Annie Wilson was born March 21, 1829 in Montreal. She died in 1901 at 72 years old. She was the 5th of 7 children and did all the family's sewing. She married William Campbell Moore, a ships carpenter, in 1858.

She and her husband and two children, Lillie and William, Jr. lived in New York City. On Christmas Day 1868, William was killed in a fall from a ships mast. Now that Annie was widowed she went back to work as dressmaker to the carriage trade at Altmans on Fifth Avenue where she had worked before her marriage. Her customers would charge their fabrics and trims to Annie's account at Altmans. She would make their dresses and wait for payment, then she would pay her account at Altmans. This was a great arrangement for her customers but lousy for Annie. During the post Civil War period the country was going through the longest depression in U S history (1873-1879). In the crash of 1875 many of Annie's customers went bankrupt and could not pay Annie. It is a great point of pride for the family that Annie never declared bankruptcy and paid Altmans account in full.