Nicholas Ruxton Moore

Nicholas Ruxton Moore (July 21, 1756 – October 7, 1816) was a U.S. Representative from Maryland and a Revolutionary War officer whose public career spanned the early national period of the United States. He was born near Baltimore in the Province of Maryland, where he attended the common schools. Little is recorded about his family background or early youth, but his formative years coincided with the growing tensions between the American colonies and Great Britain, and he entered military service at a young age as the Revolutionary War began.

During the American Revolution, Moore served as a member of Gist’s Baltimore Independent Cadets, a notable local militia unit that supported the Continental cause. He served throughout the greater part of the Revolutionary War and attained the rank of captain. Over the course of the conflict he became commander of the Baltimore Light Dragoons, a mounted unit that contributed to the defense and security of the region. While in service, Moore wrote to General George Washington requesting acceptance of his resignation from the Army. Washington, through a letter written by his aide James McHenry, granted permission for Moore to resign, provided that Moore had settled all of his accounts with his regiment. After the war, Moore continued to be involved in military and public affairs, taking an active part in the suppression of the Whiskey Insurrection in western Pennsylvania in 1794, when federal and state forces were mobilized to enforce the new excise laws.

Also in 1794, Moore made a significant land purchase that would link his name to the area north of Baltimore. He acquired a 350-acre farm known as “Bosley’s Adventure,” located just north of what is now Lake Roland. Over time, the vicinity of this property came to be generally referred to as Ruxton-Riderwood, Maryland, reflecting the association of his family name with the local community. His status as a landowner and veteran contributed to his prominence in Baltimore County society and laid a foundation for his subsequent political career.

Moore entered formal public office in the early nineteenth century. He served as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates in 1801 and 1802, representing his state in the lower chamber of the General Assembly during a period when Maryland politics were shaped by the emerging party system and debates over federal power and economic policy. His service in the state legislature helped establish his credentials as a Democratic-Republican and prepared him for national office.

In 1803, Moore was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the Eighth Congress and was subsequently reelected to the Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Congresses, serving in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 4, 1803, to March 3, 1811. During his first two terms, from 1803 to 1807, he served as an at-large Representative from Maryland, reflecting the state’s method of electing some members on a statewide basis. Following a change in apportionment and districting, he represented Maryland’s 5th congressional district from 1807 to 1811. While in Congress, Moore held a key administrative role as chairman of the Committee on Accounts during the Tenth and Eleventh Congresses, overseeing matters related to the financial administration and expenditures of the House. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Twelfth Congress in 1810, temporarily interrupting his service in the national legislature.

Moore remained active in military affairs even as his congressional career advanced. On February 20, 1812, he was appointed lieutenant colonel commandant of the sixth regimental cavalry district of Maryland, a position that placed him in a leadership role in the state’s mounted forces at the outset of the War of 1812. That same year, he returned to national office when he was elected to the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Congresses. He served again in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 4, 1813, until his resignation in 1815, which occurred before the convening of the Fourteenth Congress. During this later period of service, he once more chaired the Committee on Accounts in the Thirteenth Congress, continuing his earlier work in supervising the House’s internal financial matters.

After his resignation from Congress in 1815, Moore appears to have withdrawn from national political life, likely returning to his interests in Maryland, including his property north of Baltimore and his ongoing ties to state and local affairs. He died in Baltimore on October 7, 1816. His career, marked by Revolutionary War service, participation in the suppression of domestic insurrection, state legislative work, and multiple terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, reflects the trajectory of many early American leaders who moved from military service in the founding era into the political institutions of the new republic.