The only fact known about Justus E. Moore is that in July, 1840, he advertised in Philadelphia, Pa., claiming to be able to produce instantaneous daguerreotypes. The balance of this biography must be considered to be probability, in light of existing knowledge.
In 1841, one source recorded a partnership of "Moore and Walton" in Philadelphia. This is probably a mis-type of the name "Ward" and, in all probability, was the beginning of the Moore and Ward partnership.
In March, 1842, a Justus E. Moore opened a daguerreian gallery in a boardinghouse at the corner of Canal Street in New Orleans, La. In promoting his abilities, Moore utilized a testimonial letter from retired President Andrew Jackson, whom he had daguerreotype at his home, The Hermitage, near Nashville, Tenn. the year before. Although there has been much discussion over the years as to the "authorship" of existing images of Jackson taken at the Hermitage, the focus of this dicussion has been on daguerreotypes taken nearly four years later, just before Jackson's death in 1845.
Current research also indicates that the first daguerreotype likenesses taken in the city of Nashville, Tenn., were by an artist named Moore, who stopped at the Union Hall Hotel in 1841. In all probability this could be Justus E. Moore; it seems unlikely that two daguerreians named Moore would be operating in Nashville at essentially the same time. Another source indicates that Moore and Ward have been credited with taking the first daguerreotype likeness in Nashville, Tenn., in 1841.
It is also known that a daguerreian named J.E. (or T.E.) Moore appeared in Louisville, Kentucky, in September, 1841. A notice in the Louisville Daily Journal for September 2 reported that Moore had rooms at the Ormsby House, and would stay only a few days longer. In an August issue he was noted as T.E. Moore.
At the center of all this, however, is the itinerant daguerreian partnership known as Moore and Ward. The pair may have been been based in Pittsburgh, Pa., as they were listed in the directory there in 1841. One researcher passed the report that Ward was known only as Capt. Ward, and that he was from "the South." It is also known that Moore was a dentist before becoming an itinerant daguerreian.
In March, 1841, Moore and Ward were reported to have been in Virginia; and in April at the Bank of Columbia, Georgetown, D.C. They were also reported to have taken daguerreotypes at Brown's Hotel in Washington, D.C., the same year. Whether or not that was an extension of their April trip is not known.
In August, they were reported in Louisville, Kentucky, a time frame which corresponds to the appearance of J.E. Moore in that city. The pair may also have traveled as far west as St. Louis, Mo. in 1841; one report places them at the corner of Main and Market Streets in that city.
In late 1841, and again in mid-1842, the firm took daguerreotypes in the Capitol in Washington. In all probability this was the pair of daguerreians referred to by one source as "Moore and Walton", who set up their daguerreian apparatus in late 1840 in the Committee Room on Military Affairs in the Senate. Their appearance was referred to in a letter written in June, 1841, and noted the pair took the images during the "last Session" of the legislature. The letter also indicated a return visit was planned. This could bring the biography full circle to Moore's original 1840 claim in Philadelphia.
There is currently nothing known about either of these photographers for the next several years. It is possible (but unlikely) that Moore of Moore and Ward is the same Moore listed in Pittsburgh, Pa., in 1856-1857 as Moore & Co., on Federal Street above Leacock. What argues against this is the void of information on any daguerreian activities in the city between 1841 and 1856, and the fact that if it were the same Moore, it is likely he would have noted his past successes elsewhere in promoting his business.