Mosher Family History in Ohio

New York to Ohio

Gershom Mosher was born to Jonathan and Patience Hoag Mosher in Dutches County, New York in 1781. We know that Gershom Mosher married Ruth Wood in Saratoga County, New York¹. Dutches County being in the lower Hudson Valley, and Saratoga County being in up-state New York, we must wonder how Gershom met Ruth Wood. Did he first move to Saratoga County, or did business take him there and he met Ruth, or perhaps Ruth met Gershom down in Dutches County. Travel and communications being what they were at the time, we must assume that they lived close to each other long enough to get to know each other well enough to get married.

At any rate, they did get married, and between 1808 and 1815, they brought into the world five of their thirteen children. Then in 1817 they moved to Ohio¹. They settled on land east of Sylvester Benedict's land, and continued expanding their family, the last of their thirteen children, Mamford, being born in 1832. When Mamford was born, the oldest child, Joseph, was 24 years old (assuming that he was still alive).

Gershom and Ruth were Quakers (later known as the Society of Friends), the birth of their first four children being recorded in the Quaker records of Saratoga County, New York. Later in Ohio, they apparently had some falling out with the church, as records of the Alum Creek Monthly Meeting Society of Friends list the births of their children and list them as "disowned".
David Mosher, Gershom and Ruth's forth child and the one from which I have descended, was born in Saratoga County, New York in 1813, and so he was about four years old when the Moshers moved to Ohio. He and his brothers and sisters were going to be raised in the wilderness.

In 1817, Ohio was truly a wilderness. The particular part of Ohio where the Moshers located (Morrow County) was on the very edge of Indian territory. In 1795, the government had signed The Greenville Treaty with the Indians, the Indians agreeing to stay North of a line that passed through Cardington, Ohio, which was only a mile or so north of where the Moshers settled. In 1805, the government bought the land north and east of Cardington from the Indians, opening that country for settlement. And in 1817, the Greenville Treaty was essentially annulled when the remaining land in Ohio was purchased from the Indians. Only at that time were white settlers allowed to move into this area. So, the Moshers had moved to the very edge of this newly opened land in 1817. It was truly a wilderness.

In 1835 David W. Mosher met Phebe Buck and they were married. She was the daughter of Edmond Buck, who lived on land there in Peru Township. Edmund Buck was one of the very first settlers of Morrow County, having moved there in 1812 at the age of 21 with his widowed mother and his younger brothers. Buck became fairly prominent, holding a sizable amount of land. Part of his prominence may have also come from having married Pheobe Benedict, the daughter of Arron Benedict. Benedict was one of the early settlers of Morrow County, and a prominent man in the Friends Church. He is the author of a small book about the early settlers of Peru Township.

David Mosher and Phebe Bucks first child, Gershom, was born in 1839. The following year, David's father Gershom, died there in Peru Township. Neither the cause of his death nor his resting place are known, or whether his wife Ruth preceded him.

The 1880 "History of Morrow County," states that in 1850, David Mosher put up a building for hotel purposes on the north side of West Main Street in Cardington.² It is not know for certain if this is the same David W. Mosher. I am fairly certain there were other David Moshers in Morrow County at the time. In the 1850, 1860, and 1870 census, he was listed as a farmer having a real estate value of $4522 in 1870. It is believed that by 1880, D. W. Mosher (not sure about this as the "History of Morrow County," refers to D. M. Mosher) was operating a quarry near Fulton. The 1871 map of Lincoln Township does show D.W. Mosher owning 62 acres that had been formerly owned by I.E. Buck, his brother in law. And there is indeed a quarry on the property. Also, no less than three of his sons were stone masons; Elmore, Harry, and Charles, and at least one grandson, Harry. So indead he may well have had a quary for some time. It seems that the largest and in fact still visible quarry was that of a David Stiner.

D.W. Mosher died in 1880. In the 1880s there was a railroad station in Fulton so the area had become well populated.

The Civil War

In 1861, the Civil War began. Theodore was 20, and enlisted in the 15 OVI, as did Edmond. In 1862, probably the last of David and Phebe's ten children, Mary, was born. Edmond was older than 'Teddy' (as the family called him), and in the military records, Edmond is listed as the father of Charles H. Mosher when Charles was at last allowed to enlist in 1864. At that time, Edmond was 26 or 27 years old, and a battle worn regimental physician - he might well have passed for the 15 year old Charle's father.

Edmond was eventually made the regimental surgeon, and Teddy was a hospital steward. These ranks were apparently achieved toward the end of the war, as the enlistment record shows them both enlisted as privates in Company C of the 15th OVI, and even though Edmond was a physician even before the war3 he is not listed as part of the division's medical staff.

These men saw much bitter fighting, serving with Grant and Sherman in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama. Enlistment records indicate that Edmond was reduced from Hospital Steward on April 24, 1864 and was discharged on September 20, 1864 in order to accept position as Asst. Surgeon in the 172 OVI. Consequently, he would not have been with Sherman on his march from "Atlanta to the sea" in the Carolinas.

In February of 1865, at the age of 16, Charles Henery Mosher convinced his father that he should be allowed to enlist. He was mustered into Co. G of the 187th OVI. The 187th served provost duty at Nashville, Dalton, and Macon, Georgia, until January 1866.

My grandfather told me that his father, Charles Henry Mosher, said he would perodically get homesick and climb up on a stump to see if he could back home. When he came home, he brought with him, "a big ol' black buck nigger." (that was the way it was always stated to me). Indeed the 1870 census does show that a 24 year old black man named John who was from Louisiana is living with the Moshers. The Alum Creek Friends Settlement in Peru Township was a part of the underground railroad. The Benedict family was significantly involved. Great grandpa (Charles Henry) Mosher's great grandmother was Pheobe Benedict, and of course the Mosthers lived along Alum Creek in Peru Township. So, it's very plausible that Charles Henry was sympathetic to the anti-slavery cause.

The Boys

In 1872, at the age of 31, Teddy was a practicing physician in southern Morrow County. He had left his home in Olive Green and was out on a call when his horse was struck by lightning, killing both the horse and the doctor⁴. His father David was with him, and was knocked unconscious. He regained consciousness only in time to hear his son speak his last words. (read the complete story here and see photos of his grave)

Buck Family Cemetary North of Fulton, OH

Buck Family Cemetary on Rt 529, near Fulton, Ohio
(click to see location)

Their father, David died in 1880. He, his wife Phebe, and son Theodore are burried in the Buck family Cemetary just north of Fulton, Ohio.

Edmond (known to the family as Uncle Doc) was now a doctor practicing in Olive Green, later moving to Sunbury⁵, and finally by 1892, he was living in Columbus⁶. His practice continued in each of these locations.

In 1869, Charles married Emma Sherman. The Rev. George Wood presided over the ceremony that was held in Woodville (the Woods family was one of the founding families of Morrow County too). Charles was 20, and Emma was 18. There were quite a number of Shermans living in this vicinity, and Charles had to have been impressed with the name. His brothers had served under General Sherman in the war, and of course the general was considered one of the great heroes of the war, especially in Ohio of which he was a native.

In 1870 their first child, Harry, was born. At that that time they were living with Charles' father David⁷. Also living in that household was a black man born in Louisiana, presumably working with Charles as a stone mason. His name was John and he was 24 years old.⁸ According to family history,⁹ Charles Henry had brought him home from the war. We can only speculate as to why. There were Moshers in Morrow County that participated in the Underground Railroad, including the Bendicts who were related to the Moshers. There are no indications that any Moshers from this part of the family participated, but likely it was the Moshers who were still active in the Friends church. At any rate, Charles was familiar with them, and may well have been sympathetic to blacks as well.

Charles' occupation is known to be that of a stone mason, and at this time he was working at a stone quarry.¹⁰ Later, he was simply a laborer (still a stone mason), and it is not known when the stone quarry ended operations.

In 1892, Edmond had moved his practice to Columbus. His office was attached to the side of his home. His home was at 743 Oak street, and the office was at 745 Oak Street¹¹. The office was simply a room added onto the side of his house that provided a separate door and window. The house and attachment are still there today.

his wife Mary was a nurse-attendant at an "asylum." Also living with them were two of his four daughters, Myrtle and Grace M. Mosher.

Living just down the street from Edmond, was Elmore. He lived at 1309 Oak Street¹² where he ran a business as a stone mason.

Harry also lived in Columbus at 131 Price Avenue, and his sister Nettie lived with him. He too, like his brothers and father, was a stone mason, presumably working for or with Elmore.
By 1906, Frank was living in Columbus, working as a clerk, and living at 573 East 2nd Avenue, and Harry, Nettie, and John were no longer living in Columbus.

By 1913, Edmond's wife Mary was living with Elmore. Presumably, Edmond had died. And, Gershome's wife Martha was living at 49 West Blake Avenue.

Family Reunions

By 1920, Buck-Mosher family reunions were being held with a formal record being kept of each meeting. The reunions were held at various locations around Marion and Morrow counties and a male member of either family was elected each year to preside over the next year's reunion.. These reunions continued presumably until 1941 when World War II ended them, or at least ended the formality of keeping minutes.

Footnotes:
1) From History of Peru Township, Morrow County, Ohio, 1897. Sentinel Printing House, Mt. Gilead, Ohio.
2) From History of Morrow Co., O.L. Baskin & co. 1880. On file in Marion and Mt. Gilead Public Libraries
3) 1860 Census
4) Recorded in the July 4th issue of the Mt. Gilead Sentinel, and reported to me several times by my grandfather, C.O. Mosher.
5) 20th Century History of Delaware County, Biographical Publishing Company, 1908.
6) City Directory of Columbus, Ohio, 1892 (Ohio Historical Society Library).
7) According to 1870 Census.
8) 1870 Census
9) According to Betty Mosher Boyd, Charles Orba Mosher told about his father bringing home a "big ol' buck nigger" and he lived with them.
10) According to 1870 Census
11) According to 1906 Columbus City Directory, and the house is still there today.
12) According to 1906 Columbus City Directory.

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