John Godfrey Moore

John Godfrey Moore (born 1847 or 1848, Steuben, Maine, died 1899, New York City) 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.

Early life

Moore was born in 1847 or 1848 in Steuben, Maine, a small ocean-side village of fishermen and small farmers. His father was a ship's captain. After completing high school, 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 and associates successfully diversified into the booming telegraph business, expanded their trade, and eventually sold out to larger companies.

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 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.

Death, family

Moore died suddenly in New York City in 1899, leaving a large estate.

Moore married twice. He had two daughters -- Ruth and Faith -- by his first wife. Ruth married Arthur Lee, a British military officer, later in 1899, just after her father's death. The couple had met in Kingston, Ontario, where Lee was a professor at the Royal Military College of Canada. With her inheritance, Lee was able to retire from the military in his early 30s, and start a very successful political career in Britain. The couple later donated their country estate -- Chequers -- in 1917 to the British government for use in perpetuity by successive prime ministers. Lee became Viscount Lee of Fareham, a member of the House of Lords, and Ruth became a Viscountess until her death in 1965; the couple had no children. Faith Moore also moved to Britain.

Legacy

Moore had purchased land near his birthplace, and constructed a famous home known as 'Far From The Wolf', planning to turn the district into a resort and retreat for the wealthy to compete with Bar Harbor, Maine. These plans were never realized to the extent he wished.

Maine land owned by Moore and donated by his heirs in the 1920s became part of present-day Acadia National Park.