Jacob Mosey (1799 - 1866)

Born 1 Mar 1799 in Blair, Pennsylvania, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Susanna (Wise) Shaw — married about 1848 (to 11 Feb 1866) in Blair, Pennsylvania, United States

Descendants

Died 11 Feb 1866 at age 66 in Darke, Ohio, United States

Complete

Foreword

There are several biographical facts about Jacob Mosey that are undisputed.

• He was the father of Annie Oakley, the famous sharpshooter.
• His birthdate was March 1, 1799.
• He died on February 11, 1866 from pneumonia, the result of exposure after being caught in a snowstorm some three months prior.
• He was a farmer and the father of nine children with Susanna Wise.

What little more we know about Jacob Mosey comes from official government documents, from newspaper articles, and Annie Oakley's journal.

Errors and Discrepancies

Over the years, Annie Oakley's story has been told and retold, sometimes by people who took creative license with the facts so that her story underwent several amazing transformations as it appeared in newspapers, in books, as a play then as a film called "Annie Get Your Gun" which is what most people know about Annie Oakley today. In fact, both had very little biographical truth. Some of the facts extended to her family members which carried over to several genealogy websites. A case in point is ancestry.com which erroneously shows her father Jacob Mosey with a birth year of 1828 and gives the names of his parents as John Mosey (1769-1850) and Mary Carlee Mosey (1768). They were originally entered on this Wikitree record but I removed them because there was no documentation to prove that the information was true. Ancestry.com still shows John and Mary Carlee Mosey as Jacob's parents with a birth year of 1828 which you can see here:

https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/jacob-moses-24-2k8lq8p.

Consequently, this error in Jacob's parentage and birth year has been repeated on other websites, causing many subsequent records to be in error for parentage, marriages, obituaries, and births.

Biography

The surnames Mosey and Moses have been used interchangeably by several family members. It was an era when it was acceptable for newly arrived immigrants to adopt new names for themselves because proof of identity was not required. And so it was with each generation, some kept the Mosey name while some preferred to use Moses.

Jacob Mosey was born on March 1, 1799 and died on February 11, 1866. He was the oldest child of nine children born to William Moses (b. 1775- d. 1838) and his wife Elizabeth (b. 1777 - no date of death or last name). His parents married in 1798 in Huntington Township, York County, Pennsylvania.

The 1800 US Census shows them as a family of three - Jacob Mosey age one with his parents - living in Stonycreek, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Four of their nine children survived to adulthood. William Moses is acknowledged as the true grandfather of Phoebe Ann Moses, known professionally as Annie Oakley. Efforts to learn the last name of William's wife Elizabeth have proved futile. Therefore, learning about Jacob's ancestors on her side of the family comes to a dead end.

All Jacob’s siblings used the last name of Moses; Jacob was the only one to use Mosey. His siblings were:

Julia, born 1801 in Adams County, Pennsylvania

John Moses, 1803 - Bedford County, Pennsylvania is not the tavern owner uncle. Never married, died at age 24

Sarah Moses, b.1804 - Greenfield Twp, Bedford, Pennsylvania

Elizabeth Moses, b. 1809- Greenfield Twp. Bedford, Pennsylvania

James Moses, b. 1810 - Greenfield Twp, Bedford County, Pennsylvania

Henry Moses, b. 1811 - Greenfield Twp. Bedford County, Pennsylvania

Adam Moses, b. 21 March 1812 in Greenfield Twp., Bedford, Pennsylvania, died 18 February 1874 in East Freedom, Blair County, Pennsylvania - Adam married Margaret Hetrick (1815-1888) and they had 5 children.

The War of 1812 lasted from 1812 to 1815. In 1813 at age 14, Jacob joined the Ohio Militia. Many Pennsylvanians crossed the state line to serve for Ohio, either because of their allegiance or cash incentives, so it was not unusual to see an Ohio enlistment in Jacob's records. The dates on his enlistment papers were July 27, 1813 to August 13, 1813, a mere 17 days. His short enlistment was probably due to his age being discovered. Nevertheless, his service qualified him for a War of 1812 military marker which now sits on his grave.

The 1820 Census taken on August 7, 1820 shows a total of 42 people living on the William Mosey property but none of his children are listed by name. He gave the following numbers: 3 white males under 10; 1 white male age 10 to 15, 1 white male age 16 to 25; 1 free white male age 45 and over; 1 white female under 10; 1 free white female age 10 to 15; 1 free white female age 16 to 25, 1 free white female age 26 to 44; 3 agriculture workers, 6 free whites under 16; 2 free whites over 25; 10 free white persons; 10 free whites, slaves, colored and other.

https://ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/223195:7734

When Jacob was discharged, instead of returning to his father's home in Blair County, he went to York County to work for his uncle John Mosey (1771-1846) who owned a tavern on North George Street. John Mosey was the only other family member to use the Mosey name. He was Jacob's father's older brother by four years.

Since first names were recycled so often, by way of identification, this was the John Mosey who married Susanna Stevens (1774-1836) in 1794. They had 16 children over the next 25 years. After the birth of their third child, the family moved to Ohio and the rest of the children were born there. John put the tavern up for sale, but the tavern didn't sell so John used managers for day to day operations, and commuted from Ohio to stay a few days per month.

John Mosey's tavern was so well known on North George Street that new businesses mentioned his tavern in their advertisements in the York Gazette, using it as a landmark to acquaint readers with their location, as seen here in this 1824 clip.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/80637966/john-moseys-tavern-june-29-1824/

Since the tavern was up for sale for a long time with no takers, he rented it to Michael Welsh with an option to buy. As the new renter, the Mosey name was to stay on the business. Welsh fashioned his advertisements to mention the tavern by Mosey's name, but stated that it was under the management of Michael Welsh. In 1829, he finally bought the tavern from John Mosey but the Mosey name just stuck with the locals.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/80656436/john-mosey-sold-tavern-to-michael-welsh/

As late as 1830, advertisements of shopkeepers still used John Mosey's tavern as a landmark.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/81040683/1830-still-called-mr-moseys

When John Mosey died, his probate was held up for seven years to settle his affairs because his establishment was well known for extending credit to everyone.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/80648795/john-mosey-last-will-and-testament

It is not known how long Jacob worked for his uncle, but around the time his uncle moved to Ohio, Jacob went back to Hollidaysburg and bought a small hotel which he operated from the mid 1820s.

Marriage and Children

In 1848 Jacob, age 49, married Susanna Wise, age 18, in Blair County, Pennsylvania. This was the only documentation of a marriage found for Jacob Mosey in the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, or Ohio. A present-day ancestor claimed there was a previous marriage and divorce for Jacob Mosey to an Elizabeth Cruse in October of 1839, but an exhaustive search of vital records and periodicals does not show registration for a marriage or divorce.

https://ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/867172:7836

Jacob and Susanna settled in the Hollidaysburg area and ran the hotel for five years until the tavern next door had a fire and burned down both buildings. No doubt the fire helped them make their decision to move to Ohio . With three other families, each in their own covered wagon, they arrived in Willowdell near Greenville, Darke County, Ohio in the spring of 1855.

Jacob rented a farm with a log cabin. After working the farm the first year, the land didn’t produce enough food to feed his family, so Jacob took side jobs as a mail carrier for Darke County, and making deliveries for local shops and Bear’s Mill, the grain mill. He supplemented his income by hunting and trapping to put food on the table. The hides provided shoes and clothing. Any surplus meat was sold to local shopkeepers and butchers who supplied hotels and restaurants in Cincinnati.

After the move to Ohio, the couple had six more children.

The Mosey children were:

- Mary Jane Mosey - (April 22, 1851 - April 11, 1867) died at age 16 of tuberculosis

- Lidia Maria Mosey - (Aug 6, 1852 - March 8, 1882) married Joseph Stein

- Elizabeth Mosey - (April 5, 1855 - June 18, 1881) never married

- Sarah Ellen Mosey - (April 4, 1857 - July 22, 1930) married name Grabfelder

- Catharine Mosey - (Feb 14, 1859 - Nov 8, 1859) died at 9 months old

- Phoebe Ann Mosey - (Annie Oakley) -(Oct 13, 1860 - Nov. 3, 1926) married Frank E. Butler (Jan 30, 1847 - Nov 21, 1926)

- John Henry Mosey - (August 17, 1861- March 31, 1949), changed his name to Moses

- Hulda (Hilda) Marie Mosey Haines - (Dec 12, 1864- March 27, 1934) married three times 1) Stephen Shaner (1860-1886), 2) John Campbell (1846-1910), and 3) Albert Haines (1860-1922). Fern Campbell, Annie Oakley's biographer, was Hilda's daughter.

- Infant Mosey (1865-1865) - stillborn

In November of 1865, the owner of the farm they were renting agreed to sell it to them, changing their rental to a mortgage which the owner held for him. As long as Jacob kept working, he could pay the mortgage. He was 65 years old.

A month later, in December of 1865, Jacob left home with his team of horses to make deliveries for Bear's Mill. He got caught in a blizzard on his way home and finally arrived at home at midnight, frostbitten, unable to speak and somewhat addled from exposure. He developed pneumonia and two months later, Jacob Mosey died on February 11, 1866, one month short of his 66th birthday.

Jacob Mosey was buried in Mendenhall Cemetery in Yorkshire, Darke County, Ohio. The graves of three daughters are nearby: Catharine who died at age 9 months in 1859, Mary Jane who died of tuberculosis at age 15 in 1867, and Baby Girl Mosey who died at birth in 1865.

Susanna Mosey was left with six children, no income and no way to pay the new mortgage.

In the spring of 1866, Susanna found a cheaper home to rent in Versailles, Wayne Township in Darke County, got hired as a nurse companion for a wealthy society lady in Cincinnati, leaving her oldest girls to care for the younger children.

She didn’t work for very long. She met her second husband Daniel Martin Brumbaugh and married him in October 1867. She gave birth to her last child on May 2, 1868. Her new husband abandoned her shortly after the child's birth. Susanna married again at the end of 1868 to Joseph Shaw and remained married until his death in 1887.

Sources

• Verification of Jacob's Military Service
• https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=61438&h=172039&tid=&pid=&queryId=8ca0493e9f9f6a2c525f02414d425e3b&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Yxs324&_phstart=successSource

• Military enlistment
• https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1133/images/miusa1814_114170-00195?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=9b04cce4ccd27b8a274599a5915a53bc&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Yxs319&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.87786271.682375552.1624455389-30424271.1615737425&pId=74611

• Application for Military Benefits
• https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=1133&h=74611&tid=&pid=&queryId=9b04cce4ccd27b8a274599a5915a53bc&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Yxs319&_phstart=successSource

• Application for Cemetery Grave Registration
• https://www.fold3.com/image/615976659?xid=1022&_ga=2.116640769.682375552.1624455389-30424271.1615737425

• Marriage to Susanna Wise
• https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1348147:7836

• http://famousancestry.info/notables/annie-oakley-notable/

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6587350/jacob-mosey

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6595914/susanna-shaw

"United States Census, 1800," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHRX-STS : accessed 8 July 2021), Jacob Mosey, Stonycreek, Somerset, Pennsylvania, United States; citing p. 562,563, NARA microfilm publication M32, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 43; FHL microfilm 363,346.

• https://wc.rootsweb.com/trees/131380/I145534/-/individual