John Godfrey Moore
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John Godfrey Moore | |
|---|---|
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| Born | July 7, 1847 Steuben, Maine |
| Died | June 24, 1899 (aged 51) New York, New York |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouses | Miriam Jane Aldrich
(m. 1872; died 1890)Louise Taylor Hartshorne
(m. 1894) |
| Children | 3 |
| Signature | |
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John Godfrey Moore (July 7, 1847 – June 24, 1899) was an American businessman, financier and Wall Street stock market promoter during the Gilded Age. He gained fame by successfully suing the United States government in 1893, on constitutional grounds, to stop the new income tax Act from coming into effect, delaying it by 20 years.
Moore was born in 1847 in Steuben, Maine, a small ocean-side village of fishermen and small farmers. He was the son of ship Captain Henry Dyer Moore and Maria Godfrey. Moore received his schooling in the region, completing high school in 1865.
Moves to New York City
He moved to New York City in 1865 to work for his uncle in the lumber business. He found success, and soon formed his own company.
Moore made a dredging company partnership with John O. Evans in 1868.
Moore and associates successfully diversified into the booming telegraph business in 1880, founding the American Union Telegraph Company. They expanded their trade, and eventually sold out to larger companies.[1][2]
Financier
With his profits, Moore then moved into the stock trading and promotion business, and by 1885 was co-owner of the Wall Street firm Moore and Schley, with partner Grant B. Schley. The firm prospered very successfully in the expanding economy, and built many important business and government connections in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. It did business with several of the wealthy families in the northeastern United States, including John D. Rockefeller, J. P. Morgan, Theodore Havemeyer, and the Whitney family.
Sues to prevent income tax
In 1893, Moore, a Republican Party supporter, gained national and international fame by filing a lawsuit against the United States government, on constitutional grounds, to stop the new personal income tax, the first peacetime income tax, designed by the United States Congress, from being implemented. He won this case, and so delayed the implementation of the new tax for 20 years, until 1913, when this now-universal measure was successfully enacted.