J Hampton Moore

Biography

J. Hampton Moore was born in Woodbury, New Jersey. He worked as a reporter on the Philadelphia Public Ledger and the Court Combination from 1881 to 1894. He was chief clerk to the city treasurer of Philadelphia from 1894 to 1897 and secretary to the mayor in 1900. He served as president of the Allied Republican Clubs of Philadelphia, of the Pennsylvania State League, and of the National League of Republican Clubs from 1900 to 1906. He worked as city treasurer from 1901 to 1903. He was appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt as the first Chief of the Bureau of Manufactures, Department of Commerce and Labor, in January 1905, but resigned after six months’ service to become president of a Philadelphia bank. He was president of the Atlantic Deeper Waterways Association from 1907 to 1947.

Moore was elected as a Republican to the 59th Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of George A. Castor. He was re-elected seven times and served from November 6, 1906, to January 4, 1920, when he resigned to become the 109th mayor of Philadelphia. He was a delegate to the 1920 Republican National Convention.

Moore served as mayor of Philadelphia from 1920 to 1923. He was then appointed by the United States State Department as a delegate to the International Navigation Congress at Cairo, Egypt, in 1926. After being defeated in 1927, he returned to the mayor's office in Philadelphia, serving from 1932 to 1935 as its 111th incumbent.

During his terms as mayor, Moore banned the showing of films by Roscoe Arbuckle because the charges pending against Arbuckle for rape and murder would offend public morals. This motion occurred concurrent with Arbuckle's arrest, prior to Arbuckle's trial and eventual acquittal.