The Man Who Was Everywhere

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode! Simeon Moore and the Opening of the Western Frontier What happens when an ancestor seems to turn up everywhere you look? When Donna Miller began searching for the parents of her third great-grandmother, Catherine Moore Green, she found a collection of online family trees that agreed on almost everything—except the evidence. Then a generous librarian named Marian opened the door to a much bigger story. Meet Simeon Moore, Catherine's grandfather, a man whose life followed the westward movement of colonial America through Maryland, the Monongahela Valley, frontier Kentucky, and the Falls of the Ohio. Along the way, his family crossed paths with Daniel Boone, George Rogers Clark, and James Harrod—the founder of Harrodsburg, who also happened to be Simeon's nephew. His sons became involved in the western campaigns of the American Revolution, while Simeon himself helped establish the settlement that became Louisville. But this isn't simply a story about famous frontiersmen. It's about the rivers that carried families west, the conflicts that reshaped the frontier, and the ordinary people whose lives became intertwined with extraordinary events. Sometimes, following a family tree means putting down the pedigree charts and picking up a map. And sometimes, the names we carry aren't people. They're places. This episode is dedicated to Marian, whose generosity and meticulous research helped open the door to the Moore family story. In this episode: Genealogical research and documentary evidence; the Potomac, Monongahela, and Ohio rivers; the Proclamation of 1763; Lord Dunmore's War; Harrodsburg and early Kentucky settlement; the western Revolutionary War; George Rogers Clark; and the founding of Louisville. Names We Carry explores the stories behind our family histories—and the unexpected places they lead us.