Sloman Moody

Sloman Moody
Born	February 16, 1834 Horatio, South Carolina
Died	March 20, 1898 (aged 64) Ocala, Florida
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Charleston Medical College
Occupation	Physician, farmer, businessman
Spouse(s)	Carrie Howse (1860–1864) Patience Howse (1864–1869) Eliza Pearson
Children	Samuel Davis Moody Edward William Moody Carolina Susan Moody John Pearson Moody Elizabeth Richardson Moody Sloman Waldo Moody Vincent Fair Moody Charles Elliot Moody Adelbert "Dell" Moody Maxey Dell Moody Joseph Caldwell Moody Sarah Louise Moody
Parent(s)	Slomon Moody, Sr. Susan Moody
Relatives	Maxey Dell Moody, Jr. (grandson)

Sloman Waldo Moody (February 16, 1834 – March 20, 1898), also known as Slomon Moody, was a physician, farmer, and city treasurer of Ocala, Florida.^[1][2] Sloman was one of Ocala's first physicians and settlers of the town. He is also the father of Maxey Dell Moody who founded the oldest family owned construction equipment business in the United States, M. D. Moody & Sons, Inc. According to the Ocala Evening Star, Moody was "one of the landmarks of Ocala" and "one of Ocala's best physicians of the years gone by."^[3][4][5][6]

Early life and Ocala

Downtown Ocala in 1883.

Sloman was born on February 16, 1834 to Slomon Moody, Sr. and Susan Collins in Horatio, South Carolina. His father was a cotton plantation owner who owned various tracts of land around it with a few slaves to tend to the plantation area. One plantation, called the Swamp Plantation, was divided among his sons Slomon, James, William and Charles upon his death. Slomon also inherited one of his father's slaves named Bob among the equally divided land his father gave to his brothers.^[7] When his uncle Charles Moody passed away he was given an inheritance of around $500 and other debts owed to Sloman.^[8] By this time in 1850 Sloman had decided to become a physician and went to the Charleston Medical College in Charleston, South Carolina. After graduating Sloman moved to Ocala in 1854 to begin his profession as a physician.^[9] When he arrived to Ocala, being that the town was founded in 1846, he was known to be one of the earliest physicians in the town.^[10] He was also known to be the second oldest citizen of Ocala following Robert Bullock. The 1855 census, which incorrectly spells his name as Soloman, lists Sloman owning 13 slaves in Marion County.^[11] In 1863 Sloman was granted a lot along Silver Springs Boulevard.^[12] Sloman married Carrie Howse on April 3, 1860 gave birth to his first son Samuel Moody in 1861. After Carolina died in 1864 he remarried to her sister Patience Ann Howse but she died in 1869. Edmund D. Howse was the father of the Howse sisters who was the first sheriff of Ocala.^[13] During the American Civil War Howse organized a local organization of Home Guards or State Troops but claims to have been part of the 1st Florida Regiment of Reserves.^[14] While he was a practicing physician Moody also ran a successful drug store in Ocala. His reputation as a skillful physician brought great demand to his services that even those living 50 miles away still requested for him.^[15]

Later career and death

Sloman remarried for a final time to Eliza Pearson, the daughter of a Confederate Captain named John William Pearson in 1870.^[16] Pearson died in the Civil War when he was leading Company B of the Ninth Infantry Florida, then part of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, through a cornfield at the Battle of Globe Tavern. Eliza Pearson graduated from Columbia College in 1865 majoring in French and Music. After Eliza graduated she moved back to her hometown just before the burning of Columbia by William Tecumseh Sherman's Union forces on February 17, 1865.^[17] John's hometown, and Eliza's, was Orange Springs, Florida only 30 miles north of Ocala. In 1877 Eliza gave birth to a Sloman Waldo Moody, without the III, who became a Private in the Spanish–American War.^[18] In 1883 Eliza had Maxey Moody who would establish his own business called M. D. Moody in 1913 with the name M.D. being only coincidental to Sloman's status. Maxey's business would survive over 100 years as the oldest family owned construction equipment distributor in the United States.^[19] Around 1874 Moody became ill and gradually ceased his practice due to his illness. He then transitioned to a successful orange farmer. He cultivated and experimented with oranges leading him to become a reputable authority figure on oranges. In December 1885 Sloman shipped a crate of oranges to John Clayton in Liverpool, England.^[20] Moody decided to invest all of his savings in orange cultivation which then ruined him when the Great Freeze of 1894–1895 destroyed much of the citrus crop of Florida. Financially ruined he returned to his practice but by January 11, 1898 Sloman became very ill.^[21] On March 20, 1898 Sloman dies in Ocala leaving behind twelve children.^[22]

Notes

References

• Weaver, Delores Barr and J. Wayne Weaver (2001). Jacksonville: Crown of the First Coast. Towery Publishing, Inc.