Dade County History Book

Margaret Inez Gray Moore – 1916-1994

Margaret Inez Gray was born September 17, 1916, to Walter and Eunice Gray in the New Salem community on Lookout Mountain.  She attended school at New Salem and was a lifetime member of the New Salem United Methodist Church.  She sang as a member of the church choir throughout her adult life.

On December 23, 1933, she married her childhood sweetheart, Harold Cecil (Prag) Moore, the son of Clarence and Minnie Moore.  Their marriage produced three daughters, Bernadine, Alice, and Brenda, all of whom were born in New Salem.  Bernadine was born on March 26, 1935; Alice was born on December 11, 1936, and Brenda was born on February 4, 1945.

A talented seamstress and quilter, she participated with her sisters and sisters-in-law in the creation of beautiful and artistic quilts, some of which graced the homes of famous Americans, such as Nelson Rockefeller and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. The creative and artistic talent of Inez

Moore and her quilting group was underscored when they were commissioned to prepare and complete the official Tennessee state quilt to celebrate the state’s bicentennial in 1994.  It is especially significant that the quilt was made in Georgia by Georgia ladies.

In 1949, Inez Moore and her husband built a store and a family home on Old Highway 143 (now Georgia Highway 136).  The store was closed around 1955.   In 1953, they built a stone house on 20-acres that included the store/house building.  That stone house was home for both Inez and Prag Moore for the rest of their lives.

In 1961, the Moores bought the Mountain View Restaurant on U.S. Highway 11 in Trenton, Georgia.  Prag, who had a passion for good home cooking, and Inez, who was an excellent cook, wanted to provide wholesome and well-prepared food at an affordable price for their customers.  They operated the restaurant until 1963.

Inez Moore traveled extensively, both within the continental United States and overseas.  She visited Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands in 1962 and Hawaii in both 1975 and 1977.  During the last ten years of her life, she vacationed with her daughters and their families in Florida and Hi1ton Head Island, South Carolina.

In her latter years, Inez Moore fought heroically against the debilitating effects of congestive heart failure.  She was frequently hospitalized in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Atlanta, Georgia, for that condition.  On July 9, 1994, she succumbed to the ravages of that condition and was buried on July 11, 1994, at the Hawkins Cemetery in the New Salem Community, between her beloved husband of 42 years and the grave of her infant granddaughter, Katrina Dawn Ledford.  Three loving daughters, three sons-in-law, and six adoring grandchildren – two granddaughters and four grandsons survived her.

Written by Alice Williams