Henry Moser, the father of the above, removed from Huntingdon County, Pa., and settled in Perry Township, Jefferson County, in 1841.  He was a son of Rev. Daniel Moser, a Lutheran minister of repute at an early period in Huntingdon County.  Henry Moser's wife was a Miss Elizabeth Ruhle.  They were married in Huntingdon County, and remained there till the year of their emigration above mentioned.  He was a blacksmith in Huntingdon County, and, on his arrival in Jefferson County, he added farming to that trade, and pursued them both as circumstances demanded. 

William was born in Huntingdon County, on the 28th of February 1835.  He was raised on a farm, and continued in the old way, raising ordinary cattle, hogs, sheep, etc., till 1868, when he purchased a thoroughbred (Durham) cow and calf, of Kennedy Blood, for ninety dollars--a very large price in those days.  Since that purchase he has only been interested in Durhams, Alderneys, and Devonshires, confining his attention at present to the first two.  He has at this time the most valuable Durham bull (Alexis No. 1) in the county, and nineteen head of thoroughbred and graded stock.  A fine Durham and Alderney cow (Beatrice) gave birth to a calf weighing 130 lbs., when she was only two years and one day old.  Mr. Moser has kept a thoroughbred bull for seven years, and in that time fifteen scrubs have been driven from the township. 

SHEEP--He owns a well bred Cottswold and Lincolnshire ram, which weighs 225 lbs.  Its fleece sheared 13 lbs.  He is preparing to raise thoroughbred sheep of the different varieties.

HOGS.--To these invaluable friends of the farmer our subject has paid much attention, and is now raising the Chester and Suffolk breeds to considerable extent.  Hillside is eminently calculated for a stock farm.  The surface is undulating, nowhere injured by gullies, and is underlaid with two veins of limestone, (4 and 6 ft.,) as well as two veins of coal (3-1/2 and 6 ft.)  Every field is watered by inexhaustible springs, and is covered by those grasses, where untilled, which seem the natural food of stock.  It would be difficult anywhere to secure a location where so many advantages are concentrated in a single body of land.  The farm contains 250 acres--180 in cultivation and the balance in timber--and is in an excellent condition at this time of writing."

From Caldwell's Atlas of Jefferson County, PA (1878), p. 29 (sketch of William Moser)

Transcribed by Steve Stahlman