Maria was the daughter of Emily Constable and her husband, Dr. Samuel Moore, of New York City. Emily was the daughter of William Kerin Constable [1752-1803], wealthy New York merchant and subject of a portrait now in the NGA collection [1954.1.9], and his wife Anna White of Philadelphia. William Constable was born in Ireland; his father, a surgeon in the British army, moved the family in 1762 to Montreal, where he served during the French and Indian War, then to Schenectady, where he was a part of the New York State Regiment. William grew up to be a wealthy New York merchant, ship owner, and land speculator; he owned the six-hundred ton America, considered the finest ship built in New York. During the American Revolution, William Constable was an aide-de-campe to the Marquis de Lafayette, but his financial dealings led some to suspect his patriotism. After the war, Constable was a leader in the New York financial community, with great successes in the China trade. In 1791-1792 he was a partner in the celebrated Macomb Purchase of nearly four million acres of land in upstate New York. Constable died in 1803 in New York City. Maria lived in New York City and later in Stamford, CT, where she died. She had at least one brother, the Rev. John Wells Moore. On Constable, see William Allen David, William Constable, New York Merchant and Land Speculator, Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard University, 1955; Franklin B. Hough, History of Lewis County in the State of New York, Albany, 1860, 238-243; James W. Moore, Rev. John Moore of Newton, L.I., and Some of His Descendants, Easton, PA, 1903, 118.[Compiled from sources and references recorded on CMS]
Bibliography
1903
Moore, James W. Rev. John Moore of Newton, L.I., and Some of His Descendants. Easton, PA, 1903.
1955
David, William Allen. William Constable, New York Merchant and Land Speculator, Ph.D. diss., Harvard University (1955)