The Daily clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1866-1888, 1866-09-20
The late Col. Moody.

We have heretofore given an &C
count of the atrocious murder of Col.
Moody, at Port Gibson, on the night
of the Sth inst Col Moody had been
much of the day on the street attend
ing to business, the Circuit Court of
that County being in session, and at
night attended meeting of the Ma
sonic Lodge, and about half past nine
went from the Lodge room to his office {;
in three-quarters of an hour he was
brutally murdered. At the time of
the murder he was sitting in large
arm chair smoking a pipe and enga-
ged in writing a power of Attorney,
with q form before him which he was
following for guide. The night was
intensely dark and it is supposed the
assassin had been lurking about his
Office and fired through the open door
The aim was sure, no less than fifteen
buckshot penetrating the head and
neck, causing instant death. When
found his body was still in the chair,
leaning back as though asleep, his pipe
and pen on the floor where they had
dropped the moment he was shot. A
heavy rain fell soon after the murder
and obliterated all traces of the muir
derer The Port Gibson Standard in
referring to this most atrocious crime
says
''No event has ever transpired in
this community, that so shocked the
public mind. An act so atrOclous, so
unexpected, and occurring to destroy
the life of so prominent q citizen,
could scarcely fail to thrill the hearts
of the people with sensations of hor-
ror, and to impress upon every mind
still greater realization Of the uncer-
taintv of life.
Col. Moody was native of Maine,
but spent the greater part of his early
life in the city of Baltimore, and in
the State of Ohio. In 1886 he came
to Claiborne county, and entered into
the drug business, having business
houses at Grand Gulf and Port Gibson,
but in the general commercial revul-
sion that swept over our country, at
that time, his business failed, and he
was compelled to resort to other
means of support. Possessed of great
energy of character, and blessed with
fine natural mental endowments, to
which were added the advantages of Il
superior education, he applied himself
to the study of law, and graduated at
Cambridge Law School, in Massachu-
sets. He soon commanded large
practice, and acquired very considera-
Bile reputation at the bar in the courts
of the State, and at the time Of his UNI
fortunate and untimely death, was in
attendance upon the Circuit Court, now
in session, employed in many cases of
Importance.
When the war broke out he raised a
company of about 100 men, with
which he reported to the army in Vir
ginia, arriving at the battle ground of
Manassas in July, 1861. There his
command was changed from infantry
to artillery, and in the management of
his men; in the discipline of the camp
and the field in the long and tedious,
and tiresome march, he displayed the
highest qualities of the soldier. He
was kind to his men, but firm in enforc
ing discipline, according to all the re-
quirements of the articles of war He
endured hardships and privations
without murmuring; but above all
these, he displayed his most distin-
gushing characteristics on the battle
field. It was there that his voice, his
noble form, his stern brave nature,
were seen conspicuously. He led his
men calamity, confronting the most
perilous positions, and it is only reiter
ating a well known fact, to say that
his command contributed vastly to the
establishment of the renown of the
Army of Northern Virginia, and to
the gaining of many of its most bril-
liant victories he was promoted to a
Colonelcy for distinguished services.