April 1822 – September 11, 1898
Dr. Lovern Lee Moore was born in Paris, Indiana around 1822. His first medical attempts were for his invalid mother. At the age of 17 he was teaching school and was studied law under several local lawyers and became a justice of the peace. He quit his law studies to study medicine under his brother, Dr. John Harrison Moore. Although he never got a medical degree he did have considerable medical knowledge. Lovern and his brother moved to Angola, Indiana, where they had a partnership in a drug store. In 1845 he married Ellen Ralston.
When the Civil War ended the Lovern and Ellen settled in Sturges, Michigan and began a medical practice. Their children were educated and married here. His daughter Emma married Julius Fox in 1868. Moore’s other daughter married Byron Sweetland in 1871
In 1874 the Moore’s arrived for a visit, and looked up his old friend Dr. Benjamin Hamlin. Lovern apparently liked the area and decided to stay. It is possible the trip was pre-planned since he and Ellen arrived with both married daughters and their husbands.
Dr. Moore proved to be a man of vision. He quickly bought the quarter section that Moses Bush had settled on in 1869, which Bush received the “patent” on in 1874. Bush had paid $1.25 an acre, or $200, and Moore paid him $3,500 for it, anticipating the railroad and a new town. This quarter section became known as “Moore’s Addition” on the 1877 subdivision map. The deed was dated March 4, 1875. The official map was recorded by Tulare County on December 3, 1877, but by that time sales were already underway.
In June of 1877 Dr. Moore traveled back to Illinois to settle affairs and attend the first graduating class of the Fort Wayne Medical College. He might have received his honorary degree at this time.
On July 10th , 1877 Albert Champion and Clarence Copeland bought property in blocks O and P in the southwest corner of Moore’s Addition. On August 13th the entire block of H south of what would become Larish Street, was sold to Henry Larish, a carpenter for $250. On the same day the sale of lots 19 and 20 in block 5, later to be known as Hamlet Street, for $50 to Eliza Hamlet was recorded. Along with Hamlet Street, the subdivision map of December 13, 1877 also listed named streets of Bush, Champion, Skaggs, Toomey and Larish. Dr. Moore kept the southeast corner at Bush and Vine streets for his own home. He and Ellen lived there until his death in 1898. The house is believed to be situated where the Lemoore Elementary School playground is now located.
After 25 years of service to the Lemoore area, Dr. Lovern Lee Moore passed away on September 11, 1898. He is buried in the Lemoore Cemetery in Section 1, Block 9, Lots 3 and 4.
An official land patent is the highest evidence of right, title, and interest to a defined area. A land patent is usually granted by a government to an individual or to a private company as evidence of right, title, and interest to a defined area.