General Notes

REFN: 105AN
REFN: P105
Mansfield's 1884 The History of Tuscarawas County, Ohio is incorrect in de
scribing the Samuel Mosser who settled in Tuscarawas with Abraham
Mosser and who subsequently died in 1811 as Abraham's brother. This pers
on was Abraham's nephew Samuel, the son of Abraham's brother Samuel, who s
ettled wit h other family members in Columbiana, now Mahoning County. T
he Samuel Mosser, 1745-1808, described on this page was not the Samuel
Mosser of Tuscarawas Co unty, Ohio. Biographical Sketch (1932):3234 "Samu
el Musser Sr. was born in 1745 most likely in Maryland. Samuel mentions hi
mself as one of the four brothers, Michael, Samuel, Daniel, and Jac
ob in a letter from Washington County about 1790 which he wrote to a Yo
rk County official concerning the sale of some land. The letter is preserv
ed in the archive of the York County Historical S ociety. There is nothi
ng in the letter to intimate that he had no other broth ers than the on
es mentioned. Samuel Sr.'s home was in Hopewell Township of Yor k Count
y, Pennsylvania as early as 1779. According to statements of his g randchi
ldren, he and his family were originally from Maryland, but as his ho
me in Pennsylvania was close to the Maryland line, he may have liv
ed at va rious times under the authority of either state, according to t
he currently accepted location of the boundary line which shifted many tim
es during the course of more than half a century of dispute, and was settl
ed officially only after Mason and Dixon ran their famous line in 1767. T
he birth of his eldest son, Samuel Jr., was recorded in the Christ Luther
an Church at York, Pennsyl vania, in 1767.3237 The birth of another son, J
ohn Jacob, was recorded in the Salem Reformed Church at Hagerstown, Maryla
nd, in 1771.3238 His appearance a s a York County tax payer in 1779 wou
ld indicate only a brief residence in Maryland, unless the birth of the el
dest son was recorded during a visit or tem porary stay in York County. Sa
muel Sr.'s brother Peter Sr. was also a member of the Hagerstown chur
ch in the 1770s3239 which may be taken as some indicati on that their fath
er Michael resided in Maryland proper before moving to York County, and th
at two of his elder sons remained behind for a number of years at the o
ld home. Peter Sr. evidently moved up into Pennsylvania al
so as he w as in a Lancaster County unit during the Revolution. After t
he Revolution, Peter Sr. returned to Frederick County, Maryland, whe
re he continued to resiDe until he moved to Ohio in 1800. In the census ta
ken with tax returns in York County in 1783 Samuel Sr.'s family was list
ed as one of 'six inhabitants.'32 40 Samuel Sr. evidently owned land in Yo
rk County before 1779 as he paid taxe s on land at that date, but the fir
st land purchase which can be identified a s his was made in 1787. In th
at year Samuel Sr. 'farmer' was granted a warrant for a tract of la
nd of 78 acres called Snowhill in Hopewell Township, ' part of a larger tr
act granted to Samuel Mosser, February 23, 1787.' In the same year he so
ld to an Andrew Finley 100 acres of land. September 23, 1798, Andrew Finl
ey deeded it back to him.3241 It is likely that Samuel Sr. left Y ork Coun
ty after selling his land in 1787, and that he returned to Hopewell Townsh
ip again in 1792. He was listed in the U.S. census of 1790 in Washington C
ounty, Pennsylvania. In 1800 Samuel was in Hopewell
township again. Fro m the several young children listed by the U.S. cens
us of that year in his fa mily, he may have been giving a home to some
children of his relatives.
April 27, 1801, Samuel sold his Hopewell property of 235 acres to a John W
inter (York County deeds, and Land Office, Harrisburg). August 24 , 18
01 he entered Section 13,Township 9,Range 1, in what is now Springfield To
wnship of Mahoning County, Ohio (US Land Office, Dept of Interior, Steuben
ville , Vol I, p143) where he was a neighbor of his brot