Charles Chilton Moore
C.C. Moore was the grandson of Barton W. Stone. At one time he was a faithful gospel preacher. He preached for the Church of Christ at Versailles, Kentucky. After much trouble over the teachings of the Bible, he closed the Book, and left the church. Among other issues, he reasoned that a study of geology showed the world to be much older that Ussher's dating the age of the earth at 4000 B.C. This among other issues continued to move him further and further away from trusting in the God of the Bible. Over the course of the next few years he became a deist, then later an agnostic, then ultimately an atheist. Moore was the editor of one of the nation's first journals promoting atheism, Blue Grass Blade. He received great rejections from theists and creationists. He spent numerous occasions in prison because of his outspoken attacks on the Bible and theology. His autobiography, Behind The Bars, was written while in prison for free-love articles appearing in his paper. In 1900, in the case of United States v. Moore, the District Court D., Kentucky, ruled that a publication to be prohibited from the mail system, it must be lewd and lascivious as well as obscene, and that it could not be banned because it offends the religious sentiments of the majority of the people by attacking the doctrine of the immaculate conception of Christ, even though worded in coarse or obscene language. The court went on to say that a publication must have a tendency to induce sexual immorality. Moore was one of the last men in America to be sent to prison for blasphemy. However, he was pardoned by President William McKinley. Webmaster's Note: Moore is added to this website for numerous reasons. One in particular is that men have the right to choose to obey God or not. Even though Moore was a member of a noted family, the Stones, who gave themselves wholeheartedly to the cause of Christ, not every one in that family chose to go the same direction. It has been said that we are one generation away from apostasy. Here is an extreme example of how it can happen. Another reason for including Moore, is that if you plan to go to Lexington to see all those who fought the good fight of faith, it only seems reasonable to see one who was equally respected among a group completely opposite to the faith. Moore, to atheists, is one of the fathers of atheism in America. Some years ago, Madelyn Murray O'Hair and others congregated at the grave of Moore, where they planted a small "Devil's Hosta" Lily that still sits in front of the grave stone. When I was there to visit the cemetery in May, 2000, I was trying to get a photo. I noticed there were vines growing around the stone. A few leaves had covered part of the markings, so I reached out and broke off part of the leaves in the way. Wayne Kilpatrick was with me on this occasion and said, "Now you've got to go wash your hands. You've just handled poison ivy." I hadn't realized it at the time, so I had to go wash my hands. I might add here that it was interesting that of all the graves I saw in the cemetery, and there are thousands, the only grave I saw with poison ivy growing around it was C.C. Moore's grave. Hmmmm! Also Note: Much thanks to Michael Adcock, who has researched the life of C.C. Moore extensively, for making the photo of Moore available to us, as well as helping to make corrections on some of the details in the brief description of Moore's life above.
GPS Location
Directions To Grave: Lexington Cemetery is one of the most beautiful old cemeteries in America. It is located on West Main Street heading away from downtown Lexington toward Leestown Pike. Turn right into the main entrance past the office. Once inside the gates take the second turn to the left that leads up to the front of the Clay Monument. Then turn left onto West Main Avenue. As you turn left and pass the Clay Monument, look to your left, and the graveyard goes down toward a lower area. Moore's grave is down in this area. It is suppose to be in Section L, but it is not posted. If you get down to the sign identifying Section "L" you've gone too far.
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