from https://goodspeedhistories.com/route-not-taken-part-3/ Marfy Goodspeed BEGIN Isaiah H. Moore & Mary Lake Beers: "L. H. Moore" Railroad Survey & Slaymaker : Isaiah H. Moore Cramer Survey: "I. H. Moore: 96 acres, 600 bearing peach trees, 300 baskets of peaches, uses Penna RR, 600 young peach trees, 2 tons of coal, 1.25 tons of fertilizer, 420 cans of milk, 6 calves sold, 750 lb of poultry, 1,000 lb of pork, 15 bushels of apples The map detail shows Isaiah Moore’s property toward the top. Although he was listed as a landowner, I suspect the only part of his property that the rail line would cross was his access lane to Route 523, as his farm was to the north of land owned by Charles Green. That is also the case with the next owner listed, John H. Gordon. Isaiah H. Moore (1815-1885) was the son of David Moore, Sr. and Elizabeth Hudnut (see Moore Family Tree). His name is often spelled Isaiah A. Moore, but since his mother’s maiden name was Hudnut or Hudnit, "H" seems more likely. He grew up in the area where the Sandbrook Headquarters Road meets the road from Sergeantsville to Ringoes (i.e., Route 604). In 1837, he married Mary Lake, daughter of Cornelius Lake and Lydia Haines. Lydia Haines (1780-1856) was the daughter of Joseph Haines and Anna Moore, a family that lived near David & Elizabeth Moore. She was the second wife of Cornelius Lake.1 Isaiah and Mary Moore had five children, two of whom died as infants. Their son Edward, born in 1841, died age 29 in 1871, only one year after marrying Mary Jane Cronce. Their daughter Lydia, born in 1850, married Andrew M. W. Abbott, and their son Cornelius Lake Moore, born in 1853, married Elizabeth A. Stevenson. Cornelius Lake (1763-1842), whose farm covered much of the southwest corner of Sergeantsville, had been a fixture in the area for most of his life, serving a Commissioner of Deeds for many years and frequently witnessing documents for his neighbors. The first recorded real estate transaction for Isaiah H. Moore was on April 6, 1840 when he bought the tavern at Sergeantsville (which today is the Township Hall, not the restaurant known as the Sergeantsville Inn). He paid $2300 for a lot of 27+ acres,2 and obtained tavern licenses for the years 1840 and 1841. By this time, Cornelius Lake was in his late-70s and probably in ill health. It appears that Isaiah & Mary Moore agreed to move in with the Lakes, because on May 9, 1842, the Moores sold the tavern lot to David Rake, for a small profit of $300.3 On May 20, 1842, Cornelius Lake wrote his will, leaving "the farm I live on" to his wife Lydia, and after her death to his daughter Mary Moore. Cornelius Lake died on Dec 18, 1842, age 80, and his widow Lydia died in 1856. By the 1870s, judging by the Cramer survey (details above), Isaiah H. Moore was an active farmer. But as often happened, even skilled farmers had trouble with their horses. On September 19, 1872, the Hunterdon Republican reported that "Mr. Isaiah Moore of Sergeantsville was driving out on Friday last when his horse became frightened and upset the carriage; Mr. Moore was considerably injured but it is hoped not seriously." The only other mention of Moore in the Republican was in the August 12, 1885 edition, when a "cyclone" hit Delaware Township and damaged Moore’s buildings and peach trees. The Republican did not publish an obituary for Isaiah H. Moore, but the Democrat did, in its April 8, 1886 edition, as follows: Isaiah Moore, an old and well known resident of Sergeantsville, was buried last Tuesday. He had been failing for some time and on the Thursday previous was taken with paralysis and died on Friday.4 Mary Lake Moore died, age 74, on October 3, 1891. Her heirs divided the farm into two lots, and on March 31, 1892, sold a lot of 10.78 acres to Sylvester Huff and on April 1, 1892, sold an 84.06-acre farm to Sarah E. Reading, wife of Joseph C. Reading. END