Obituary

Raleigh Register, and North-Carolina Weekly Advertiser [Raleigh, North Carolina] 5 July 1810
Contact: Myrtle Bridges   April 15, 2017


Died lately in Charleston, S.C. Mrs. Sarah Smith, aged 81, respected through life
for her many virtues and amiable qualities... This venerable lady was the daughter of
one of the first settlers on Cape-Fear river, and the founder of the town of Brunswick.
From her were descended 113 persons, of whom 4 children, 34 grandchildren and 26 great 
grand children, were living at the time of her decease.

FYI:
Extracts from "Sketches of Church History in North Carolina" (1892)
Another daughter of Gov. Lillington was successively the wife of Samuel Swann, the elder, and of Maurice Moore the elder.

Extract from "John Burgwin, Carolinian; John Jones, Virginian" by Walter Burgwyn Jones (1913)
Col. Maurice Moore, younger son of Jas Moore (1640-1706), acompanied his brother in 1712, as an officer in the expedition 
against the Tuscaroras. While there he married the first time,
Mary Porter, dau. of John Porter and his wife Sarah Lillington who was a daughter of Gov. Alexr. Lillington. The old saying 
that there is no love like mother love was given heroic exempli-
fication by Sarah Lillington Porter. During the terrible Indian Massacre in 1711 her home was attacked by Indians and a 
powerful warrior seized her infant child and was about to dash its brains out against a tree when the mother rushed up; 
leaping upon the warrior she bore him to the ground and rescued her child. A few minutes later her busband (Jno. Porter, Jr.) 
and friends came up and the little party managed to reach the river and make their escape. The Indians however burned their 
little home. (Ashe's Hist. N. C. Vol. I, p. 183).
To Maurice Moore belongs the honor of founding, about 1725, Brunswick, the first permanent settlement of the Cape Fear region. 
Maurice was a brother of "Old King Roger" Moore, so called because of his great wealth and numerous slaves. One of the last 
battles with the Indians of the Cape Fear was fought by old "King Roger" and his slaves at Sugar Loaf. (Ashe's Hist. N. C, Vol. 1). 
Col. Maurice Moore "was a churchman, at one time sharing with Mosely the distiction of being the strongest man in the Province 
of N. C. He was a son of the first Gov. Jas. Moore, of S. C, whose ancestors belonged to one of the oldest and most influential 
families of Ireland, of which the Marquis Drogheda is the present (1892) head. Moore exerted a commanding influence on his 
community." (Kemp P. Battle).

Extract from "The Legends of Brunswick County: Ghosts, Pirates, Indians and Colonial North Carolina" by Joyce C. Judah (2008)
Brunswick Town Formed:
Col. Maurice Moore was born before 1686 in Charleston, South Carolina, and died on 17 May 1743 in Edenton, NC. He married around 
1712 [1st] Elizabeth Lillington [Swann], b. 1678, d. 1725, and had several daughters. He then married Mary Porter and had several 
more children. He was a Major in the British Army when he was first sent to North Carolina to aid his brother, Col. James Moore, 
in a war against Indians. Maurice remained in North Carolina and became the largest landowner in New Hanover County. He had patents 
for 25,000 acres of land, most of it in the Rocky Point area.
Maurice and his brothers, Roger and Nathaniel, who both owned thousands of acres of land there, opposed the Governor of North Carolina 
on many issues. Because of their power and influence, these Moore men became known as "The Family". Col. Moore's main home was at 
Rocky Point. He died suddenly on May 17, 1743, in the garden of his sister-in-law, Mary Vail's home. However, his influence on the 
development of Brunswick Town and Orten Plantation in Brunswick County remains his legacy for southeastern North Carolina.