Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1879-01-16
From the New York Times. I
THE ROBBER MOSES.
ROMANCE or Il sPENDrHRIFT
Aow Hc Passed IAro ugh the Successive
Stages Of Rebel, Radical, Governor,
Robtcr, millionaire and Beggar-No,o
a Homeless Wanaercr.

1tooocF, ,1utusohuVe ana -Begydr-Noto
q Homeless IKanaercr.
Twenty years ago, when he had married
at the age of l8 Frank j. Moses, Jr., had
exhausted about all the means of pleasure or
excitement that present themselves to
youth of good health, agreeable address,
quick wit, and an abundance of money
His father, for whom he was named, was
planter lawyer in Sumter, South Carolina.
Ho held his hcad high among the planter
nristocraoy. lie wus very proud Of his boy,
Frank. About this time the youth married
Every house in tho country was open to
him, and he had tho good scuso to
choose for wife ono of the faircst, and
as the ovcnt proved, one of the best of wo-
men.
Searching for some exciting novelty, the
young man became impressed with desire
to get into politics, and he found the way
open before him. His father was one of
the leading State Senators. and when Mr..
Pickcns Was elected Governor, after spr.
iteG contest, in which Moses had greatly
aided him, the Governor begged him to
name candidate for any place within his
gift. Senator Moses suggested his son as
the Governors private secretary. Mr.
Pickens dcmurred, but eventually he con
sented and the young man was duly installed
in his new position. Easy to adapt himself
to any aud all circumstances, he speedily
became all powerful in the executive cham
bcr. He held this position when Fort
Sumter fell, and was among those who re-
joiced the loudcst. 1t is said that he asked
the Governor as a personal favor that he
might lower the American fl,g that had
been left flying over the fort; but this is
pronounced fabrication. 1t is true, how.
ever, that Moses boosted of somc such cx-
plolt, and that he became known through
out the South as one Of the young heroes to
be praised aud pctted His name and fame
were also intensified by the success that at
tended his father, who Ind been appointed
as commissioner to the North Carolina lie
gislaturc to persuade that State to pass an
ordinance Of secession.
But young Moses did not 20 to the front
He might have found hundreds of men ready
to follow his banner into the fcld but he
made no cffor to get commission. When
the draft was ordered, he became conscrpt
otliser, hunting down those who refused to
serve, and forcing them into the rebel ranks
He lost his popularity entirely among the
fiery South Caroliniuns This was made
abundaptly mnnGcst when tho war being
ended, he, like very many others, found
himsclfa begsar. Ills former associates did
everything possible to add to the distress of
his situation. His creditors harrasscd him,
aud the public had no longer mantle of
charity for his folics
But Frank Moses was not the man to give
way to difficulties. tie began to ingratiate
himself with the Union officers stationed 10
Sumter. and it was not long before the
whole Moses family were living moro than
comfortable ou Government rations. There
is a story, too, in South Carolina, that he
supplied himself with pocket money by
drawing more than his family needed
from the Federal commissary, and sold the
surplus
So thoroughly did RIoses win the good
will Of the Union officers that when the
provost courts were established he was ap.
pointed the associate judge Of the Sumter
district. lie made good use of this oppor-
tunity. Ills father was called in to practice
before him; he had great influence in do,
Gliding civil cases of considerable magnitude
and between them they built up most lu.
crative practice.
Noses was the first man to declare that
the negroes of the State were destined to
influence the politics, il not control the
government. Although ho was laughed at
by his old associates and called aighty, he
made up his mind to base his fortune on the
idea. His position as associate judge gave
him an opportunity to befriend and fatter
the freedmen, and it was only short time
before he gained great influence among
them. Early in 1867 the black men we're
enfranchiscd, aud in June of that year the
Republican party of South Carolina was
formed by a convention held in Coumbin
Tho former slavo owuers could have oon-
trollel this meeting if they had chosen, but
they stayed OF home sulking over their
defeat. Associate Judge Moses, having
been elected delegate, did much to control
tho action Of the convention.
10 the fall Of the samo year. he was also
chosen delegate to the State Constitutional
Convention, and in this body, by his adroit
ness, fattery, .and appeals to tho cupidity of
the negroes, he became an acknowledged
loader Of the new party. Ee was elected
Adjutant und Inspector General and also a
momber Of tho Legislature, a provision in
the new constitution, suggested by himself,
permitting him to hold all these offices at
once 't3ti n"1a
. Frotn this time tho advance of OK Asso-
ciato j odgo Moses was very rapid. AS
speaker Of tho Assembly his behavior at
first can not be called into question, but at
The ond of the two years for which he was