Moses Marion Arnold (1795 - 1885)

Born 11 Mar 1795 in West Virginia, USA [uncertain]

Husband of Jemima (Barnes) Arnold — married 23 Feb 1837 in Morrow, Richland, Ohio, USA

Descendants

Died 18 Dec 1885 at age 90 in Modale, Harrison, Iowa, USA

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Edward McFadden [send private message]

Biography

Moses was born in 1795. Moses Arnold ... He passed away in 1885.

• Fact: Residence (1850) Washington, Miami, Indiana
• Fact: Residence (1860) Center Township, Decatur, Iowa, United States
• Fact: Residence (1880) Taylor, Harrison, Iowa, United States
• Fact: Burial (1885) Calhoun Cemetery, Calhoun, Harrison, Iowa, United States
• Fact: http://familysearch.org/v1/LifeSketch Moses Arnold's Reminiscences of his LifeAs told to Matilda and Anna Arnold

Introduction by Aunt Anna "I remember well the time: 'twas one evening in the summer before he died, he being then past 90 years of age." "Grandma had gone to prayer meeting. I was washing dishes in the kitchen when Aunt Matilda called for me to get my pencil and paper and come quickly. It had been previously arranged that sometime when his mind seemed more clear, she would ask him questions and draw him out about his life, and I would write what he said." "Accordingly, I immediately left my work, secured the pencil and paper, and seated myself on a stool in the bay window. Grandpa was sitting before the window in his armchair, his white hair hanging down to his shoulders, as was his custom to wear it. Aunt Matilda occupied a rocker near by. One of the boys was on the couch. I shall try to give as much as possible of what he said in his own words:"

Grandfather's Reminiscences

My mother's name was Elizabeth Ashby; my father's John Arnold. My grandfather's name was Moses Arnold, and my grandmother's name on my mother's side was Sarah Ashby. My grandfather Arnold was raised in the eastern part of Virginia. They were the descendants of the English, Irish, and Dutch. My grandfather had 10 children. His wife's name was Sarah Timmons. These are the children's names (counting them on his fingers as he named them): First, Anna, she married Samuel Posterwait; second, Benjamin; third, John; fourth, Thomas; fifth, Joseph; sixth, Millie; seventh, Elizabeth; eighth, Daniel; ninth, Robert; tenth, _____,(his memory failed him here). My grandfather Ashby's family were: Anna, Samuel, Benjamin, Elizabeth or Betsy as she was called (she's my mother), Rebecca, Winnifred, Sarah, Martha, William, Jesse, Polly, she married William Wilson. Three Ashbys married three Wilsons. (His list is not entirely correct. See p E.A.G.) My brothers and sisters' names were: Sarah, she lived in Missouri; then I came next; Rebecca, William, Winnifred, John, he lived in Wisconsin; Betty, she was a school teacher; and Hannah who died when only 3 or 4 months old. Where did I live? I lived at home with my parents in the northern part of Maryland, west of the Alleghenies. At that time they were called the "Backbone of America". Many's the time I have picked cranberries there and carried them to Morefield in Hardy County, Virginia. We used to take a heap of them there. Yes, I went to school about five weeks in Maryland, and then after that, I went about six months in Virginia, and that was all I ever went to school. I used to study at night in the light of a pine knot. Then I taught one term of school on a little mountain called Snaggy Mountain in Pennsylvania*. The schoolhouse was a hewed log one. Let's see, I can tell you some of the children's names: Oliver, Childs and Jesse, and Lucinda. 'Twas not very cold weather. Clothes? Well, they were made of buckskin and linen. We raised the flax, cut it, and let it rot. What do you mean by letting it rot? Why, the bark rots and leaves just the fibers. Then we took it in bundles and hackled it, then spun it and wove it into cloth and made it into shirts and other things. My shoes were moccasins made of deer-skin. They drew a drawer knife over the skin to get the hair off, then dried it and worked it until it was soft. They had no salt in those days until they learned to take it from the ground. It was then yellow, but now they make it white by some process. I remember the first money I ever had. It was a fourpenny bit (six pence) that a stranger gave to me, and I was so afraid that someone would take it from me that I took it out and hid it on a stump of a tree which my father had cut down near the house, and covered it with a chip - one of the larger ones. Yes, I used to go coon hunting often, and once I killed a bear. I had a cousin who was a hunter; he is dead and gone to a Better World, I hope. We went out one afternoon and both of us had guns. We went to some chestnut trees where the bears were so busy they didn't notice us. He shot one and I did too. Then the bears run and we run and finally there were two of them run up a tree and we each shot one; he, a young cub, and I, an old 'she.' I thought it was one that someone else had shot and lost, so I carried it home. After I was gone, the Indian came to the house and said, "White man, rascal, rascal, rascal, take my deer." My wife told the Indian that he might have it, to take it and skin it. He did skin it and then gave her the hindquarters and went away. This was n Virginia. "Here Aunt Matilda asked him about the laurel thickets." The laurel thickets were so thick that I couldn't walk through them. They grew like thick hazel brush and were crooked and all woven together. They were green all year 'round, and had blossoms on them. Berries? I don't think so. Streams? Yes, lots of them. Muddy? Yes, if there was any travel in them. There were some of them pebbly and clear. I went down the Ohio to the Mississippi, and down that past Saint Louis to New Orleans, both of which were at the time only log cabins, and the inhabitants were French, some Irish. I sold the boat and coal; got 0.00. Came back on a steamboat. I was sick on the way home and had to stop at William Morgan's, my wife's uncle, in Illinois. Had chills and fever. Then I bought a colt and rode home from the southwestern part of Illinois to Virginia. Got home on the twenty-seventh of November. My corn crop that year was good. Others said it was the best of anywhere around.

Here ends the reminiscences of Moses Arnold.

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Grandpa was born March 10, 1795. He married Mary Ann Morgan in** Montgomery County, Virginia, February 22, 1821. Rode 40 miles to marry her. The moved to Ohio, where grandma died August 13, 1835, aged 33 years, 11 months, and 12 days, leaving him with six children as follows: Jonathan Timmons Arnold, born September 5, 1822, in Virginia William Morgan Arnold, born May 24, 1825, in Meigs County, Ohio Moses Marion, May 4, 1827, in Knox County, Ohio Civilli Ann, born January 25, 1829, in Knox County, Ohio David, born March 8, 1831, in Morrow County, Ohio Nathan, born November 1, 1833, in Morrow County, Ohio

Grandpa was married again to Phoebe Hartwell, November 23, 1835, but she died the second of March following, very suddenly, near Mt Gilead, Ohio. He was married to Jemima Barnes, February 23, 1837, in Richland County, Ohio. They moved in 1846 to Miami County, Indiana, and in 1855 to Decatur County, Iowa.

Grandpa had been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for over 70 years and at different times held the offices of class-leader, superintendent, etc. His wife Jemima (born May 15, 1813) lived to comfort and cheer and care for him in his old days, and died August 31, 1890 in Modale, Harrison County, Iowa. She too had been a member of the church for some 60 years, living a devoted, earnest Christian Life. To them were given 10 children.

Transcriber' preface: These reminiscences were originally taken down by Anna Arnold and her sister, Matilda (Arnold) Harding, daughters of Moses Arnold and Jemima (Barnes) Arnold, in approximately the summer of 1884 or 1885 at Moses' home in Modale, Harrison County, Iowa. It appears that Matilda acted as interviewer, while Anna took down Moses' responses. Anna and Matilda's descriptive comments are parenthetically noted, and appear in the copy from which this transcription was made. All original material appears within quotation marks. In order to preserve the original flavor of the reminiscences, these were transcribed as received with only minor changes to correct obvious typographical errors in spelling or punctuation. Comments on possible mistakes, items that require clarification, and information of general interest are footnoted; otherwise the transcription is as received. Individuals referred to within the text may be listed in the biographical section at the end of this document. However, readers are cautioned that the biographical information has not been verified, and was taken from the same source as this transcription. Further, while all reasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, the transcriber cannot vouch for the veracity of any information contained here.

Transcriber's history of this document: The copy from which this transcription was made was received through several intermediaries and appears to have been copied numerous times. to the best of this writer's knowledge, the 'chain of custody' of the current incarnation of these reminiscences is as follows: Anna and Matilda interviewed Moses in 1884 or 1885. Sometime later (probable date between 1884-1885 and before Anna's death in 1933) Anna transcribed the results of that interview, and wrote her introduction. Maude Myrle (Arnold) Latham and Edith (Arnold) Ganzhon obtained copies, but whether from Anna or another intermediary is unknown. From there, the copy made its way to Lois Ethel (Arnold) (Greer) Wirth, who provided a copy to Arlyn Charles Arnold in approximately 1986. Arlyn's copy was used as the source for this transcription. Richard Dean Arnold (g-g-great grandson of Moses Arnold) transcribed these reminiscences in May of 2000. Judy (Kee) Jennings obtained a copy from Richard Dean Arnold and in turn provided me, Jack E. Whitmer with a copy.

• possible the Shaggy Mountain located north of Terra Alta, West Virginia?**should be Monongalia County Virginia. Recorded in the Marriage Bonds Records of Monongalia County Virginia 1796-1850 as follows: date Feb 20 1821, groom Moses Arnold, bride Mary Morgan, daughter of David Morgan, bondsman David Morgan.

Sources

• "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M82J-FLG : 18 February 2021), Marion Arnold in entry for Moses M Arnold, 1860.
• Find A Grave: Memorial #135115274
• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 31 May 2019, 02:50), entry for Moses Marion Arnold Sr(PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:K2Q7-1HZ); contributed by various users.