To search the full text of this finding aid, type Ctrl and F on a PC. Mac users, type Command and F. A box will appear in the browser window. To search the full document, Open All must be selected first in the Detailed Description of the Collection.

Inventory of the Moses Family Papers, circa 1855-1981, 2012

Descriptive Summary

Abstract: Photographs, photograph albums, correspondence, genealogical research, and printed materials related to the Moses family of Sumter, South Carolina. Materials primarily document Montgomery Moses, a lawyer and judge, and his descendants, including Altamont Moses, a state representative and senator. The largest portion of the collection consists of cartes de visite, tintypes, cabinet cards, and daguerreotypes of the Moses family, as well as members of the related Cohen, Emanuel, Jennings, and De Ribas families. Also included are genealogical research materials, correspondence, pamphlets, and clippings.
Title: Moses family papers
Creator: Moses family
Date(s): circa 1855-1981, 2012    
Extent: 3 linear feet
(2 document boxes, 3 flat boxes, 2 photo boxes)
Repository: Special Collections, College of Charleston Libraries
66 George Street
Charleston, SC 29424
Phone: (843) 953-8016
Fax: (843) 953-6319
URL: http://archives.library.cofc.edu
Call Number: Mss 1128
Language of Material: Materials in English

Back to Top

Biographical Note

Montgomery Moses (1808-1886) was born to Esther Phillips (1778-1845) and Major Myer Moses (1779-1833) in Charleston, South Carolina. Montgomery married his first cousin Catherine Phillips (1809-1885) in Philadelphia in 1832 and went into law partnership with his brother Franklin I. Moses in Sumter, South Carolina. After the Civil War, Montgomery and Catherine moved to Newberry, South Carolina. In 1871, he was elected circuit judge. He and Catherine had nine children, Myer Buchanan Moses (1833-1889), Zalegman Phillips Moses (1835-1889), Franklin Moses (1837-1907), Arabella Phillips Moses (1839-1927), Henry Claremont Moses (1841-1905), Rebecca Phillips Moses (1843-1848), Altamont Moses (1846-1905), Catherine Esther Moses Werber (1852-1938), and Rachel, who died young.

Altamont Moses served in the Civil War on the Confederate side as a military telegraph operator. After the war, he returned to his hometown of Sumter, South Carolina, and in 1870 married Octavia Cohen. The couple had seven children: Altamont Moses Jr., who died as an infant, Katherine Moses (1874-1954), Herbert Altamont Moses (1876-1969), Vivian Mordaunt Moses (1878-1957), Emile Phillips Moses (1880-1965), Armida Moses Jennings (1884-1933), and Henry Phillips Moses (1886-1945). Altamont Sr. became an established merchant in Sumter, as well as a notable civic and political leader. He served as a delegate of Sumter County at the South Carolina Democratic State Convention in 1868. In 1886-ten years after the end of Reconstruction-he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives, then in 1894 to the state senate, and, in 1898, he returned as a representative in the legislature. Besides his political career, he served as master of the Claremont Free and Accepted Mason Lodge and president of the Sumter Hebrew Benevolent Society and Sumter Society of Israelites.


Back to Top

Collection Overview

Photographs, photograph albums, correspondence, genealogical research, and printed materials pertaining to the Moses family of Sumter, South Carolina. Materials primarily document Montgomery Moses, a lawyer and judge, and his descendants, including Altamont Moses, a state representative and senator. The largest portion of the collection consists of cartes de visite, tintypes, cabinet cards, and daguerreotypes of the Moses family, as well as members of the related Cohen, Emanuel, Jennings, and De Ribas families. Also included are genealogical research materials, correspondence, pamphlets, and clippings.

Collection Arrangement

Materials arranged at the folder level.


Back to Top

Search Terms

The following terms have been used to index this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person, family, or organization, by topical subject, by place, and by types of material.

    Names

    • Moses, Montgomery, 1808-1886
    • Moses, Altamont, 1846-1905
    • Moses family
    • Cohen family
    • Emanuel family
    • Jennings family

    Subjects

    • Jewish lawyers--South Carolina--Sumter
    • Jewish judges--South Carolina--Sumter
    • Jewish politicians--South Carolina--Sumter
    • Jewish families--South Carolina--Sumter

    Places

    • Sumter (S.C.)--History
    • Sumter (S.C.)--Genealogy

    Types of Material

    • Cartes-de-visite (card photographs)
    • Cabinet photographs
    • Tintypes (prints)
    • Daguerreotypes (photographs)
    • Photograph albums
    • Postcards
    • Pamphlets
    • Genealogical tables

    Back to Top

    Inventory


    Photographs, circa 1855- 1951, undated



    Montgomery Moses, undated   box 1 | folder 1



    Altamont Moses and Octavia Cohen Moses, circa 1885-1900   box 1 | folder 2



    Arabella Phillips Moses, circa 1880-1900   box 1 | folder 3



    Catherine Esther Moses Werber, circa 1855, 1893, undated   box 1 | folder 4



    Vivian Mordaunt Moses, circa 1878, circa 1895   box 1 | folder 5



    Herbert Altamont Moses, 1879   box 1 | folder 6



    Katherine Moses, circa 1877   box 1 | folder 7



    Other Moses family members, circa 1870-1900   box 1 | folder 8

    Includes photographs of Armida Moses, Franklin J. Moses, Miriam Brandon Moses, Myer B. Moses, Alice Cohen Moses, Isabelle L. Moses, Joshua Lazarus Moses, Zalegman Phillips Moses, and Claremont Moses.




    Cohen family, circa 1865-1880   box 1 | folder 9

    Includes photographs of Armida Harby Cohen, Caroline Cohen Joachimsen, and Dr. Marx E. Cohen.




    De Ribas family, circa 1870-1900   box 1 | folder 10

    Includes photographs of Esther Seixas De Ribas, Clemencia De Ribas, Anita De Ribas, and a Mr. De Ribas.




    Emanuel family, circa 1871-1905   box 1 | folder 11

    Includes photographs of Maurice and Mary Eleanor Emanuel on their wedding day, Armida Cohen Emanuel, Charlotte Virginia Emanuel, and "Grandmother Emanuel."




    Jennings family, 1872, 1950-1951   box 1 | folder 12

    Includes photographs of A. P. Jennings, Katherine Jennings, and Arthur H. Jennings.




    Other related families, 1891, 1896, 1942   box 1 | folder 13

    Includes photographs of Frank L. Burke, Emily Phillips, Arthur S. Isaacs, Eleanor Cohen Seixas, and John M. Mahon Jr.




    Non-family photographs, undated   box 1 | folder 14

    Mainly famous historical figures, including Commander Perry, W. H. Seward, Henry A. Wise, General Scott, as well as the Washington Street School in Sumter, South Carolina.



    Daguerreotypes, circa 1950   box 2

    Includes photographs of Katherine Phillips and her niece Ellen, Myer B. Moses, and unidentified individuals.



    Oversize Citadel class portrait, 1942   box 3

    Includes Robert A. Moses in first row.




    Unidentified, circa 1865-1900, circa 1940, undated   box 1 | folder 15

    Photograph albums, circa 1870-1901



    Argentina photograph album, 1900-1901   box 1 | folder 16

    Includes photographs of an industrial complex at Bernal Park, in Bernal, Argentina, and images of multiple families including the Garrets, Clutterbucks, and Turners. Also includes photographs of the arrival of President Salles of Brazil in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in October 1900, the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires, Corso de Palermo, and the Buenos Aires country club.



    Family photograph album, circa 1870-1900   box 4

    Includes photographs of Marx E. Harby , Catherine Moses Werber, Herbert Altamont Moses, Armida Moses, Rebecca Moïse Davis and daughter Edna, and Esther Lyon Moïse, as well as unidentified individuals.



    Family photograph album, circa 1870-1900   box 5

    Includes photographs of Armida Cohen Emanuel, Lee Cohen Harby, Marx E. Cohen, Armida Harby Cohen, Catherine Esther Moses Werber, Katherine Moses, as well as unidentified individuals.



    Family photograph album, circa 1870-1900   box 6

    Includes photographs Aaron Wellborne Moïse, Montgomery Moses, Katherine Moses, Altamont Moses with children Katherine Moses and Herbert Altamont Moses, and Arthur S. Isaacs, as well as unidentified individuals.


    Genealogical materials, 1968-1981, 2012, undated



    Correspondence, 1968-1980   box 7 | folder 1



    Research documents, 1978-1981, 2012, undated   box 7 | folder 2



    Memoirs (typescript photocopies), undated   box 7 | folder 3

    Includes "Recollection Narrative by Octavia Harby Moses (aged 80 years) of Sumter, South Carolina," and "Our Home 14 South Washington Street, Sumter, S.C." by Herbert A. Moses.




    Family trees, undated   box 7 | folder 4

    Printed material, 1903-1969



    Pamphlets, 1936-1958, 1969   box 7 | folder 5

    A copy of Eneas Africanus, a pro-slavery story, The Early Minutes of the Sumter Society of Israelites by Herbert A. Moses, The Cemetery We Rededicate by Thomas J. Tobias, Tombstones That Tell a Story, Charleston's Historic Coming Street Cemetery by Thomas J. Tobias, The Jewish Cemetery at Sumter, S.C. A Transcription of the Names and Dates on the Tombstones 1874-1942 by Harold Moïse, and the Rededication Service Congregation Sinai program.




    The Old Jewish Cemeteries at Charleston, S.C., by Dr. Barnett A. Elzas, 1903   box 7 | folder 6

    Belonged to Charlotte E. Moses and includes her handwritten footnotes.




    Clippings, 1905-1942   box 7 | folder 7



    Postcard correspondence, 1902-1915, undated   box 7 | folder 8

    Includes information on arrivals, description of travels and locations visited, invitations to visit, and holiday greetings.




    Daughters of the Revolution ribbon, undated   box 7 | folder 9

    Includes pins for Revolutionary War veterans Marks Lazarus, Myer Moses, Jonas Phillips, and Samuel Mordecai.


    Back to Top

    Administrative Information

    Access Restrictions

    This collection is open for research.

    Copyright Notice

    The nature of the College of Charleston's archival holdings means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. Special Collections claims only physical ownership of most archival materials.

    The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Moses family papers, College of Charleston Libraries, Charleston, SC, USA.

    Acquisitions Information

    Materials were donated in 2014 by Elizabeth Moses

    Processing Information

    Processed by Amy Lazarus, September 2015.

    Encoded by Amy Lazarus, November 2015.

    Reviewed and uploaded by Joshua Minor, November 2015.

    Back to Top
    Table of Contents