DeSoto Parish, Louisiana; Biography: William X. Moseley, M.D. - m240 --------------------------------- Submitted by Gaytha Carver Thompson Typed by Trudy Marlow ************************************************ Submitted to the LAGenWeb Archives ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** William X. Moseley, M. D., is a well known physician throughout this region, and since l878 has been a resident of Keatchie. He was born in Noxubee County, Miss., December 23,1835, his parents, John T. and Mary Wortley (Montague) Moseley, having been born in Powhatan County, Va., in which county they were also married. In 1830 he removed to the State of Mississippi, did not bring his family thither until five years later. When a young man he left home, his father being a talented attorney, to go to Richmond, Va. where he worked on one of the leading papers as a printer, but soon after gave up that trade for more congenial work, that of tilling the soil, and afterward turned his attention to mercantile pur- suits, then to the banking business, and in later years again became a farmer, the remainder of his days being spent on a plantation, surrounded by his family and many friends. He was a self-made man, was highly educated, and was an able finan- cier. He was charitable, kind-hearted and gener- ous, and his death, which occurred in 1883 at the age of eighty-four years, was lamented by all. From the time he first voted until the last time that he went to the polls he never scratched a Democratic ticket, and was an earnest advocate of secession from first to last. He was a member of the I. 0.0. F., and in his religious views was lib- eral. His wife died also in 1883 at the age of sev- enty-four years, she being a member of an old and prominent Virginian family, members of which had become celebrated for their brilliancy as educators and politicians and for their bravery and intrepid- ity as soldiers. She traced her ancestry back to the sixteenth century. She was a devoted mem- ber of the Missionary Baptist Church for a many years, and as a wife and mother was faithful, lov- ing and kind. She was highly educated and tal- ented, and retained her fondness for good litera- ture until the day of her death. Although she lived over the allotted age of mortals, she never showed in the slightest degree the "ravages of time,'' and could recite page after page from the best poets. Their union resulted in the birth of ten children, of whom William X. Moseley was the fifth child but the eldest of three sons. He was given excellent educational advantages in his youth, and in 1857 graduated with B. A. degree from the University of Mississippi, after which he at once turned his attention to the study of med- icine, and entered the medical department of the University of New York, being graduated in 1859 as an M. D. He practiced his profession near his boyhood's home until the breaking out of the war, when he was one of the first to offer his services to the confederacy, and was attached to the medical department at Richmond as assistant surgeon in Col. Perrin' s regiment. He afterward became surgeon, and being the senior surgeon held that position for some time in Gen. Jackson's brigade, the most of the time being in charge of the sur- gical wards. Soon after the war he located in Noxubee County, Miss., where he remained until 1872, when he came to Summer Grove, near Shreveport, La., and as above stated in 1878 to Keatchie. He has made his home in this place up to the present time, and has built up an extensive practice both in this State and in Texas. His fame has gone out far and near, and as a conse- quence he is very frequently called in by other physicians for consultation. He has never figured conspicuously in politics, owing to the fact that his time has been fully occupied with his practice, but he has always voted for the success of the Democ- racy, and is very bitterly opposed to the recharter- ing of the Louisiana State Lottery. In 1874 he was married to Miss Mary V. Crawford, a daughter of Rev. Peter Crawford, who was a well-known Bap- tist minister for many years, and an educator of decided ability. He was one of the founders of the Judson Institute at Marion, Miss., and was the president of other noted schools in Louisiana and Mississippi. He is one of the men who made Keatchie Male and Female College what it now is, one of the first schools in the State. His daugh- ter, Mary V., has been an instructor in this inst- tution for the past thirty years. Her marriage t- Dr. Moseley has resulted in the birth of six chil- dren: Mary Wortley, John T., William X., Jr Annie R., Peter C. and Patty B. Both the Doc- tor and his wife are members of the Missionary Baptist Church, and he is a Royal Arch Mason.