Submitted by
Rome Tribune February 10, 1912
CAPT. A.B.S. MOSELEY IS CALLED BY DEATH
WAS PROMINENT IN NORTH GEORGIA
Passes Away Friday Afternoon After Long Illness
Funeral Probably Sunday Afternoon
End Comes Peacefully To Soldier, Scholar And Christian
On Friday evening at six o'clock the soul of Capt. A. B.S. Moseley passed from earth to the rest of Paradise. With his passing Rome loses a man who has
left his impress upon the community for good, in every relation of life, as gallant soldier, veteran newspaper man, and consecrated church worker. The last
summons came to him after weary months of illness, though for the past few weeks his condition had seemed improved. The final attack was a sudden one, and
life passed quietly, while a petition to the throne of grace was being offered at his bedside by his pastor, Dr. R. B. Headden.
The funeral will probably be held on Sunday afternoon at three o'clock, though definite arrangements had not been completed at a late hour last night. The
funeral will be at the First Baptist Church, conducted by the Rev. Dr. Headden, and the services at the grave will be in charge of Cherokee Lodge of Masons,
of which Capt. Moseley was for many years a member and an officer.
Having grown from young manhood to a ripe age in Rome, the Captain was a factor in the life of the city, as it progressed from a village, and with voice,
pen and personal example he stood always for the things that are right. His sixty-eight years were years of usefulness, and by his death the newspaper
fraternity of the state loses one of its oldest and most prominent members. His career was an interesting one, for he took part in many thrilling scenes
during the war and during reconstruction, but he was a singularly modest man where his own affairs were concerned and he talked of them only in response to
questions.
He was born about 1844 in Alabama, of a well-known family of that state, and as a youth was distinguished for a love of literature and a thirst for
knowledge. He sought the best education that the country could afford. His brilliant mind outstripped his years, and at fifteen he was ready for college.
Barred from Princeton because of his youth, he entered Rutgers College, New Jersey, then known as Queens. When it became apparent that war between the states
was inevitable his heart naturally turned to his native state and though the collegiate year was not an end he announced his intention of returning to
Alabama. In recognition of the unusual stand he had taken in his classes he was given special examination by the faculty and was handed his diploma at the
railroad station just before his departure.
He enlisted in Co. C of the Fourth Alabama in April of 1861, and served throughout the entire war. He entered as a private and the close of the four years
of terrible strife found him with the rank of captain of Co. E., First Alabama. He was in the trenches at St. Petersburg, was wounded there, was again
wounded at Manassas, and was finally sent home on invalid duty. He was well known as an intrepid young soldier and one especially interesting incident in
which he took part was an escape from the Federal soldiers, and a turning of the tables whereby he captured his recent captor, a colonel. The horse of the
colonel was also taken and Capt. Moseley presented the steed to General Beauregard, his commander.
Shortly after the war Capt. Moseley came to Rome and began his long and honorable career as a member of the Fourth Estate. He established the first, or
one of the first daily papers Rome ever had. At different times he was in editorial control of the Bulletin, the Tribune, the Georgian, the Free Lance, and
other papers. He was a contemporary of M. A. Nevin, of Henry Grady, of Stanton, of Folsom and of Graves. He was a successful publisher, both from the
business and editorial points of view. He always advocted progressive measures and contributed largely to the upbuilding and development of the Rome of
today.
Of a genial and companionable temperment, his society was sought by his fellows. At college he was a member of the Zeta Psi fraternity. He affiliated
with the Cherokee Lodge of Masons long years ago, and had been for years its chaplain. He had also occupied a similar office in the Seventh District Masonic
Convention, honors worthily worn.
Perhaps his greatest joy in life was his work in the church. For seventeen years he had been clerk of the First Baptist Church congregation. His whole
energies were always at the service of the church, and he took part in all of her activities. Although not an ordained minister, he occupied the place set
apart for such in the esteem of his fellowmen and visited the sick and suffering, comforted the sorrowing and raised his voice in prayer, as a true man of
God.
He was a man of commanding statue, and with his long silver hair and beard was a marked figure, as he moved about Rome's streets. His mind was a
storehouse of reminiscence and history and his company was much sought by old and young. Never a strong man, wearing the wounds of battle for years, mind
triumphed over body until last October, when he was forced to retire from active newspaper work, and his paper, the Free Lance, passed into other hands.
Since then he had suffered from nervous prostration and had been missed from the lodge room, the church, and the journalistic chair.
He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Beulah Shropshire Moseley, who was for years his true helpmeet in the work of his profession and by two sisters Dr. Emma
Bailey Moseley, of Washington, D.C. and Mrs. Walter Johns, of Richmond. The former is expected here for the funeral. The latter is traveling in Europe and
will not be able to reach Rome.
Whether as contemporary or co-worker, Capt. Mosely was held in the highest esteem by the newspaper craft, one and all. The Tribune-Herald but voices the
sentiment of this community when it pays a ---ple deserved tribute to the worth of the good man now gone, and extends to the sorrowing wife and sisters
sincere fraternal sympathy.
(Note: He was born Oct. 19, 1843, d Feb. 9. He is buried along with his second wife, to whom he was married Feb. 14, 1882 Rome and who died Nov. 24, 1947
in Washington, D.C., in the Myrtle Hill Cemetery. His first wife was Marjorie P.Swain of Tallifero Co.b/ 1871 d. 1881 in Rome)
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