Atlantic A. Moore, during the twenty-four years that he resided in Kansas, assisted in the founding of Marion County and became a familiar and respected figure in both houses of the State Legislature. He was familiarly known as “Lank” Moore. A native of Ohio, he came to Wankegan, Illinois, as a boy, living there and in Wisconsin until he “entered the government service” with his brother, as a driver of ambulances from Kansas City to Santa Fe. Not caring to settle in that part of the Southwest, they started on their return in the fall of the same year. At Cottonwood Crossing (now Durham, Kansas) on the Santa Fe trail, a man named Smith had built a small log cabin and was running a trading post, selling whisky, canned goods and other provisions to passing trains. The Moore brothers bought out the place, and later took up a claim at what became known as Moore’s Ranch. In the spring of 1861 a postoffice was established there, with A. A. Moore as postmaster. That year the Town of Marion Center was also laid out, and there Mr. Moore built a store and otherwiso identified himself with the growth of the place. Upon the organization of Marion County in 1865 he was elected county treasuror and representative; was returned to the Legislature in 1867; served in the State Senate in 1868, and was again a member of the House of Representatives in 1871. In 1862 he had been married to Nancy O. Waterman, and in the following year was born Ira A. Moore, the first native white child of Marion County. In 1882 A. A. Moore left Kansas to reside at Prescott, Arizona, and later moved to Walnut Grove, same state, where, with his son, he still lives.
