Owen Moore was born around 1845 in Ohio to William Moore and Mary Elizabeth Hall. His father was a master blacksmith who owned $3,000 of real estate and $500 of personal property in 1860. Moore grew up and attended school in Barnesville, Ohio, and by 1860, he was working as a blacksmith apprentice. He enlisted in the Union army on June 13, 1861, claiming that he was 21 years old. He mustered in as a private in Company B of the 3rd Ohio Infantry later that day. He died in the Battle of Stones River on December 31, 1862.