Family Genealogy - Moose Family Genealogy

Josiah Collins Moose

The earliest known progenitor of this line of the Moose family was Josiah Collins Moose. Josiah lived in Somerset County Pennsylvania and emigrated to Marshall County Virginia (now West Virginia). In the 1840 census, at the age of 27, he was still in Somerset with two sons and one daughter. By the time of the 1850 census, he and his wife, Veronica, (ages 37 and 39 respectively) were in Fayette County Pennsylvania with seven of their children. He is listed as Josiah Meuse. Thanks to Sherry Sawchak for locating this elusive man in 1850.

Josiah is believed to be of German extraction. There is some indication the name was originally Mussgenung (variously spelled Meusgenung, Musgenung, and Moosekenung) and was changed to Moose shortly after the Revolution. A family with this name arrived in Philadelphia 16 Sep 1751, but two of four sons went to North Carolina, one to New York State, and the fourth, who remained in Pennsylvania, appears not to have had any male heirs. A Jacob Mussenung arrived in Philadelphia 27 Sep 1752 and settled near Allentown Pennsylvania. He had two sons, Jacob and David.

But where Josiah was from and who his forbears were, we don't know. He married young; he was just 20 when his first son was born. He may have had a sizeable inheritance because he was just 22 years old when in 1836 he purchased 160 acres of land in Somerset County for $1500. He sold it in 1839 for $2000. Later he owned land in Marshall county VA (now WV) where he appears to have been a farmer of substantial means. He was married twice. His first wife was Veronica, called Franey, by whom he had at least seven children. We have no information about Franey, including her surname. His second wife was Harriet Bungard of a prominent Fayette County PA family. Josiah and Harriet sold a 216-acre plot in Fayette County but no record of the purchase has been found. However, the 1850 census shows the value of the real estate next to Veronica rather than Josiah. Was it perhaps land she had inherited. Josiah and Harriet had two children.

Josiah, Veronica, and Harriett were all members of the Good Hope Lutheran Church in Salt Lick Township, Fayette County, PA. Four of the children born to Veronica and Josiah were christened in the church. Many of the same families from Good Hope also attended services and had children baptized in other churches of the area. A number are found in the early records of the Four Mile church, now Mt. Zion, Donegal, in Westmoreland County. More research needs to be done to see if Veronica and Josiah were in this area. Also, some of the families are to be found in the early records of the Berlin Church in Somerset County. We were not able to locate Josiah in these records. The migration patterns of most of the Good Hope families was from Philadelphia, Lancaster, Frederick County, MD, New York and Bedford, then Somerset into Fayette County. The original name of the church was Gute Hoffnung, the German for Good Hope.

Josiah died at the age of 45 and is buried at a small cemetery by the Clouston United Methodist Church outside of Cameron in Marshall County. His son, George Washington Moose, is also buried there. His oldest son Isaac was administrator of his estate which is recorded in the Marshall County courthouse in Moundsville.

Children of Josiah and Veronica are:

Children of Josiah and Harriet are:

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