Thomas and Mary Moss

Thomas and Mary Moss, 1877

Courtesy of Stewart Bell Jr. Archives, Handley Regional Library

Quick Facts

Place of Burial:

Winchester, Virginia

Cemetery Name:

Orrick Cemetery

Thomas Winifred Moss and Mary E. Johnson Ligans were married in 1877 in Winchester, Virginia. Both were previously widowed. The 1880 US Census incorrectly lists Mary as Thomas's sister-in-law rather than his wife. They are buried together in Winchester's Orrick Cemetery. This land was donated to the community by Robert Orrick, a prominent free African American in the region. The Moss family represents the transition between enslavement and freedom in the Shenandoah Valley before, during, and after the Civil War. 

Thomas 

Thomas was born in 1831, somewhere in Virginia. Little information is recorded about his life. Records suggest he worked as a stonemason and mill worker. His first marriage, to Anna Matilda Robinson (1833-1875), resulted in 14 children. Thomas died in 1904. 

Mary 

Mary was born into enslavement in 1840. She was given to the Miller Family of Winchester as a Christmas present at the age of four. During Reconstruction she worked for her former enslavers on a wage basis. Like many African Americans taking their first steps towards freedom, Mary had to balance the costs of this situation with a need to support her family. Information about her first marriage remains unrecorded. Mary died in 1926. 

Charles Franklin Moss

Following their marriage, Thomas and Mary has one child together. Charles was born in Winchester in 1878. He capitalized on new opportunities for African American education and took a strong interest in art at an early age. Charles attended both the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. He operated several photography studios in Pennsylvania and a painting studio in Pittsburgh. He was the first African American member of the Professional Photographers of America. Charles often returned to Winchester to visit family and paint their portraits. His work is part of the collections at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley and Handley Regional Library.