The Scoundrel

The first Mosby in America was Edd, who died in 1663.  He came from England with his son Richard (1626-1706) to establish the family and shows up in the records in 1656.  Richard had a son named Edward (1660-1742), who was a carpenter in Henrico county.  He married Sara Woodson and they had a large family of nine children including seven sons who really established the family. They were Quakers, although they got in some hot water with their congregation. 

One of Edward’s sons was Hezekiah (1697-1787) a tobacco grower who owned enslaved people. He and his wife Elizabeth Cox (1712-1775) had eight children, the oldest son was named Edward (1735-1769). The other sons were Daniel (1738-1799) and Nicholas (1742-1819).

Edward married Martha (Patsy) Walton (1738-1794) in 1756 and they had six children in his short life.  Their oldest son was Hezekiah Mosby (1757-1849).  In 1775 Robert Walton, Martha’s brother, was appointed the guardian for Hezekiah, with other Waltons being guardians for the other orphaned children of Hezekiah. This guardianship happened even though Martha was alive.

Nicholas was the ancestor of Thomas F. Mosby, the Scoundrel, but for now I want to make a diversion to tell you about his nephew Hezekiah who had an interesting story. He inherited a plantation, with enslaved people. He fought in the Revolutionary War, married and divorced after his wife was unfaithful to him.  Then he sold the plantation and freed all of his slaves.  He moved with some of them to the Buffalo New York area.  While there he was robbed and lived in poverty for a while until his pension and gold were restored to him. 

Click  “Hezekiah Mosby, Hero”  to read his history in detail including all of the original documents I used to piece the story together.

NICHOLAS MOSBY (1742-1819)

The third son of Hezekiah Mosby (1697-1787) and his wife Elizabeth Cox (1712-1775) was Nicholas Mosby (1742-1819).  He was born in Goochland County, VA, and died in Woodford county, KY.  He married Susanna Hobson (1747 to 1838) in 1767 in Cumberland County, VA.

They had 11 children 5 sons and 6 daughters. Their sons were John (1768-1819), Robert (1770-1823), William (1772-1847),  Edward (1774-1846), and Thomas Hobson (1795-1852).  He and his family moved from Cumberland, VA to Kentucky after the Battle of Blue Licks in 1782. He was one of the early settlers of Kentucky after the Revolution.  Nicholas was one of the early surveyors of Kentucky for the Revolutionary soldier land grants.

SETTLEMENT OF KENTUCKY

Lyman Copeland Draper (1815-1891 interviewed William Mosby (1772-1847) about his early life and this is what he wrote:

“Nicholas Mosby, father of William Mosby came to this country by way of Limestone, very soon after the Battle of Blue Licks. Came from Cumberland County, near Cartersville, not far from James River. General Scott and he were neighbors there; lived within a mile of one another. Went to Brownsville or Redstone (about 300 miles) and then by Limestone. Lost all their aged. Their Bibles and many other things both here some 2 or 3 times before. Father came on a visit with John Moss and Henry Brown. Stayed a part of the time at Boone’s, but father most of the time at Estill’s station (with Estill). Father was a partner of Estill in the purchase of land. Father was to furnish the warrants and Estill was to locate them. He has surveyed for this purpose some 40,000 or 50,000 acres, when his defeat occurred and the land in some way was all lost. Father moved out with the expectation of abundance of land to go out on and it turned out that he had nothing. 

Gen. Scott came out with his family by way of Red Stone; and the next spring, or 2 springs after, my father came out.  Gen. Scott was in the old War, continued through the whole, and came out a Major General.

Young Scott built a fort. Father and Mr. Moss who moved out with him, came and moved their families into the fort with Gen. Scott. These were the only 3 families; but there were some 5 or 6 men who were constantly kept there as a guard; spies were going around. Valentine, Wm. McCoy, Barnett Gaines, old Indian David Williams. Gen. Scott was looked up as all and everything. His name was all that kept him from being massacred. “

“In Harmer’s campaign, circumstances of Scott’s death. My bro: Robert Mosby and Merritt Scott went out together. Scott was captured Mosby escaped. He was standing near Scott who fought every way. ‘Let me down Robert. I am to die. Save yourself if you can.’ When he did let him drop he fell utterly lifeless, the Indians had occupied the narrow pass, and rendered escape by that means utterly impossible. He jumped through the swamp, and knocked his ass pone 20 feet, and got back to camp.”

The Scott referred to above is Brigadier General Charles Scott (1739-1813) the fourth governor of Kentucky.  Scott’s daughter Hannah (1762-1794) married General Littleberry C Mosby Jr (1757-1821) a renowned Revolutionary War Soldier.  Actually, I’m discovering that many of these families were interconnected, and many of the men had noteworthy experiences in the Revolutionary War.

I’ve transcribed the will of Nicholas Mosby, which has lots of good information including the names of his children and enslaved people.

It is interesting to note that even though Susanna Hobson Mosby died 20 years after Nicholas, she was still bound by the terms of his will.

Robert (1770-1824) married Hannah Hancock (1774-1833) in 1792 in Woodford County, KY. During the War of 1812, Nicholas, Robert, and Edward all enlisted in the Kentucky First Regiment under Colonel John Allen and fought in the Battle of Frenchtown (now Monroe, Michigan) on the River Raisin. 

Robert and Hannah had seven children, including possibly twins Robert and Thomas, who are listed in Hannah’s will.  Their other son was William T. Mosby (1800-1863).  Robert and Hannah were slave owners who lived and died in Woodford County.  Their slaves were sold in 1833 after she died.

Robert died without a will, but Hannah left one:

Hannah Mosby – Will – WOODFORD CO, KY

In the name of God, Amen.  I Hannah Mosby of the county of Woodford and state of Kentucky being in a poor state of health but of sound mind and memory and knowing the certainty of death and the uncertainty of life do make and ordain this as my last will and testament.

First, it is my will and desire that all my just  debts be first paid. Secondly I give unto grand children Amanda Irvine and Pendleton Wilhite children of my daughter Martha Ann the sum of one dollar each.  Thirdly I give  to my daughter Polly Wilhite the sum of one dollar.  Fourthly, I give and bequeath to my daughter Sally Dawson one dollar. Fifthly, I give to my son Robert Mosby fifty dollars.  Sixthly, I give to my son Thomas my young sorrel colt one bed furniture and $100 in money. Seventhly I give to my son William a sorrel horse bed furniture cart of clock.  Eighthly, the balance of my estate, whatever it may be it is my will and desire that it be equally divided between all my children before named giving my grand children Amanda Irvine and Pendleton jointly a child part. Lastly, I appoint my friend Genl. James  McConnell executor of this my last will and testament. In witness whereof I  have hereunto set my hand and seal this 31 day of October 1829.

After Hannah Hancock Mosby died, their enslaved people were divided as follows:

Will book I Robert Mosby Slaves divided – March 1833, pg 317 & 318

     Lot 1: Corrine – $400 – Castatan Dawson – married Sarah M Mosby

     Lot 2: Lewis – $425 – Abraham Wilhoit – who married daughter Martha (Patsy) Mosby

     Lot 3: Winifred and her children – William Mosby – many of Robert, $450 -paid to Lot 6 $158.33

     Lot 4: George – $200 – Hiram Wilhoit – married Mary Hobson Mosby

     Lot 5: Uriah – $150 – Thomas Mosby 

     Lot 6:(can’t read name) $125 – Robert Mosby

After his mother died in 1833, William moved with his inherited slaves to Nashville Tennessee.

He married Sara Gaines (1812-1851) in 1835 and they had four children, including Thomas F Mosby, (1837-1887) the Scoundrel.  The 1840 census shows him in Davidson County, Tenn. with a boy and a girl under 5. He also had seven slaves, two adult men, one adult woman, plus two boys and two girls.

It’s hard to know what to make of this man’s life and character.  The newspaper, the Nashville Tennessean has been scanned and indexed by newspapers.com and has provided a wealth of information on William’s life, or at least the highs and lows of it:

He had an inauspicious start in business.  On October 18, 1834 the candle factory he owned was destroyed by fire and all of the contents, including the accounting books, were lost.

By 1839 he had recovered and purchased the grocery store of John H. Bostick.  He made an advertisement in the local paper:

Tennessean – 23 July 1839  “The subscriber having bought of John H Bostick his stock of Groceries and Liquors, intends keeping a constant supply of all articles in the grocery line – a few doors below Kay, Thomas & Co. on Market street.  He will also keep a constant supply of Sperm and Tallow Candles – all of which he intends to sell for cash.  L. E. Temple is employed to superintend the business of the establishment; where he can at all times be found and will also attend to his business as Auctioneer. The highest price, in cash will be given for beeswax. Wm. T. Mosby Nashville, July 13.”

Just two years later he had another reversal and his property was foreclosed and sold:

Tennessean – 4 May 1841 – Notice

“By virtue of a Deed of Trust, executed by W. T. Mosby to me, on the 14th of Feb’y, 1840, and registered in the Register’s office of Davidson County, in Book No. 3, pages 190 and 191. I shall, on Saturday, the 22nd inst. proceed to sell the property specified by said deed, at the residence of said W. T. Mosby, on Summer Street, near Orton’s Tan Yard, in Nashville, to the highest bidder for Cash. A. Bass, Trustee. May 4th 1841.”

A year later he was judged bankrupt:

Tennesean – Nashville – 21 March 1842 – “District Court of the United States, District of Middle Tennessee, Nashville, March 1, 1842.  IN BANKRUPTCY, Notice to Creditors, to show cause, if any the have why JOHN H. BOSTICK, a citizen of Davidson County, in this District, should not be declared a Bankrupt on the 3rd Monday being 21st day of this month. 

 … 56. William T. Mosby, of Nashville – do.”

On January 10, 1852 he was appointed Nashville City assessor:

“Corporation of Nashville:  At a meeting of the Mayor and Aldermen on Thursday evening 8th inst., … On motion of the Board they proceeded to the election of two Assessors, when W. H. Hurt and W. T. Mosby were elected to fill that office.”

Once again it appears that his luck ran out:

Advertisement in Tennessean papers from June through October 1858:

Valuable Free-Soil Property For Sale

“I will sell the house and lot at present occupied and owned by Wm. T. Mosby, situated on High Street, South Nashville, fronting sixty feet, and running back two hundred. The house is a brick, with all other necessary out-buildings, all in good repair. Also a vacant lot fronting on High street thirty six feet, and running back 200 feet; a good location for a building site. This is desirable property to those wishing to get rid of the enormous taxes that are imposed upon property holders, and we would earnestly invite those wishing to invest in real estate to examine this property.  Terms of sale  A credit of one, two and three years, with interest from date.”

The sale of his property may have been the final reversal for William T. Mosby, and after that he doesn’t appear in the newspapers any more.  He died in in 1864 and is buried with Sarah and several of his slaves in the Nashville Cemetery.

     S. E. Mosby, 1851, wife of W. T. Mosby

     Infant Mosby 1851, slave of W. T. Mosby died of Lock jaw

     Julia Ann Mosby 1852, slave of W. T. Mosby age 25, died of complications

     Infant Mosby 1852, slave of W. T. Mosby still born

     Mosby, W. T. Died 12 Oct 1864 died of pleurisy.

QUESTIONS:  Did the burial of his slaves indicate compassion on his part?  Was he or his son Thomas the father of those children?  Did Thomas’ actions in 1858 relate to the bankruptcy?

THOMAS F. MOSBY (1837-1878)

On October 5, 1857 the House of Representatives of Tennessee appointed T. F. Mosby, F. S. Haile and R. B. Cheatham pro tem clerks. Thomas was only about 20 years old.  If his father was still the assessor, that might have helped him get the job, or he got help from his uncle Gaines who worked at the bank of Tennessee.  Even before he got that job, the Comptroller in Nashville had made payments of interest to him on bonds in April 1856, October 1856 and January 1857.

He was caught stealing bonds and cashing coupons on bonds that had been previously cashed by the bank but not cancelled. He admitted to keeping and cashing about $5,000 worth of bonds in Tennessee and New York.  This was part of a greater embezzlement of about $48,000 which resulted in the failure of some banks.  The Newspaper in Louisville suggested that he was a lowly clerk taking the fall for the misdeeds of more powerful people.

He was advised to pay back the money and leave town until things cooled off.  He traveled to New Orleans.  Possibly on the riverboat that his distant cousin  Daniel B. Mosby owned.  Things didn’t cool off, and on June 11, 1858 a deputy sheriff went to New Orleans and retrieved him.  He paid a bail of $5,000 and skipped town again, this time to Gainesville, TX.

That was not the end of things as recriminations went on in the newspaper for months.  There were articles, letters, advertisements and editorials spinning the story of what he did, if he had help and why.

The Tennessee legislature formed a committee to investigate the failure of one bank and shortage of the $48,000 from the sale of bonds by the Comptroller. The Joint Select Committee made an advertisement in several newspapers on June 20, 1858 to make clear what the committee found.  Thomas F Mosby admitted to them that he had taken and sold the bonds, and that his former boss Mr. Crozier told him it would be best for him to leave and let things cool down. 

Crozier wrote a letter in August including:  “Yes, “Mosby mixed up things considerably!  And as he acknowledged to the stealing of $5.000 of the bonds of one of those banks, and has fled, it is well enough now, in these times of high party excitement, to saddle upon him anything, and everything that may have occurred in the Bank of Tennessee, where those bonds were kept by order of the Legislature”. 

A later boss Luttrell wrote in a letter on Dec. 14, 1858: “When I was elected to the office of Comptroller it was my misfortune, not my fault, to continue Mr. Mosby as Clerk.  I had no personal acquaintance with him until I went to Nashville to enter upon the duties of the office. He had been in the offices about two years, was highly recommended to me by all the State Officers at the Capitol, by many good citizens of Nashville, had been endorsed and warmly supported by a large number of the members as Clerk of the House of Representatives, and so far as I could learn, the confidence of all who knew him – I did just as any other man would have done under the same circumstances, retained him on account of his general knowledge of the business in the office. I was compelled from the heavy duties to perform in the Office to trust a good deal of business to him, which he in some instances neglected to attend to properly.”

He continued:  “By what sort of legerdemain he afterwards became the pet of the Committee may yet be discovered when an impartial tribunal sell have the whole matter under investigation… There is also a matter in the fact when they had proof from the Casher of the Merchant’s Bank on New York that the Bank had paid Mr. Mosby for fifteen coupons that we hear nothing more on this subject. These facts indicate strongly that the committee were under some strange influence or for what time or something else. I know not what, chose to let these transactions slip.”

The Republican Banner and Nashville Whig 17 May 1859 – Editorial:  Moral Philosophy of Democracy …(Re democrats)…”and the Union and American can say never a word against either of them for their breach of the trust reposed in them by the public.  But still it must show its indignation against malfeasance in office by wreaking the most terrible vengeance upon poor Mosby, an insignificant clerk, first brought into the Comptroller’s Department by a Democratic Comptroller, who recommended him strongly to his successor.”

Thomas F. Mosby absconded to Gainesville, Texas in about June of 1858, at the age of 21.  That town was one of several named after his distant cousin Edmund Pendleton Gaines, a  War hero. 

The 1860 census of Nashville shows Thomas living  with two housemates, one Frank L Cleavers a 30 year old clerk born in Vermont.  His other roommate was James. M. Lindsay a 24 year lawyer born in Tennessee.  Thomas himself is listed as aged 23 also a lawyer born in Tennessee.  We know that isn’t true.

The area was on the frontier, just seven miles from the Oklahoma Indian Territory. Following the admonition of Horace Grelley: “Go West, young man,” starting in 1858 emigrants used the Butterfield Stage to head west.  

Militias were formed to protect from, or seek revenge after Indian raids. They were worried about “Jayhawkers” – anti slavery guerrillas from Kansas and Missouri.   They  were afraid of abolitionists following in the steps of John Brown, and they wanted to prevent slave uprisings.  They went after “troublemakers and dissidents.”

On Feb. 6, 1861 Thomas married Sarah (Sallie) Davenport (1841-?).  She was the daughter of James B. Davenport and Mary Evans. James B. Davenport Jr., the innkeeper and deputy sheriff became his brother-in-law.

Thomas F. Mosby enlisted for three years in the 16th Texas Cavalry on February 21, 1862 in Gainesville.  He was recruited by T. M. Doughtery and became the Captain of Company 1.  He appeared in the muster roll of that company as Sergeant in January and February 1864.

JAMES M LINDSAY (1836-1919)

Lindsay died on May 3, 1919 in Gainesville.  J. B. Davenport Jr. was an honorary pall bearer.  The obituary states:

“Judge J. M. Lindsay was the dean of Gainesville, in the true sense of the word.  It was in 1857 he landed in Gainesville on horseback, having made the trip from his old home in Tennessee.  Having graduated from the law department of the Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tenn., he hung out his shingle here and followed the profession of law.

He was in the legislature, fought in the Confederate army, worked with the carpetbaggers, and was appointed judge.  He was on the school board, a historian, and built a hotel, the Lindsay House.  He organized the Lindsay National Bank.  The town of Lindsay was bought from his land and named after him.”  (ed:  Cumberland University no longer exists.)

JAMES B. DAVENPORT (1806-1896)

“James B. Davenport, Sr. was a native of Kentucky. After a residence of some years in Missouri, he came to Texas in 1857, and now resides in Cooke county, at the age of eighty-three, having been born in February, 1806. He has filled several offices of public trust, having been, while in Missouri, a justice of the peace, and since his residence in Cooke county, a deputy sheriff. He for some time kept a hotel in Gainesville, and has always been identified with farming interests. He married Mary, daughter of William Evans, of Kentucky.” (Biographical Souvenir of the State of Texas, F. A. Battey & Company. Chicago, 1889. pp. 233-234.) 

He was a resident of Jackson Co. MO in 1833 when a vigilante posse drove the Mormons from that county.  Some Davenports were involved, but I don’t know if he was one of them.

In the 1860 Cooke County slave schedule – JB Davenport owned 9 slaves, 3 female, 6 male & had 2 slave houses.  He listed his occupation as agriculture.

He was the sheriff and directly involved in the Great Hanging of 40 reputed Union sympathizers in 1862. 

After the Confederates lost, Texans were not readmitted to Congress until 1870.

MURDER OF WILLIAM CLOUD

After the Civil War Thomas returned to Gainesville and apparently lived quietly until December 1868 when he murdered William Cloud (1832 – 1868) and ran off with his wife, “Hot Pants” Hattie Cloud to the Choctaw reservation.  She was a full blooded Indian. In the 1860 census, Cloud was a housemate with Robert Bostick. Bostick married JB Davenport’s daughter.

Probate of Wm. Cloud’s estate:

August 1869 in the County Court of Cooke County Texas.

The petition of J.M. Lindsay adm. of the Estate of William Cloud dec’d …. shows that Hattie Cloud who was the wife of the said dec’d William Cloud did during the life of said William Cloud her husband forfeit her right to the homestead under the laws of the State of Texas by reason of the following fact: to wit:

1st. The said Hattie Cloud during the entire year of 1868 prior to the death of the said William Cloud in December of the said year was guilty of the ____ infidelity to her said husband by having illicit and adulterous intercourse with one Thomas F. Mosby in and around the Town of Gainesville whenever and wherever she could contrive to meet ….

2nd he avers that the business of the dec’d, the said Hattie’s husband caused him to be absent from home a great deal during the said time and that the said Hattie frequently continued to have the said Mosby visit her at her house when alone at night, when and where she had carnal and adulterous intercourse with the said Mosby.

3rd During the whole of the said time the said Hattie carried on regular secret correspondence with said Mosby writing the most affectionate letters that could possibly be written to the said Mosby in which she speaks of her husband in most contemptible terms.

4th After she had been guilty of this long continued infidelity to her said husband from the ___ first of the year 1868 until the month of October of said year when she was detected in the same she left the house of the said Cloud and went to the Choctaw Nation with the avowed purpose of remaining there and with the expressed designed of not again returning to her home in the State of Texas and that she did remain there until the death of her said husband and has remained there … as a resident of the said nation.

WILLIAM CLOUD

Married Haritt Thompason on March 12, 1861 in Grayson Co., TX. with S. Bostick as the Clerk of the Court.

Here is the obituary for Isaac Cloud, (1846-1915) William’s brother:

“Colonel Cloud settled in Indian Territory at Erin Springs in 1866, where he established the first cow ranch in the section. The Cloud ranch house was the first improvement and habitation erected on the Washita river between Smith Pauls farm, now Pauls Valley and Fort Cobb.

During the first year of the Cloud’s residence in the Washita valley, Mr. Cloud met General William D Hazen of the United States Army, whose wife is now Mrs. Admiral George Dewey. General Hazen was at that time located at Fort Cobb Okla. Through his acquaintance with General Hazen, Cloud secured his first beef contract and many subsequent contracts to furnish beef to the Kiowa and Comanche Indians.

Much money was made in the early days through these contracts and Cloud accumulated a large fortune which brought him into prominence as the wealthiest man in the Chickasaw nation. He was occupied four years as a government beef contractor to the Indians.

Although an early settler in the Indian Country Cloud has never held a right. His brother, William Cloud was an intermarried citizen and he profited by this in many ways. After the death of his brother, Mr. Cloud was left without any rights, so he sold his improvements on the Indian lands to the Murrays and located in 1874 at Sudden, Okla.

DISAPPEARANCE OF THOMAS F. MOSBY

Thomas purportedly disappeared, almost never to be seen again.  Sally and her two children Carrie (1867-?) and Edgar (1868 – ?) moved back to her parents boarding house.  Robert Bostick married Mary (Jennie) Davenport, Sara’s older sister, and they took over the hotel.

Thomas F. Mosby was not in ANY census for either 1870 or 1880. In September 1870, John Edward Mosby was born to Sally, and he shows up in the 1880 census as 9 years old.   Sally doesn’t show up after 1880, but the 1890 census was lost in a fire,

James B. Davenport Sr. died in 1896 and left a will.  In it he gave all of his property “unto my two beloved daughters Mrs. Jane Bostick and Mrs. Martha Morris.” Why didn’t he leave anything to Sally or her children?  He had one living son, James B. Davenport Jr. who didn’t get anything either but may have received property while James was living.  Did he disapprove of Sally or had he outlived her? Did she remarry?

All three of the children settled in Oklahoma.

John Edward is the Mosby ancestor I am interested in.  If you do the math, you can see that he was born 24 months after the “disappearance” of his father. When I discovered this in 2010 I was concerned that my sons might not even be Mosby.  So, they did Ancestry DNA Tests, and I was able to find matches with people in the Gaines family.  They were Thomas’ grand parents, so I feel quite confident that John Edward Mosby was really of the Mosby clan.

THE LAST LAUGH

The Tri-weekly Herald of Marshall Texas posted this article on Oct. 3, 1878:

“Dr. Thomas Mosby, of Boston, who came here some weeks ago and opened a store under the City Hotel for the sale of Dr. Mosby’s English remedy, said to be a sure cure for fevers of every kind, died at 9 a. m. of yellow fever.  The doctor showed his faith by taking his own remedies, refusing the attendance of physicians.”

Now you might look at that death notice and question whether he really was the Scoundrel Thomas Mosby since he said he was from Boston.  Well, I have a database of all the Mosby in the 1850 census, and I can tell you for certain that there were no Mosby living in Massachusetts, or any other New England state except for Hezekiah and his clan as discussed above. This is just the thing Thomas would do.

John Edward (1 Sept.,1870-10 May, 1913) was born in Gainesville ,TX almost two years after his father Thomas F. Mosby allegedly committed the murder of William Cloud on 26 Nov. 1868 and ran off with Cloud’s wife Hattie Thompson.  Ancestry DNA has proven that his descendants are in the Mosby family.  It was reported that he ran off to Indian territory with Hattie.

John Edward was the fourth child of Thomas F. Mosby and Sallie (Sara) Davenport. After Thomas committed the murder in 1868 he disappeared from most records.  Sara is in the 1880 census in Gainesville, TX living at the boarding house of J. B. Davenport, her father.  The 1890 census was destroyed and she is not listed in any other census no could I find any grave for her in either Texas or Oklahoma.  

John’s sister Carrie was in the 1880 census twice, once at the Davenport boarding house with her mother and once as Carrie Mosely with Sara’s sister Martha Morris, listed as a student.

John Edward settled in Woodward County, Oklahoma and was known by 1894 when the first newspaper was established.. That area was at the crossroads of several cattle trails going from Texas to Missouri.  The town was founded in 1887 along the recently completed Aitchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad. John was known as a cattle driver.  He was the manager of his uncle’s cattle company until he resigned and went off to ranch on his own in Curtis, OK.

He and Alice Clifford were married on 21 October, 1895 by a judge in Dodge City, KS.

They are in the 1900 census for Judkins, Woodward, OK listing John 29, Alice 31, Clifford E 3, and Tumble H 1.  He gave his occupation as “stock herder”. Also in the household is Nora Fortier, 16 listed as “servant.”

Elbridge was born 18 July 1896 in Oklahoma

Alice Carrie born 27 Dec. 1897 in Cowley Co. KS

Temple Houston born 23 Jan. 1899 in Quinlan, Woodward Co. OK

Elzada Barbara was born 23 Dec. 1901 in Mountain Park, Kiowa Co. OK.

Five weeks after their marriage, John Edward and Alice were sued in Woodward County for $2,500 for non payment of a cattle mortgage. In 1896 he was an officer in the Livestock association, and an inspector in the 1896 civil election.  

In Feb. 1900 the newspaper had reported that his  home had been quarantined for smallpox for 6 weeks. In Feb. 1901 the newspaper reported:  “John Mosby and Chas. Swindall returned from South St. Joseph, Mo. Tuesday evening. Mr. Mosby secured a verdict for $4,091.12 against the McKee, Book, Whitford Com. Co. Last summer while Mr. Mosby’s house was under quarantine, the man who was holding his cattle near Jett, Okla, shipped them to the above named firm at St. Joseph, claimed them as his own, secured the draft and left for parts unknown. Mr Mosby afterward brought suit to recover the worth of the cattle, which resulted in a verdict as above stated, $4091.12.”  In another article from Perry, OK, the paper identified him as the “son of the noted guerrilla.”

In November 1901 The Woodward newspaper noted that he was moving to a new county to run for sheriff.  His daughter ElZada Barbara was born in Mountain Park,, Kiowa Co. OK on 23 Dec. 1901 and on 1 May 1902 he filed for sheriff of Kiowa county.  I don’t think he won.

On 17 Feb. 1902 he and C. L. Clingerman filed for a liquor license to sell in Thacker.  My research indicates that town is now Bradley, OK, although there is also a Thackerville, OK near Gainesville, TX.  In addition, he ran a saloon in Walters OK, about 150 miles south of Woodward, and 100 miles north of Gainesville, TX.  That didn’t go well.  

In June 1903 “A requisition was …made on the governor of Missouri for the return to Oklahoma of John Mosly, alias John Mosby,  who is wanted for grand larceny. (Mosby is well known in Kiowa county as an all-around tough and took part in several gun plays here in Hobart. He also ran a saloon in Mountain Park and was always in trouble).”

More trouble ensued. 22 Aug 1903 – Frederick Free Press –

“Yesterday when J. A, Baker went to Walters to repossess the stock of John Mosby, a saloon keeper of that town, he was met with such a surprise that his eye shows the effect of it yet.  The surprise was in the form of John Mosby’s fist.  He announced very forcibly that no d—n lawyer could shut him up.  Deputy Carter has now gone to Walter to arrest the obstreperous saloon man – Lawton Enterprise.”  The sheriff’s sale was in September 1903.

In June 1904 Alice left Hobart, OK to visit John who was working in Anadarko.  By 1903 R. M. Denney was the assistant Chief of Police in Anadarko.  Temple Houston Mosby married Denney’s daughter Lois in 1921.  Lois told me that John Edward Mosby ran a saloon in Anadarko although I haven’t found any documentation. That would have made four.

*** 1907 – Oklahoma became the 46th state, and banned alcoholic drinks in the constitution.  It had always been banned in Indian Territory – the eastern part of the state.

J. E. Mosby next appeared in 1908, in Woodward, listed as “one of the oldest cattlemen in this part of the country” (he was 37).  He participated in a roping contest but came in last and got the consolation prize.  His residence was listed as Waynoka which is about 25 miles east of Woodward. His son Temple was mentioned as having a part in a Children’s program at the Baptist church in Woodward in June 1909.

1909 was not a good year for him.  In September a U. S. Marshal arrested him and another man for selling bootleg liquor. He was taken to Enid but escaped and was not captured and returned to Woodward until January 1910. There was a third man, Buck Walsh, who was in the bootlegging business with him, but was not arrested.  In February of 1910 he filed an affidavit at the Court house complaining that Walsh should also be arrested. 

Walsh and John got into a fight and Walsh was cut with a pocket knife John had.  John was arrested for assault with intent to kill.  An investigation was done and this letter to Pabst brewing turned up:

“Gentlemen: Enclosed find B L for five mts. Also express John Scaggs one cask of Blue Ribbon and one to John Bouquet. One of these is our sheriff and the other is marshal. Had our city election yesterday and I think everything is alright. Yours truly, Buck Walsh.”

In May 1910 John was convicted in Federal court  of violating the internal revenue laws by selling liquor without license and sentenced to a fine and three months’ imprisonment.

In January of 1911 he was tried for the assault charge and acquitted. I’ve transcribed many of the articles containing the sordid details about the arrests, escape, fight and acquittal on the Ancestry.com gallery for John Edward Mosby.

By April of 1911 the Mosby family moved to Oklahoma City and his house in Woodward was sold.

John Edward Mosby died on 10 May 1913 in Oklahoma City at the Post Graduate Hospital. His death certificate says he died of emphysema and probably TB and had been treated for a month but had been ill for 3 or 4 months.  The lines for marital status, residence and occupation are blank although his date of birth and parents are listed.

Alice died in February 1914 in Oklahoma City of tubercular meningitis and her children moved to Kansas to live with her sister, Oneida Hall.

 I’ve called Thomas a Scoundrel because he stole from his employer,  the State of Tennessee in his early 20s.  He ran away to Gainesville Texas, and fabricated the occupation of Lawyer.  He may have participated in Vigilante justice, then fought on the Confederate side of the Civil War.  He married and had children, but then fooled around with Hattie Thompson Cloud.  In 1868 when he was 31 he got caught and murdered her husband William Cloud.  Then he ran off with her, but came back long enough to father another child.  Then he impersonated a doctor, sold snake oil and died of his own medicine at 41 years old. 

At the beginning, I told you what Grandma Lois had said – that one Mosby married an Indian woman who had oil wealth.  Thomas’ infidelity must be the source of that information.

As for the children of Thomas and Sara/Sally.  Edgar W Mosby was born 21 Jan. 1868 and died on 17 April, 1900.  He never married and is buried in the Jester cemetery in Plainview, Greer Co. OK.

Carrie (1867-1944) married Henry White Armstrong and had 6 children. They married in Gainesville, TX and moved to Oklahoma.

John Edward Mosby (1870-1913) married Alice Clifford (1867-1914) in Dodge City, KS.  He was a swashbuckling cowboy.  Later he ran the tavern if Anadarko, OK. He died on May 10, 1913 in Oklahoma City of emphysema with TB as a contributing cause after suffering for 3 or 4 months.

Alice died on Feb. 10, 1914.  She died of Tubercular Meningitis.  After both parents died the children moved to Emporia Kansas and worked in the stores run by Alice’s sister – Oneida Hall.

Those children were Elbridge (1896-1975) born in Barber, Kansas, Alice Carrie (1897-1975) born in Cowley, KS, Temple Houston (1899-1933) born in Quinlan, OK and died in Oklahoma City, and ElZada (1901 – 1976) born in Kiowa, OK.

Temple Houston (aka Jack) Mosby married Lois Emily Denny (1896-1996) in Oklahoma City. Their Child Russell Clifford Mosby (1924- 2017) is the immediate ancestor.   Russ was born in Oklahoma.  He attended the University of Oklahoma and fought in the Pacific in World War II.  He worked in the oil industry in Louisiana, Texas and California. He had a patent for oil machinery.  He worked with George Bush Sr. at Zapata Oil, engineered offshore rigs, and travelled to Europe.

In spite of his achievements he was not a nice person.  He was prejudiced against Blacks and other non-white people.  He molested his daughters and intimidated his wife.  He was a mean alcoholic, usually drunk by noon when I met him.  Was this the result of behavior and attitudes being passed from one generation to another? Or was it abuse and molestation that was passed on?