Edward Moscrip Biography This biography appears on pages 1178-1179 in "History of South Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. EDWARD MOSCRIP, son of Thomas and Sally (Reynolds) Moscrip, was born in Delaware county, New York, October 14, 1838. His early years were spent in his native state, where he grew to manhood on a farm, and in the subscription schools of Delaware county he received a fair education, his principal training, however, being of an intensely practical nature, obtained by coming in contact with the world in various capacities. Mr. Moscrip followed agricultural pursuits in New York until the year 1857, when he went to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and engaged in lumbering, continuing that line of business until 1861. In the spring of the latter year he responded to President Lincoln's call for volunteers by enlisting in Company E, Second Wisconsin Infantry, which was part of the celebrated Iron Brigade, the only brigade of western troops in the Army of the Potomac, being the First Brigade of the First Division, First Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, with which he shared all the realities of war in several of the southern campaigns, taking part in some of the bloodiest battles of the Rebellion, among which were the first Bull Run, Gainesville, second Bull Run, Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, Antietam, Gettysburg, the Wilderness and many others, in all of which his conduct was that of a brave and heroic soldier who never hesitated when duty called and whose record is one of which any veteran might well feel proud. On May 10, 1864, in the battle of Spottsylvania Court House, he was shot in the hip, the injury being such as to render him almost helpless for a year, during which time he received hospital attention at various places, remaining for some time at the Soldiers' Home in the city of New York. Mr. Moscrip was discharged at Providence, Rhode Island, in April, 1865, and immediately thereafter returned to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where in the spring of the following year he resumed lumbering in the pineries of that state. He was quite fortunate in this business and followed it about seven years, during which time he realized considerable wealth and laid the foundation of his subsequent success as a farmer and stock raiser. In the month of March, 1868, Mr. Moscrip was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Gilmore, of Illinois, and four years later, with his wife and two children, drove from Wisconsin to Lincoln county, South Dakota, and purchased a quarter section of land in LaValley township, which he improved and which he made his home during the ensuing five years. Disposing of his place at the end of that time, he bought the southwest quarter of section 2, LaValley township, which he still owns, converting his land the meanwhile into a finely cultivated and splendidly improved farm, his dwelling and barn, erected in 1900, being among the best buildings of the kind in the community. As a farmer Mr. Moscrip ranks with the most enterprising and successful of Lincoln county agriculturists, and he also has an enviable reputation as a raiser of live stock, his horses, cattle and hogs being carefully selected from the most approved breeds and he seldom fails to realize every year handsome profits from the sale of these animals. Not only as an up-to- date farmer and stock man is Mr. Moscrip known, but he has long been before the people as a leader in various public enterprises, among which may be noted the locating and laying out of highways, the building up of the local school system, also his activity and usefulness as chairman of the town board. He is a Republican in politics, and in 1890 represented Lincoln county in the lower house of the legislature, a position unsought on his part, but filled with credit to himself and to his constituents. Mr. Moscrip belongs to several secret fraternities and benevolent societies, among which are the Masonic lodge at Sioux Falls, the Union Veterans' Union at the same place, and the Grand Army post, which holds its sessions in Canton. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Moscrip consists of one son and two daughters, whose names in order of birth are Annie, Elva and William G. The oldest daughter married Joseph Shebal, a farmer and stock raiser of LaValley township; Annie is the wife of Charles Davey and lives on a farm in Wisconsin, and William G., who married Miss Eva Messner, is a resident of LaValley township and a prosperous tiller of the soil.