER that John Henry Franklin Moore wrote to his niece, Olga Rosenberger - Fall 1961. ". . . The name John Henry Franklin was compiled to apply to the next male child born to my parents (same having been done prior to sister Elfa's birth in December 1872). The name was sidetracked on account of her sex, also again when Nancy Catherine was born in November 1874. The name Charles was inserted as a sort of joke when we kids were in school & does not appear in the family record in the bible. Ross was nearly 10 years older than I, and I can't understand how he got to be the 5th child. Mother told me he was a 7 months baby born without hair or nails and weighed less than 5 pounds. He was so scrawny that a neighbor woman said she didn't think it would pay to raise him. I'm sure there was never a time that Mother felt that way about it. He was born on the anniversary of Paul Revere's ride, almost a hundred years later. Grandpa Keath, (Gabriel Farrow Keath, Jr.) was the youngest of 4 (surviving) brothers, and sire of 15 children by 3 wives, last one was mother of Uncle Charles, who outlasted 3 of their sons and first daughter, Lottie Swank. I'm no longer able to remember the sequence of the 4 Keath brothers, but Great Uncle Uriah married but once and sired but one child (John Keath), who in turn sired Molly and Harry. Cousin Uriah had Joe, Ed, Aaron, Matie(Jimison) and Asbury(Berry) Keath. Matie Jimison and husband died 6 days apart, last March (1961). Great Uncle Joe Keath, married 3 wives who bore 18 children for him and I believe Cousin Uriah was one of them. I think Cousin (Redheaded) Bill Keath, Rose Cupp, Maie Laverty and Anne Anderson's dad was another of Uncle Joe's boys, I think. Another Great Uncle was named George and sired 15 by 3 wives, so there were 49 of my mother's generation named Keath. Hardly to be wondered at that I can't keep in touch. Elfa Elizabeth Moore, died October 8th, just under 15 years of age, leaving eight of us until Ross' death, 56 years 2 months later. Wirt and Nelle (Nancy Catherine) both followed in less than 11 months. Emma Cobb Moore died on Ross Cobb Moore's birthday and brother Ross on John Elizabeth's birthday. A very unusual happening. (Dying on their 2 son's birthdays.) I was so jerky this a.m. that I couldn't write so I could read it, so I got Eleanor to correct the record. She surely is a daughter to gladden my heart. Don't think I'd fare very well without her. Sure is a treasure. She's been a busy woman ever since she married and I think she can accomplish more in a given time than any woman of my acquaintance, regardless of size or education, although she weighs but about 125 and has had 3 or 4 major operations. . . ."

BIOGRAPHY: by John Henry Franklin Moore's daughter, Helen Eleanor Moore Zappa Lucas, written on May 17th, 2000. My father (Daddy), was a wonderful father. He and my mother were married May 10th, 1921 in Chicago. I was 3rd of their 5 children. Charles Bernard died at birth in Wisconsin where they were homesteading. Betty had been born 2 years earlier and I was born December 7th, 1924 in Hoopeston. They had come back to Illinois because Mama was afraid to have another baby in Wisconsin because of ‘Bernard' dying up there. She was still wanting to go back up there to live till she died. Kenny was born August 30th, 1926 and Jack on June 7th, 1928. When the depression hit, Daddy lost his job at the Sprague-Sells machine factory in Hoopeston, and we moved to a farm near Cheneyville and Daddy worked the farm for Mr. Crouch. Then he opened a little grocery store in town and we moved there to be near my Grandpa Ramey. The following summer Mama went to Chicago to look for work as a nurse because the store wouldn't support us. Daddy took care of us and Uncle Wirt lived with us, too. Mama had a goiter operation while we lived there. Daddy had built a ‘crows nest' above their bedroom in the back of the store, and we four slept up there. He also wove rugs whenever someone could afford to have him make them, and he did any odd jobs he could get. When Mama came back in the fall of 1930 because she couldn't find enough work, she wasn't feeling well and soon came down with a bout of rheumatic fever. She had had it when she was 12 years old and was bedridden for 2 years at that time. She had to learn to walk again. This time she was worse and when she had to go to the hospital in Danville in mid-December my teacher took me home to stay with her family in Indianola, and Jack and Kenny went to Aunt Emma & Uncle Ross' farm in Indiana, just across the state line. Betty stayed with Daddy & Uncle Wirt. She was 9, I was 7, Kenny was 5 and Jack was 3. Jackie had been diagnosed with polio in his right arm early that year. Mama worsened and on Christmas night 1931 she passed away at 1:30a.m. She had gone blind and told Daddy that she didn't want to live if she couldn't see her babies. She was 31 years old and Daddy was 54. He had quite a hard road ahead of him, caring for 4 children and an ailing brother. By then Grandpa Ramey had moved his barbershop to East Lynn and got us to move over there. His only son had died several years before, then his wife, and now his only daughter. Daddy always did the best he could for us, but we lived on nothing but beans the first year till he got a garden producing. He got some orders for rugs and we squeaked through till he got on the WPA in 1935. We had seen him go without food so we could eat enough times that the $48 a month he got on WPA was a Godsend. He had several offers from people who wanted to adopt one or all of us, but he refused, saying he was going to keep us together. He was strict, but very affectionate, and told us often that he loved us. He could get upset over things and we got our share of spankings, but he had a wonderful sense of humor and loved to sing, tell stories, read to us and dance. He taught all of us how to waltz and do the 2-step. We though he was pretty mean at times until we married and had children of our own. Then we couldn't understand how he managed. Uncle Wirt went to live in the Odd Fellows Old Folks Home in Mattoon in the late ‘30s. He wasn't well and I think we got on his nerves. Betty had got to Thornton for her last 2 years of high school, working in the principal's home, doing housework and babysitting. That made 2 less mouths for Daddy to feed. I did some babysitting in Hoopeston, the summer of ‘41 & ‘42, living in and taking care of 2 to 4 children, doing the housework and getting from $2 to $2.50 per week, with Thursday afternoon off. Daddy's rug business slowly got better, but he still wasn't making a lot at the time I got married in 1942 to Steve Zappa. Daddy and the boys moved to Hoopeston into a store building where he opened a second hand store. About 1945 he move to Wellington and commuted the 5 miles to Hoopeston on a bicycle every day to work at the Grab-It-Here grocery store. During the time he worked there he was having trouble with his teeth so he made an appointment with a dentist and on his lunch hour went over and had his 14 remaining teeth pulled, and went back to work! He was one tough old man. At that time he was 70 years old. Not long after that he moved to a store building in East Lynn, wove rugs, kept bees and got along with his Social Security. At the time I got him to come to California, so I could help him out, he was 83 years old but refused to live with us because he didn't want to be a burden to anyone. By then Steve and I had 3 teenagers. Steve found him a house on K Street in Lincoln, and he lived there till we decided it wasn't a fit place for him, and rented him a nicer small house on 4th Street. He was getting $129 from his Social Security, and had refused to come to California unless we had a place rented so he could have a second hand store. We paid half the expenses for a year, and I worked in the store with him until he found out we were paying half. He was upset and sold out to avoid being a burden. He could get by without it and seemed happy to walk uptown to get groceries, visit with people, and come see us. I got him a phone, called him everyday, cut his hair, washed his clothes, etc. When he go to be 90 he was still taking his walks, though his knees were very sore with arthritis, but he started having little fainting spells. He didn't say anything to us till one day when I was over visiting him and he told me about it and admitted that he was scared. I packed a suitcase for him and took him home with me. By that time my son David was married and Ken was in the Marines, so they were both gone. I gave him their room. He was very restless, but seemed to be doing pretty well till one day he had a stroke. He had had me take him up to look at a nursing home in Auburn, and said he'd like to stay there. That got me because he had always said he had a fear of going to a nursing home. When he had the stroke and had to go to the hospital, Dr. Sweikert had him dismissed to the nursing home. He lived there for 3 years. In April of 1968 Steve passed away from lung cancer. In August of 1969 I was married to Willis Lucas. February 12th, 1971 Daddy passed away quietly in his sleep. Willis and I had been up to visit him about 2 hours earlier. He had saved almost enough money to pay for his funeral. He was two weeks short of being 94 years old. I had him buried next to Steve in the Lincoln cemetery.
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