William J. Moody

William Jackson Moody (1796 – likely 1855 or 1856) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician. He was active in the U.S. states of New York and Michigan, and served multiple terms in the Michigan Senate.

William J. Moody
Member of the Michigan Senate
from the 4th district
In office
November 2, 1835 – January 1, 1837
In office
January 2, 1843 – January 5, 1845

Biography

William Jackson Moody was born in Unity, New Hampshire, in 1796, to Israel Moody and Rebecca Jackson.[1] He lost his left arm fighting in the War of 1812.[2]

He graduated Phi Beta Kappa[3] from Dartmouth College in 1821[4] and studied law alongside William H. Seward under Elijah Miller, who became Seward's father-in-law.[5][6] In 1825, he was a judge in Orleans County, New York.[7] He lived in Penfield, New York,[8] before moving to Detroit in 1833.[5]

In 1830, Moody was among a group of real estate speculators who purchased land surrounding the claim of Russell Blackman, one of the co-founders of Jackson, Michigan. Blackman had planned to purchase the additional land, but was away raising money at the time the so-called "squatter act" came into effect on January 1, which allowed Moody and the others to file a claim and have two years to pay for the land. As a result, they were able to force Blackman to work with them as they developed the new town.[9]

Moody was admitted as an attorney in the Jackson County, Michigan, circuit court in December 1834, was named district attorney in 1835, and was serving as a judge in 1837.[10] Moody was a Democrat,[11] and was elected to the Michigan Senate from the 4th District in its first term, and served from 1835 to 1837. He was re-elected twice more later in his career and served in the senate in 1843 and 1844.[12] In 1842, he served as a township supervisor.[13]

He moved to Racine, Wisconsin, where he was again a judge.[14][15] Moody and his wife died of cholera on the same day, most likely in 1855 or 1856.[16]

Moody's son, W. J. Moody, attended the University of Michigan Medical School and was a physician in Bremer County, Iowa.[5]

Notes
  1. Chapman 1867, p. 207.
  2. DeLand 1903, p. 272.
  3. Phi Beta Kappa 1844, p. 18.
  4. Chapman 1867, p. 207; other sources (Union Publishing Company 1883, p. 880) give his graduation date as 1822.
  5. Union Publishing Company 1883, p. 880.
  6. W. E. Morrison 1976, p. 239.
  7. Signor 1894, p. 109.
  8. Bingham 1888, p. 157.
  9. DeLand 1903, p. 94.
  10. DeLand 1903, p. 101.
  11. DeLand 1903, p. 108.
  12. Legislator Details 2018.
  13. DeLand 1903, p. 151.
  14. Bingham 1888, p. 470.
  15. Western Historical Company 1879, p. 376.
  16. Sources disagree on the year of his death; it is variously given as 1853 (Bingham 1888, p. 470), the winter of 1854–1855 (Union Publishing Company 1883, p. 880), and 1856 (Chapman 1867, p. 207).

References
  • Bingham, Stephen D. (1888), Early History of Michigan: With Biographies of State Officers, Members of Congress, Judges and Legislators, Lansing: Thorp & Godfrey, retrieved 2018-11-12
  • Chapman, George T. (1867), Sketches of the Alumni of Dartmouth College, Cambridge: Riverside Press, retrieved 2018-11-12
  • DeLand, Charles V. (1903), DeLand's History of Jackson County, Michigan, B. F. Bowen, retrieved 2018-11-12
  • History of Butler and Bremer Counties, Iowa, Union Publishing Company, 1883, retrieved 2018-11-12
  • History of Monroe County, New York, Ovid, New York: W. E. Morrison, 1976 [1877], retrieved 2018-11-12
  • The History of Racine and Kenosha Counties, Wisconsin, Western Historical Company, 1879, retrieved 2018-11-12
  • "Legislator Details: William J. Moody", Michigan Legislative Biography, Library of Michigan, 2018, retrieved 2018-11-12
  • Phi Beta Kappa (1844), Catalogue of the Fraternity of ΦΒΚ, Alpha of New Hampshire, Dartmouth College, Hanover, Hanover, New Hampshire: Dartmouth Press, retrieved 2018-11-12
  • Signor, Isaac S. (1894), Landmarks of Orleans County, New York, Syracuse: D. Mason, retrieved 2018-11-12
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