Lineage
Leonard Moser was born Johann Leonhardt Moser c. 1718. He arrived in this country 23 Sep 1732 aboard the ship, Adventure, arriving at the port of Philadelphia. The Adventure under the command of Robert Curson, Master sailed from Rotterdam to the port of Cowes, England and then to Philadelphia. Among the 145 immigrant passengers were 16 of the surname Moser from the Palatinate area of Germany. We do not know the exact relationship to Leonard and the other Moser passengers as the ship's passenger list divided those aboard by age rather than by family units. The list makes division as men over 16, women over 16, boys under 16, and girls under 16. Leonard appears listed with the men over 16. Although the ages are given for many of the passengers, none is listed for Leonard. There is contradictory evidence concerning his age. A church record from 1780 exists in which Leonard stated his age indicating he was born in 1718. In light of that record he would have only been 14 when he arrived in this country.
Much speculation has been offered as to the possible family relationships of those Moser passengers aboard the Adventure. One source 60 states, "Research in Germany confirmed that Leonard traveled to America with George and Eva Moser (ages 48 and 40), Michael (age 38), Tobias (age 30), Paul (age not listed), Eve Barbara (age 16), Susanna Barbara (age 40), Hannah Margaret (age 12), and Basion (age 6). They immigrated from Eckersweiler, Rotenburgischen ob der Tauber." George and Eva Moser are assumed to be the parents of Leonard by many researchers.
We find Leonard next mentioned in 1735. He was working at the Thomas Cresap plantation on the Susquehanna River. These were tumultuous times in which land grants issued by Lord Baltimore, proprietor of Maryland, were being disputed by Pennsylvania. Cresap had been sent by Baltimore to secure and defend the disputed border. Leonard along with 6 other men working for Cresap was arrested and confined 10 days. Thomas Cresap, himself, was arrested at another time. Eventually the dispute was settled and much of the land granted by Lord Baltimore was relinquished to Pennsylvania. Cresap went on to become a prominent figure in Maryland history. He along with two brothers of George Washington founded the Ohio Company, an Indian trading enterprise.
Leonard settled for a time in the Monocacy area that became Frederick County, Maryland. He is mentioned in church documents from 1736-1743 as sponsor for the baptism of children of his friends and acquaintances. Leonard no doubt held a prominent position in the community judging from these records. Then in an entry for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Frederick, Maryland dated 30 Jan 1744 is recorded the marriage of Leonard Moser and Mariah Kocher.
It is at about this time that Leonard formed an association with the Moravian church. It seems that no Lutheran pastor could be furnished to the area on a full time basis after the death of Reverend Candler. The Moravians did furnish Pastor George Ninke. Many Lutherans went over to the Moravian faith at this time. Leonard seems to have remained a Moravian the remainder of his life although several of his children returned to the Lutheran faith.
In February of 1745 Leonard's first child was born; a daughter named Anna Margaretha. Shortly after the birth of their child his wife, Maria died.
Thereafter, Leonard married Maria Sarah Binkley. Their first child, Peter, was born circa. 1751. Research indicates 14 children were born to this couple. The names of the first five of their children are to be found in Leonard's Will. The births another next 8 children are recorded in the records of Graceham Moravian Church in Graceham, Maryland. Their last child was born in North Carolina and that birth is in the records of Bethania Moravian Church, in Bethania.
In addition to the 15 children born to Leonard he apparently raise 2 other children that were somehow related to the family of his first wife. On 19 November 1751, Michael Coker (Kocher, ed.) age 11, and his sister, Elizabeth, age 13, were bound by the court to Leonard Moser. These children were most likely related to Leonard's deceased wife. Leonard promised to teach Michael the weaver's trade, to educate him to read and write, and to give him a decent suit of clothes at the expiration of his term at the age of twenty one. From this court record we learned that Leonard was a weaver." 60
There are other records pertaining to Leonard to be found in Maryland. Among those are land records beginning in 1754 when he had "Noland's Mountain" surveyed. Other tracts of land ascribed to Leonard are "Paradise", "Stoney Hills", and "Germantown"; all in the area of Great Hunting Creek in Frederick County Maryland near the town of Thurmont.
On 8 Oct 1758 the first service was conducted in the newly formed Graceham Moravian Church, Graceham Maryland. Among those in attendance were many of the former Lutherans who had gone over to the Moravian faith some years earlier, including Leonard and Sarah Moser. It is on this date that Leonard became a communicant member of the Moravian Church. Other families in attendance that may be of interest to Moser researchers or others researching pioneer families in North Carolina are John Jacob Weller and wife Elizabeth Krieger, George Gump and wife Rosina Mack (Mock, ed.), Lawrence Krieger and wife Maria Hahn.
By the early 1770's some of these Maryland families had begun to migrate to North Carolina, among them were the Binkleys, relatives of Leonard's wife. They most probably traveled the Great Wagon Road that led from Philadelphia through the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and eventually into North Carolina. Leonard and Sarah were soon to follow.
An entry in the records of the Moravian Church in North Carolina indicates that in 1773 Leonard visited the settlements of Bethabara, Wachovia, and Bethania "to look for land". He was accompanied by Adam Spach. The entry also refers to Leonard's brother from Stinking Quarter as being the third member of the party. Many researchers believe this to have been Adam Moser who arrived aboard the ship, James Goodwill, in 1728. Adam had settled in Orange County, NC. Frederick Moser is reported to have also lived in Orange County, NC.
Leonard eventually purchased 640 acres that bordered land owned by the Moravian Church known as Wachovia in what was then Surry County NC.. This land was on the Grassy fork of Muddy Creek just a few miles from the Moravian settlement of Bethania. Leonard is mentioned in several entries of the Bethania Church Records. The land was surveyed on 27 Oct 1776. The document also bears the names of Peter Moser and Andrew Fisher. Leonard and Sarah may have been in Surry County some amount of time before the survey as their last child, John, is recorded being born there on 3 June 1776.
Not all of Leonard's children moved to North Carolina with their parents. Others that had remained in Maryland made the move later. Of their children at least three sons served in the Revolution (see individual's pages). Leonard, himself, although too old to serve as a soldier, was a patriot and was paid for supplying the Army with uniforms.
Leonard made his Will on 16 July 1782 61 at the age of about 64. Leonard names 13 of his children. His first child Anna Margaretha and a son, Joseph, that died in infancy are not named. He names Adam Binkley and Adam Woolf as executors. Adam Binkley was Sarah's brother and Adam Woolf (Wolf ed.) was the father-in-law of two of Leonard's married children. The following entry was made in the Bethania Church records two days after Leonard wrote his Will.
Bethania Diary, Vol 4 page 1824 - July 18, 1782: With the Bretheren Volck and Fischer, I rode to Mosers where at the request of his wife and children, I held the funeral of the older Moser. Although a large number had gathered partly English and partly German, all was quiet and orderly.
The brethren Volck and Fischer are probably family members as well as neighbors. Leonard's daughter, Sarah was married to John Adam Volk (Wolf ed.) and Christina Binkley, Sarah's sister, had married Casper Fischer. Several of Leonard's grandchildren married into the Fischer family. The reference that all was quiet and orderly is understood in light of the fact that the Revolution had just shortly ended and that Surry County was home to many that held Tory convictions during the War. But despite their past differences friends and neighbors came together to pay their last respects to their departed neighbor and his family. A fitting end, as I suppose, to a man that appears to have held the admiration and respect of those around him throughout his lifetime.
