Peter Risdon Moore, M. D., one of the oldest physicians of Atchison county, who had to face his full share of the dangers and hardships when both he and the state were young and who had to endure the many discouragements and privations incident to life in a new country, is one of the adopted sons to whom the state may point with pride. He is a Hoosier by birth, as he first saw the light of day at Belville, Ind., July 23, 1845, son of Dr. Smith Goldsbery and Elizabeth (Garrett) Moore. His father was a native of North Carolina, born near New Salem, and when twelve years of age removed to Indiana. He was one of the restless men who made up the early pioneer population of the country and made possible the phenomenally rapid settlement of the country west of the Alleghany mountains. He located in Indiana at an early day when that state was still "the West" to residents of the Seaboard States, and there he studied medicine and engaged in the practice of his profession. In 1846, when the settlers began to crowd close to him, the Doctor again moved and settled in Adams county, Illinois. During the late '50s, when the country rang with the wrongs of Kansas and the struggle the people of the territory were making to have the state admitted free, many emigrants came from the North and East to help the cause. In 1857 Dr. Moore joined the mighty army of occupation that poured into the territory and remained for for[sic] five years, when he returned to Illinois. He was laid to rest in that state, in 1872. Mrs. Moore still survives and resides with her son, Shildes G., at old Pardee, in Atchison county, at the hearty old age of eighty-eight years.
Peter R. Moore was a baby when his parents removed from Indiana, and he spent his boyhood days in Illinois and Kansas, where he attended the frontier public schools, which may not have been much as far as equipment was concerned, but they were most thorough, and the boys and girls who learned the "three R's" in the log school houses have usually turned out to be responsible and successful men and women of affairs. After completing his elementary education the boy determined to devote his life to the study of medicine and began to read with his father. The instruction of this excellent preceptor was cut short by the hand of death, and he finished under another old and reliable physician. In 1874 he passed the medical examination, was admitted to practice and at once came to Kansas and located in Pardee, Atchison county, where he continued in active practice of his profession until 1888, when he located in Effingham. For some years he met with the difficulties that every young professional man meets at the beginning of his career, but he was enthusiastic in his work, found no call too far to respond to, and soon had the confidence of the people. As the country has settled up, so in proportion has the Doctor's business grown, until he is regarded as one of the most prosperous members of the medical profession in Atchison county. He is loved by the older residents, to whom he has ministered for years, while the younger generation have confidence in him as a man of wide experience. A man of broad mind, kind heart, and generous to a fault, he is one of the most popular men in Effingham. Dr. Moore belongs to the Atchison County Medical Society, the Kansas State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He has never taken an active part in politics, although a public spirited citizen, leaving those matters to the practical politician. In religious faith he is a member of the Christian church.
On June 13, 1866, Dr. Moore married Elizabeth Acklam, daughter of Welbourn Acklam of Adams county, Illinois, and four children have been born to them: Edgar W. lives in Kansas City, Kan.; Charles S. is a resident of Hoquiam, Wash.; Alice is the wife of D. H. Woods of Effingham; and Dr. Orville O. resides in Topeka, Kan. Dr. Moore has been a member of the Masonic order for many years and belongs to several other fraternal organizations.
Pages 806-808 from volume III, part 2 of Kansas: a cyclopedia of state history, embracing events, institutions, industries, counties, cities, towns, prominent persons, etc. ... / with a supplementary volume devoted to selected personal history and reminiscence. Standard Pub. Co. Chicago : 1912. 3 v. in 4. : front., ill., ports.; 28 cm. Vols. I-II edited by Frank W. Blackmar. Transcribed December 2002 by Carolyn Ward. This volume is identified at the Kansas State Historical Society as microfilm LM195. It is a two-part volume 3

P R MOORE

Absolute capability often exists in specific instances, but is never brought into the clear light of the utilitarian and practical life. Hope is of the valley, while effort stands upon the mountain top; so that personal advancement comes not to the one who hopes alone, but to the one whose hope and faith are those of action. Thus is determined the full measure of success to one who has struggled under disadvantageous circumstances, and the prostrate mediocrity to another whose ability has been as great and opportunities wider. Then he may well hold in high regard the results of individual effort and personal accomplishment, for cause and effect here maintain their functions in full force. Doctor Moore is one who, through his close study and application to business, has won marked prestige in his chosen calling. His residence in Effingham dates from 1888, and for more than twenty-six years he has made his home in Atchison county.
The Doctor is a native of Indiana, his birth having occurred in Hendricks county, July 23, 1845. His father, Smith G. Moore, was a representative of an old eastern family that furnished to the Union many of the loyal soldiers in the colonial army during the Revolutionary war. Smith Moore was born in Salem, North Carolina, and for many years was a successful practicing physician. He married Miss Elsbeth Garrett, and in 1857 came with his family to Kansas, locating in Pardee, Atchison county, where they lived for five years. In 1862 they returned to Adams county, Illinois, where the father died ten years later, at the age of sixty-six years. He was an elder in the Christian church, his membership with that denomination covering a period of more than forty years. His life was ever upright and honorable, commanding the respect of all with whom he came in contact, and in his profession he won distinction as a successful practitioner. His political support was given the Republican party, and he was at all times true to the cause in which he believed. His wife still survives him, and is now living in Pardee, Kansas, at the age of seventy-six years.
Dr. P. R. Moore, whose name introduces this review, acquired his preliminary education in the public schools, and later was a student in the Christian College at Abingdon, Illinois. Determining to make the practice of medicine his life work he entered the Ohio Medical College, in which he was graduated with the class of 1876. For some years he practiced in Nortonville, Kansas, and in 1888 came to Effingham, where he has since met with creditable success.
In 1867, in Adams county, Illinois, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Moore and Miss Elizabeth Acklam, a native of England, and a daughter of Wilbur Acklam, now deceased. Unto the Doctor and his wife have been born four children: Edgar, who is living in Nortonville, Kansas; Smith, a resident of Effingham; Alice A., and Orville, at home. The Doctor gives his political support to the Republican party, and is identified with the Masonic fraternity. He and his family are members of the Christian church, in which he has been trustee for some years. He has practiced medicine for many years with the earnestness and dignity that belong to the profession, and keeps well informed on the latest discoveries that indicate the continued progress in the science of medicine. In personal appearance he is prepossessing, of pleasing manner and address, genial and courteous, and at all times honored and esteemed both professionally and socially.