Barton County KS Archives Biographies.....Moses, Amasa C. 1826 - 1887
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com October 6, 2005, 9:38 pm

Author: Great Bend Tribune

AMASA C. MOSES AND FAMILY

TO ATTEMPT to write a complete history of Amasa Moses at this time would be an
impossibility, and even though the work had been attempted when he was still
alive, it would have been found difficult. Amasa Moses was not the kind of man
who bid for recognition for every kind act he did, but rather evaded all
publicity. He was of that disposition that endeared him to all with whom he came
in contact, and his friendship was something to be prized. There never was a man
in central Kansas who had move to do with its upbuilding, and there never was a
man in Barton County who was so universally respected, or whose counsel was more
eagerly sought by thise [sic] who were in need of sympathy and advice. In the
early days of this county there were many who went to Amasa Moses for aid and
guidance, and not one is known who was refused. It was these elements in his
makeup that made him a leader among men and it was these same elements that
sustained him and made his efforts successful in aiding in the reclamation of
that part of the Great American desert now known as Barton County, Kansas.

[photo] Amasa C. Moses

   Amasa C. Moses was born August 22, 1826, at Ticonderoga, New York. He spent
his childhood there and at the age of eleven years went with his parents to
Vermont. The family located at the town of Benson where Amasa remained until
1843, when he returned to New York and located in Chautauqua County. It was
there that he met and won the heart of Miss Naomi Terry and on April 12, 1848,
they were married. They were the parents of seven boys: Arthur H., Clayton L.,
Edward W., William A., Lincoln C., Cassius M. and Seward E. It is seldom that a
family containing seven boys can be found without one or more sisters and it is
seldom that a family can point to seven boys and say: "They have all made good."

[photo] Mrs. A. C. Moses

   Like many other eastern boys, Amasa was seized with the western fever and in
1871, he decided to bring his family to Kansas. Whether or not he knew the
conditions that were to be encountered is not known. Be that as it may, it
required but a short time for him to lay the foundation for a home. Soon after
his arrival, and before Barton County had been organized, he located a homestead
which comprised the northwest quarter of section 10, Great Bend township, and
situated two and one-half miles north of the city of Great Bend. Then began the
struggle to raise crops. For seven years he tilled the soil with little or no
success in the beginning, but by sticktoitiveness and well applied effort he
finally had the satisfaction of seeing his labors rewarded by the harvest of
grain. It was on this homestead that Mr. Moses erected the first frame house to
be built in this county and it is still in use today and stands on the old
homestead which is now known as the Griffith place, and is one of the
interesting parts of the county. Amasa was accompanied to this section by his
wife who proved her worth by sharing the hardships uncomplainingly and gladly
accepting the burden that was thrust upon her, and his seven sturdy boys only
one of whom—Arthur —had reached his majority. When they reached what was to be
their new home, buffalo and other animals roamed this part of the state in an
almost unmolested state. Armed with Henry rifles the Moses boys soon became
known as expert buffalo hunters and many a tale can be related by them of how
they crawled upon the ground sometimes as much as a quarter of a mile in order
to get within rifle range of the animals. Later the boys secured Sharp's rifles
and with these— the highest class of firearms in those days— their hunting was
rewarded by much better results.

[photo] The Moses Brothers, Sons of A. C. and Naomi Moses. Standing From Left to
Right; Lincoln, Seward, Cassius. Seated From Left to Right; Arthur, Will,
Edward, Clayton

    In those days the returns realized from the sale of buffalo hides and meat
represented about all the money that could be raised in this county. The crops
were not giving very satisfactory returns and had it not been for the fact that
the population of the county, small as it was, the people composing it, like
Amasa Moses and his sons, were made of the right kind of stuff to withstand the
hardships and building an empire by the force of their genius.

[photo] Clayt Moses, Ed. Moses, Tom Mitchell, Jim Shaw

   In 1872 Mr. Moses embarked in the mercantile business, his establishment
having been located on the north side of the park square, on lot 16, block 78.
This ground is now included in the site of the new federal building. At his
store was found a complete stock of general merchandise. The old store building
is still in use and serves the purpose of a residence near the Missouri Pacific
depot. Mr. Moses operated this store until the spring of 1873 when he formed a
partnership with J. H. Hubbard. This firm continued until 1875 when the stock
was divided, at which time Clayton bought his father's interest which consisted
of a stock of remnants. Clayton operated the store in the same building used by
his father until 1877, when he and his brother, Edward, formed a partnership and
started the store known as the Moses Brothers on lot 4, block 90, this ground
being now occupied by the Cyclone store on Main street.

   In 1872, when the people were called upon to choose their first set of city
officials, it was only natural that Amasa Moses was selected to fill one of the
most important offices. Accordingly he was elected the first city clerk of Great
Bend and served with great credit and as the town was new it required a man of
Mr. Moses' ability to discharge the duties of this office in a satisfactory manner.

   Mr. Moses always took a leading part in matters religious and municipal and
he was one of five Christians who organized the Congregational church in 1873.
He served the county as superintendent of public instruction during the first
years after schools were established in the county. He organized Barton County's
first Sunday school and was its superintendent. This work was not so easily
accomplished in those days as it might seem to those who know of the conditions
that prevailed at that time only by reading, and by hearing the old timers tell
of them. However, Mr. Moses was the kind of man who met all difficulties with
fortitude and determination which accounts for the fact that success met his
every effort and he never was happier than when he was accomplishing something
that resulted in good for others.

   When the Moses family arrived in Barton County there were a large number of
Indians reaming this part of the state, and on their trips back and forth from
the Platte river in Nebraska they frequently visited Mr. Moses' home. However,
he met them in a friendly spirit and as a result they came to like him and his
family almost as did the white settlers.

   It was the first Sunday the family spent in their new home that a band of
5,000 or more Pawnees stopped at the Moses, homestead. One of the number was
ill. Mrs. Moses gave him some medicine and brought him around in fine shape. The
Indian had given Mr. Moses a pony as a present, but when the band was ready to
continue their journey, the buck —Indian like—insisted on getting his pony. Of
course Mr. Moses gave him back the present but after that he was known among the
Indians as "Old Mose." When the Indians would become hostile and show
indications that they were going to commit some depredation the government would
send troops to this section. As soon as the Indians saw the troops they would
move away but with the troops on their way back to the fort from which they came
the Indians, would return. Mr. Moses had treated them so kindly that he never
was molested and his family was held in great respect by all the tribes that
were found in this section of the state.

   After Mr. Moses had sold his store to his son he still aided him in its
management and when the firm of Moses Brothers was formed he was a great help to
the boys in the conduct of the business. He had always led an active life and up
until the time of his death was hale and hearty. When on Wednesday, February 9,
1887, at the age of 60 years, 5 months and 18 days, he was suddenly stricken
with paralysis, and died, he passed away, happy in the thought that his life had
not been a. failure. Nothing so fitly describes Amasa C. Moses as the quotation:
"The elements so mixed in him that all the world could rise up and say, he was a
man."

   Mr. Moses' death was a great shock to the community. Not only did his sons
and other relatives mourn his loss deeply and sincerely, but scores of those who
knew him best were bowed down with a weight of woe that seemed almost unbearable.

[photo] E.W.Moses in Early Days When Hunting Buffalo

   The Congregational church of Great Bend of which he was one of the five
organizers, was filled with sorrowing friends and relatives when the funeral
sermon over the remains of Amasa C. Moses was preached. The new house of worship
of this church contains a beautiful memorial window placed there by his sons to
their father's memory. This is not the only memorial to Amasa Moses; there are
others of a material kind, but the most desirable of them all is the memorial he
wrote by his deeds upon the hearts of men.

  There are none of the old timers and very few of those who arrived in the
county after the disappearance of the buffaloes and Indians that did not know
the Moses boys. The old timers knew them for their sterling worth as friends and
neighbors and they knew them for the active part they took in aiding their
father and mother in building a home in the land. Every one of the seven sons of
Amasa Moses has made good in the different lines they have followed.

   Three of the boys: Clayton, Edward and Lincoln stayed with Barton County and
have been closely identified with its agricultural cattle, commercial, milling
and banking interests. The remainder of the boys have cast their lots with other
sections of the country, but without exception they look upon Barton County as
their home.

   Ed and Clayt Moses, as they are familiarly known, were born in Chautauqua
County, New York, the former at Clymer, on July 23, 1856, and the latter at
Clymer, January 19, 1854.

   In 1871, when the family arrived in Barton County, Clayt hunted buffaloes
until the fall of the year when he went to the town of Russell, in Russell
County, and was employed as a clerk in the store owned by George Hart. He
remained there a year and returned to Great Bend where he was employed in the
store owned and conducted by his father and J. H. Hubbard. Clayt's principal
duties consisted in buying hides from the hunters. This poistion required tact
and knowledge in sorting the hides into their respectve classifications, buffalo
bull hides bringing $3.00, spike, or young bull and heifer hides, $1.75, while a
cow hide brought $2.25. Many of the hunters would claim that some of the hides
belonged t3 a classification higher than they really did and this was where
Clayt's tact came in. These hides were brought for many miles on wagons and gave
the farmers and professional hunters a good source of revenue. After the hide
business had run its course and the animals were scarce Clayt went into the
store where he remained as a clerk until the division of the stock in 1875.
Clayt took over his father's interest and conducted a store in the same building
until 1877, when he and Ed formed a partnership and opened the store on Main
street, where the Cyclone store now stands. This firm continued until 1889 when
they sold out to Theodore Griffith, the present postmaster of Great Bend. This
sale included only the grocery department of the store and in the following year
the dry goods and furnishing goods were sold to Hacker Brothers.

   By this time the land of Barton Couuty had begun to yield grain in good
quantities and Clayt went into the grain buying business in earnest. The firm
had been buying wheat that was hauled to town in sacks, saving it until a
carload was secured when it could be shipped to the markets. In 1878 Clayt
formed a partnership with R. C. Bailey and they built an elevator on the Santa
Fe track. This firm continued until 1892 when they bought an elevator at Pawnee
Rock and one at Olmitz. Then Ed was taken into the firm and later Clayt and Ed
bought Bailey's interest in the business and the new firm was known as the Moses
Brothers Grain Company. The home elevator was destroyed by fire in 1898. Work
was at once begun to rebuild the elevator and a much larger and more substantial
one was finished in 1899. In 1901 a flour mill was added to the firm's holdings
and the firm name was changed to the Moses Brothers Mill and Elavator Company.
By this time :ha firm had increased its holdings by adding elevators on the main
line of the Santa Fe from Dodge City to Dartmouth, from Great Bend to Scott City
on the branch, and from Great Bend to McCracken on the Missouri Pacific.

   This string of elevators made a total of thirty-five with the home elevator
at Great Bend. The flour mill as originally built had a capacity of 350 barrels
per day. In 1903 this capacity was increased so that the mill could turn out 600
barrels of flour every twenty-four hours, and in 1908 the mill was again
enlarged to a capacity of 1,000 barrels per day.

   In 1908 the company was incorporated with a capital stock of $200,000 with
the following officers: C. L. Moses, president; E. W. Moses, vice president and
treasurer, and G. N. Moses, secretary. In 1909 half the stock of the company was
sold to L. E. Moses, who became president of the company with C. L. Moses, vice
president, and R. W. Arndt, secretary. The mill and elevator was operated by
this company until January 1, 1912, when it, with six other of the largest
milling companies in Kansas, formed a merger which resulted in a company being
formed with a capital stock of $7,000,000 and known as the Kansas Flour Mills
Company. Since that time this company has acquired two more big mills by
purchase. L. E. Moses is president of this company, the other officers being:
Andrew Hunt, secretary, and J. H. Holdrige, treasurer.

[photo] Moses Bros. Mill and Elevator


   Early in the year 1910 E. W. and C. L. Moses, together with other substantial
citizens of the county, decided to go into the banking business and, as a
result, the German American State Bank was opened for business August 8 of that
year. The bank was organized with a capital stock of $100,000 and $5,000
surplus. The first board of directors was composed of E. W. and C. L. Moses, Ira
Brower, Elrick C. Cole, Ben P. Unruh, E. C. Davis and Dr. Morrison, and at this
writing it is the same with the exception of Mr. Unruh whose place on the board
was taken by Fred Moore. The officers of the bank are: E. W. Moses, president;
C. L. Moses, vice president; Clarence Aldrich, cashier, and Earl Wright,
assistant cashier. Since the bank was opened far business its deposits have
grown steadily and it has made a most enviable record for square deal methods,
and for carrying on its business according to the most approved and conservative
ideas. The stock of this bank is owned by men who have spent their time and
money to make Barton County and Great Bend what they are today. The bank is
oper-,ated for the people of this county and during the approximately two years
of its existence, has gained the confidence of all the people with whom it has
had business relations.

   Following in the footsteps of their father, the Moses boys have led most
active lives and with all their other interests have found time to successfully
operate one of the largest thoroughbred stock ranches in this part of the
country. In 1898 Ed and Clayt began the breeding and raising of thoroughbred
Hereford cattle. The product of this ranch is known among cattle fanciers as one
of the best strains of aristocratic Herefords in the country. The fame of this
stock has been almost world wide and the Moses Brothers have shipped animals
from this ranch to all parts of the counrty and to far away Brazil. Since 1898
they have marketed about 1,000 head of stock from their herd and at this writing
have 500 fine animals on their 4,000-acre ranch in Ness County. In addition to
this ranch, Ed and Clayt own 3,600 acres of farm land in Barton and Stafford
Counties, most of it being farmed under their personal supervision and the
remainder being farmed by renters. Their cattle are known in all the states
surrounding Kansas and in many parts of this country and Mexico.

   Since the Moses boys came to Barton County all of its members have taken a
leading part in its unbuilding and while some of the boys have removed to other
parts of the country the work they did in this countrty in its early history is
still vivid in the memory of the old timers.

   Clayt Moses was married December 12, 1879, to Clara J. Mitchell of Quincy,
Ill. They are the parents of two children, Earl C., 28 years of age, who is
foreman of the flour mill owned by the company of which his father is a member;
Lillian Alice, 25 years of age, lives at home. He served as councilman of Great
Bend city from 1888 to 1892 and as county commissioner from 1892 to 1898.

   Edward Moses was married March 20, 1882, to Miss Anna J. Wood of Great Bend.
He was chosen as mayor of the city of Great Bend in the years 1884, 1885, 1893,
1905, 1907 and 1909 and always served with distinction and in a way that was
very gratifying to his friends and the people of the town. Much of the progress
the city has made was accomplished during the time that Mr. Moses, held the
highest office within the gift of the people of the city.

Ed and Clayt Moses are home loving men and occupy modern residences in Great
Bend and are among the best known citizens in the state of Kansas.

[photo] German American State Bank

  Arthur H. Moses was the only one of the boys who was of age when the family
arrived in this county. He took up a homestead that comprised the northeast
quarter of section 10, Great Bend township He was married in 1872 to Miss Ella
Snowden at Russell, Kansas, and they are the parents of four children. One of
them died in infancy and the adult ones are: Clyde, who became the wife of Alva
Adams, Jr., of Pueblo, he being a son of Alva Adams, who was three times
governor of the state of Colorado. She died in 1905 at Pueblo, Colo. Matie, the
next child, is the wife of Frederick C. Briggs, formerly of Pueblo, Colo., but
now in the jewelry business in Hutchinson. Wm. B. is married and lives at
Osceola, Okla. Arthur H. Moses remained In Barton County until 1885, when he
went to Pueblo, Colo., and there took an active part in the politics of that
state. He was elected sheriff of Pueblo County in the nineties. He went from
Colorado to Seattle, Washington, where he holds a responsible position as
wharfmaster for the United Stains government. He was born February 21, 1851,

   Will Moses came to Barton County when his parents arrived here, as stated in
the beginning of this article. In 1879 he went on the road for Julius Kuhn,
wholesale grocery house of Atchison. He remained in this position until 1882,
when he went to Pueblo, Colo., and engaged in the grocery business. December 21,
of that year, he was married to Miss Grace Buckland of Great Bend. He was
elected sheriff of Pueblo County in 1891 and succeeded himself in this office in
1893. In 1898 he went to Kansas City and since that time has been in the grain
business. Mr. and Mrs. Moses were the parents of two children, Arthur C. Moses,
22 years of age, who graduated froom K. U. in June, 1912, and Elinor, 11 years
of age. Mr. Moses survived his first wife, she having died July 15, 1906, and in
April, 1908, he married Mrs. Stelia Weaver of Los Angeles, California.

   Cassius M. Moses was born in Clymer, Chautauqua County, New York, January 31,
1865, and was the sixth of the seven sons of Mr. and Mrs. Amasa C. Moses. He
came with the parents to Barton County in 1871. He married Miss Betsy Coningham
of Frederick, Illinois, October 14, 1890, and they are the parents of two
children, Donna, born December 13, 1894, and John Campbell, born August 20,
1896. In 1889 he enlisted in the Colorado national guard. He was commissioned
lieutenant in October of that year, was advanced to captain in December, 1890,
and to the rank of major in 1893. He was appointed and commissioned adjutant
general of the state of Colorado in January, 1895. He organized the First
Colorado regiment of infantry, United States volunteers, in 1898, after war had
been declared with Spain. He resigned as adjutant general of Colorado in 1898.
He was commissioned major of the regiment he organized, the First Colorado. He
was mustered out of service at the Presidio in San Francisco, September, 1899.
He participated in many of the important engagements) before Manila, P. I.,
during the war and distinguished himself as a soldier. He served during the
insurrection in the islands until he was wounded June 9, 1899, being unfit for
further service.

   After coming to Barton County, his early boyhood days were spent on the Moses
homestead, just north of Walnut creek, punching cows, working on the farm and
living the usual strenuous life of those pioneer days, when the buffalo, the
other animals of the plains and the Indian were all here.

   In the spring of 1882, he went to work for Moses Brothers and continued with
them until the autumn of 1887 when they retired from the general merchandise
business. He then went to Pueblo and Denver, Colorado, where he made his home
until he removed to Los Angeles, California, in the latter part of 1902.

   Seward E. Moses, youngest of the seven brothers, was born in Chautauqua
County, New York, and came to Barton County with his parents in 1871, at the age
of three and one-half years. He worked for Moses Brothers in their general store
until 1887, when he went to Pueblo, Colorado. He was in the grocery business
there until 1902. Ha returned to Great Bend at that time, being interested in
the Barton County flour mills until 1907. Then he moved to Kansas City, Mo.,
becoming interested in The Moses Brothers Grain Company. He married Edith G.
Balcon of Pueblo, Colo., in 1899.

[photo] First Frame House in Barton  County, Built by A.  C. Moses

   The following incident, related by S. E. Moses, will recall the old times to
those who were here in those days:

   "Although quite young in the buffalo and Indian days, I distinctly remember
my first and only buffalo hunt. It was soon after our arrival in Barton County.
The family were on the old homestead, north of the creek, where it was no
uncommon sight to see buffalo come over the hills down to the creek for water;
occasionally one would come up to the water trough at our well for drink.

   "One day an old bull buffalo drifted down over the hill leisurely and finding
the grazing about a quarter of a mile from our home to his liking, made himself
quite at home. Brother Ed, being at home, and considered some hunter, evidently
resented our farm being used for feeding grounds and prepared for action. His
favorite gun was within easy reach, and feeling confident the buffalo had no
chance against his markmanship, he grabbed me by the hand and said, "Come on,
Sew, and we will kill the buffalo."  We went through the tall grass to a ravine
and made a fine stand on the game, Ed waited for the old bull to turn so that he
could hit him in a vital spot. His aim was evidently good as the buffalo fell at
the first shot and we made our way cautiously to the fallen  monarch. When
within a few feet the buffalo looked so very dead that Ed prepared to cut its
throat and, having me to drag along, Ed laid down his gun and drew his hunting
knife; as he started to stick the knife into the buffalo things commenced to
happen. First, a bellow was let loose that scared me out of a year's growth.
Then Mr. Buffalo got up with blood in his eye and started on a campaign of his
own. Ed picked me up bodily and started for home. I am sure his time has never
been equaled since, although we had no stop watches in those days. The buffalo
did not follow us far, as he was hard hit and, no doubt readily recognized Ed's
speed as well as markmanship. After landing yours truly at the house, your
former city mayor armed himself with another rifle and shortly put an end to my
only buffalo hunt."

   Lincoln E. Moses was born October 14, 1860, in the state of New York. He was
married to Miss Gertrude Tucker at Three Rivers, Michigan, May 12, 1891, and
they are the parents of three children: Edward, Walter and Marguerite. He now
makes his home at Wichita, Kansas, since he became president of the Kansas Flour
Mills Company.

   Arthur H. Moses was born February 21, 1851, in the state of New York, and is
therefore the eldest of the seven Moses boys. He was married to Miss Ella
Snowden of Russell, Kansas, April 20, 1872, and they are the parents of three
children: Wm. B., Mary E., and Clyde L., the latter having died in 1905 at the
age of 23 years. While in Barton County Art, as he was better known, was engaged
in the farming and threshing business. He is now located at Seattle, Washington,
where he is wharfmaster for the United States government.


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From:
Biographical History Of Barton County


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