Thomas Moody (abt. 1710 - bef. 1781)

Born about 1710 in Newton, Aghadowey, County Londonderry, Ireland [uncertain]

Husband of Jean (McCuiston) Moody — married about 1732 in Newton of Aghadowey, County Derry, Ireland [uncertain]

Descendants

Died before Aug 1781 before about age 71 in Guilford, North Carolina, United States

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Biography

Thomas Moody was born about 1710, allegedly in County Derry, Ireland. His first wife is said to have been named Jean, allegedly the daughter of Benjamin McCuistion. Thomas Moody by his first wife Jean is said to have had children Ann (born 17 May 1732), Jean, Sarah, Eliner, and Mary.^[1]

NOTE ADDED BY John Alexander: Thomas's father is not certain but may be Alexander Moody as someone has postulated since Thomas and jean McCuiston named a son Alexander.

At this time, no records have been located of Thomas Moody before he was a participant at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, [North Carolina] on 15 March 1781. From the records below, he would have been living on 2 September 1783, but deceased by 1 May 1784; however, the minutes of the court in August 1781 state that he was then deceased. (See note on court minutes below.) His second wife was named Mary, thought to have been, the daughter of John Witty, which will be discussed on her page.

On 1 May 1784 the North Carolina legislature recorded that they
"Received from his Excellency the Governor, the following message:
To the Honorable the General Assembly:
Gentlemen:
I lay before you a Petition from the widow of Thomas Moody deceased praying a gratuity, & c. You have also herewith a Recommendatory letter from General Greene on the subject--Alex Martin" At the same time received the letter and petition referred to in the above message, which being read, were referred to the Committee of Propositions and Grievances."^[2]

The North Carolina State Archives was able locate the letter from Nathaniel Greene, but not the petition from the widow. The letter stated:^[3]

"Halifax Septemr 2d 1783
Sir
The bearer of this Thomas Moody, an old
Gentleman represents his great sufferings by the enemy
when they were in the neighborhood of Guilford. He was
in our army in that action & piloted the Artillery, & no
doubt was much exposed. If anything can be done for
him in his distressed situation, it will be relieving
the unfortunate & rewarding the fidelity of an honest
old man. Your Excellency is the best judge of the
probability of interesting the assembly in his affairs
and will advise the old Gentleman accordingly. I
shall be happy if anything I can say will
promote his wishes, as I believe him to be
an object of public charity & meriting some attention.
I have the honor to be,
With great respect
Your Excellencys
most obedient
humble servant
Nath Greene"

On 14 May 1784 John Butler, chairman of the Committee of Propositions and Grievances reported to the legislature regarding the petition of Mary Moody. They recommended the petition be rejected, feeling it was more properly the jurisdiction of the County Court or County Wardens.

The legislature decided to reject the report of the Committee stating: "Resolved, That this report be rejected; that the Treasurers or either of them to pay the said Mary Moody, the sum of fifty pounds out of any public monies they may now have in their hands to be applied towards the relief of herself and her children, as a reward for the spirited and extraordinary services of the husband of the said Mary in his lifetime rendered to this Country on a variety of occasions, and particularly at the battle of Guilford Court House in which he was engaged, he being then of the age of seventy years and upwards.^[4]

On 14 May 1784, the Senate received a Resolve allowing Mary Moody the sum of fifty pounds which was concurred with.^[5] The Clerk of the House was ordered to issue a certificate to Mary Moody for the allowance made to her.^[6]

The claim went either unpaid, or partially paid, for on 1 December 1789, "The committee of claims to who was referred the memorial of Hans Hamilton, late Sheriff of Guilford county, report That the matters set forth in the said memorial in their opinion are fact, and the certificates contained therein are genuine, and have never been...paid off by any holder of public money, except by the said Hans Hamilton, and by him taken up in part of the taxes of said county...Your Committee are therefore of opinion, that the Treasurer should be directed by the General Assembly to pass the certificates mentioned in said memorial..." One of these was "in the name of Mary Moody for fifteen pounds, dated in May, 1784."^[7]

Notes

MOODY AND McCUISTON Northern Ireland to America ca 6 August 1735 The Moodys and McCuistons migrated to America about 6 August 1735, as a note found in the back of an old McCuiston book states "landed in America 6 Aug. 1735 at New Castle written September ye 14 1735 Robert mcCuiston." This was at Newcastle, Pennsylvania, which became Newcastle, Delaware when Delaware was formed. Until more is known, we would assume that Thomas Moody and his family came on or about the same time.

Roy Moody said that "a veritable host of McCuistion Families are interrelated with the Moodys going back several generations in Ireland."

• https://johnandval.org/genealogy/Moody/index.html
• https://johnandval.org/genealogy/Moody/Thomas&JeanMc.html

• https://www.johnandval.org/genealogy/Moody/ThomasMoody&JeanMc.html

• http://themountainecho.blogspot.com/2011/03/andrew-jackson-and-mcquiston-family.html

• https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/moody/1938/

• https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/mccuiston/129/

• https://www.johnandval.org/genealogy/Moody/ThomasMoody&JeanMc.html

• https://www.johnandval.org/genealogy/Moody/MoodyHistoryDonna.html

• http://www.montyhistnotes.com/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I54598&tree=Rountree

• https://www.gmccuistion.com/familygroup.php?familyID=F68&tree=gdm1

• https://archive.org/details/mcquistonmccuist00mcqu/page/n13/mode/2up

• https://www.gmccuistion.com/getperson.php?personID=I364&tree=gdm1

• This is the only Moody family in Guilford County, NC, in the earliest days.

• MOODY AND McCUISTON

Northern Ireland to America ca 6 August 1735 The Moodys and McCuistons migrated to America about 6 August 1735, as a note found in the back of an old McCuiston book states "landed in America 6 Aug. 1735 at New Castle written September ye 14 1735 Robert mcCuiston." This was at Newcastle, Pennsylvania, which became Newcastle, Delaware when Delaware was formed. Until more is known, we would assume that Thomas Moody and his family came on or about the same time.

Roy Moody said that "a veritable host of McCuistion Families are interrelated with the Moodys going back several generations in Ireland."

From Donna Moody's "Prelilminary Study of Our Moody Line" Our Moody line is Scotch-Irish descent from (County) Derry, Northern Ireland. The area was a sparsely settled wilderness when Thomas Moody was first in Rowan County by 1756. This part of Rowan was cut off and Guilford County created from it and part of Orange County. He was most likely Presbyterian in religion. Although likely too old to serve in the militia in the War of Revolution, he would have been a Whig patriot like the McCuistions with whom he was so closely connected. Thomas Moody (1) died before February 1784. Married at least twice, he left a widow, Mary. Daughter, Ann Moody McCuiston was also alive. Alexander Moody, who lived with Ann and could have been a son of Thomas, preceded Thomas Moody in death."

. . . .

"This is the only Moody family in Guilford County, NC in the earliest days."

Moody & McCuiston. Northern Ireland to America. ca 6 Aug 1735. "the Moodys and McCuistons migrated to America about 6 Aug 1735, as a note found in the back of an old Mccuistion(sic) book states 'landed in America 6 August 1635 at New Castle written September ye 14 1735 robert mcCuiston(sic).' This was at Newcastle, PA, which became Newcastle, Delaware, when Delaware was formed. Until more is known, we would assume that Thomas Moody (1) and his family came on or about the same time.

Moved to Guilford County area of NC before 1756 when it was still Rowan County.

*He passed away before the Guilford County court met August 1781. The minutes include on page 109: "Administration of the Estate of Thomas Moody, Decd, is granted to Mary Moody, the widow and relict of the Decd , who qualified as such and entered Bond in the sum of one hundred pounds with James McCuistion for the faithful discharge of her duty."

• At least two people who can trace their ancestry to Thomas through records have taken the YDNA test, and they match well. One descends from Isaac Newton, and the other descends from Elijah W. A third who is probably a descendant of Thomas matches them also, and the three match well with several others who stayed in Ireland or came to the colonies from Ireland. The group is Group #3 on the FTDNA Moody page, and Group #3 is closely related to Group #3A, which probably split from #3 (or vice versa) a bit before Thomas's lifetime.
• Before studying anyone else's history of the Moodys, one should read Donna (Lewis) Moody's history. Several records were very difficult to obtain at the time she completed her study, but she and I discussed the now-available records to which she didn't have access when she did most of her research, and she agreed to the notes that I have included with her text.

• I have put much more data into the documents linked to under references and have explained how Donna or I came to our conclusions when such is not immediately obvious.

Sources

1. ↑ Leona Bean McQuiston, The McQuiston, McCuiston and McQuesten Families 1620-1937 (Louisville, Ketucky: Standard Press, 1937), p. 331, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89061967006&view=1up&seq=363
2. ↑ Walter Clark, Ed., The State Records of North Carolina (Goldsboro: North Carolina: Nash Brothers Book & Job Printers, 1901), Vol. XIX, p. 534, https://docsouth.unc.edu/csr/index.html/document/csr19-0006
3. ↑ North Carolina State Archives, G.P.10, Alexander Martin, p. 43, Letter from Nathaniel Greene to Alexander Martin, 2 Sep. 1783, https://www.familysearch.org/memories/memory/20753721
4. ↑ Clark, State Records XIX, pp. 596-597, https://docsouth.unc.edu/csr/index.html/document/csr19-0006
5. ↑ Clark, State Records XIX, p. 600, https://docsouth.unc.edu/csr/index.html/document/csr19-0006
6. ↑ Clark, State Records XIX, p. 639, https://docsouth.unc.edu/csr/index.html/document/csr19-0006
7. ↑ Clark, State Records XXI, p. 641, http://docsouth.unc.edu/csr/index.html/document/csr21-0205