Edward Mosby:
The Confederate Veteran Who Wasn't!
by Terry Foenander.
This web site was created to try and stem the absolute untruths and falsehoods that have been perpetrated by one James Mason Gray, of Queensland, Australia, in his attempts to give some form of legitimacy to his assumptions about an American named Edward Mosby, who died in September, 1911, and is buried at the Thursday Island Cemetery. These attempts include solicitations for finances (including an attempt to obtain a plaque for Mosby's grave, as well as financial assistance from the Sons of Confederate Veterans, but which were both, thankfully, rejected) and other methods to obtain ill gotten donations, and all for work and research that was originally performed by other decent researchers who spent much time and finances on such research. This web site will only concentrate on the Edward Mosby matter, as the other subjects of breaches of copyright and attempts to claim credit for the work of others are covered at another associated web site.
The subject of Edward Mosby first cropped up in two letters sent by his descendant, Mr. James H. Anderson, of Aloomba, Queensland, in August and September, 1991, to Mr. Roy Parker, who was researching the veterans of the American Civil War buried in Australia. In those letters, several claims were made, which were quite inconsistent with the facts shown on documentation, available both in the United States and Australia. One such statement was that Edward Mosby was the younger brother of the famed Confederate partisan ranger, colonel John Singleton Mosby. A thorough check of several sources indicated that John Singleton Mosby never had a brother named Edward, nor had anyone of that name served in any of the units under colonel Mosby. Another claim was that Edward Mosby was quite well to do, owning four boats and other property on Thursday Island. Yet, an investigation of his whereabouts, in 1880 and 1881, conducted by the acting commissioner of police in Brisbane, as well as the Government Resident at Thursday Island, noted that Edward Mosby was "living apparently without any means of support and leading quite a vagabond life." This statement was written by the United States Consular Agent, George Harris, from his agency in Brisbane, and dated February 8, 1881.
Several additional claims have also been made, in recent months, by Jim Gray, which are entirely inconsistent with the facts available, and are not supported by any documentation, whatsoever. One claim is that the Edward Mosby, buried on Thursday Island, was born in Virginia, that he had served in the Confederate Army, and left for Australia in the mid-1860's. However, all these claims can be pooh-poohed by evidence and documentation at hand. Gray refuses to accept the available evidence and chooses to believe that the oral information about Edward Mosby is correct in every detail. However, I have a copy of a signed statement, by none other than our Edward Mosby himself, which indicates that he was not born in any of the eleven southern states that formed the Confederacy, and that he was born in 1825, much earlier than what Mr. Gray chooses to believe. The belief that Edward Mosby was born in 1840 is obviously based on the fact that his death certificate shows that he died in 1911, and his age, at death, is given, as being "about 71 years." However, it should be noted that the informant named in the death certificate is one Joseph Mitchell, who is stated to be "no relation" to the deceased. It should be quite plain that the informant, not being a relative, may not have known the exact age of Edward Mosby, and was only guessing the age of the deceased. The death certificate also indicates that Edward Mosby had been in Australia for about 40 years, at the time of his death in 1911, which would indicate, to any intelligent person, that he left the United States about the 1870's. Once again the word "about" is the operative word, as it shows that the informant, once again, was only guessing. Additionally, a letter sent to the Secretary of State, John Hay, in 1880, seeking the whereabouts of Edward Mosby, states that Mosby had been in Australia for "several years" which is consistent with the fact that Mosby had left the United States in the 1870's and not the 1860's as is believed by Gray. If this was the case, then it should be clear that Edward Mosby would still be on the records in the United States, prior to 1870. If his name is not on any record, could there be the possibility that he used an assumed name? This is just one of the assumptions that has been raised, in recent weeks, by the descendant, James Anderson. Another assumption was the possibility that Edward Mosby served in the Union Army or Navy. But, as with all the undocumented assumptions, that is exactly what they all are - just assumptions, based on several factors, such as the famous surname, the assumed date of birth as being 1840, etc.
Jim Gray makes a big thing about Edward Mosby having served in the Civil War, and having fought against the Union, and other similar fictional statements, all based on nothing more than oral information, which has recently been stated to have been nothing more than oral information by none other than the descendant, James Anderson, and which assumptions are based on the famous surname. Gray states that all research (on Edward Mosby) has "gone stone silent" and that research is "hitting a stone wall." No such luck indeed, Mr. Gray. The fact is that Edward Mosby never served in the Confederate Army or Navy, was never as well to do as all the accounts make him to be, and was definitely not a native of Virginia.
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© Terry Foenander.
December, 2005 (Updated, June, 2008).
