Edward Moseley

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Edward Moseley
Born 1682
England
Died 11 July 1749
North Carolina
Occupation Surveyor General and Treasurer
Religion Anglican
Spouse(s) Anne Walker
Ann Hazell

Edward Moseley (born c. 1682 in England - died 11 July 1749), was the Surveyor General of North Carolina from about 1710 and the first colonial Treasurer of North Carolina starting in 1715. He was responsible (with William Byrd II) for surveying the boundary between North Carolina and Virginia in 1728. He was also Speaker of the North Carolina House of Burgesses (the lower house of the legislature) for several terms, as he was consistently re-elected by the people's party. He briefly acted as Governor of North Carolina while Gov. George Burrington was traveling out of the province.

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Career [edit]

Moseley became a planter, with extensive landholdings and numerous slaves. Remembered for his generosity to community and church, Moseley may have been best known for his detailed map of the North Carolina colony, which he published in 1733. It was a lasting contribution to its settlement.

An Anglican, Moseley supported the rights of Dissenters, including Quakers, in the colony. He also supported the growth of the Anglican Church.

Moseley was a public-spirited individual who temporarily suffered the vagaries of colonial justice. He was banned from holding public office for several years because of his attempt to obtain evidence linking Colonial Governor Charles Eden to the pirate [Edward Teach], known as Blackbeard. Moseley and his colleagues had forcibly entered the office of the colonial secretary in 1718 in search of incriminating evidence and had been surrounded by the governor's agents. Angry words were exchanged. When Moseley's case came to trial the following year, he was accused of uttering "seditious words" against the governor when the governor's agents surrounded him. Despite at least one member of the jury being a former legal client of Moseley's, Governor Eden's attorney obtained a conviction.

Returning to public life after his time out of office, Moseley again became Treasurer of North Carolina in 1735, a position which he held until his death.

Marriage and family [edit]

In 1705 Moseley married Anne Walker, the widow of Gov. Henderson Walker and daughter of Maj. Lillington, in the eastern Chowan District of North Carolina. They had two sons. He was brother-in-law to Maurice Moore, who was also prominent in the colony, and became allied with the Lillingtons and other powerful families.[1]

He then married Ann Hazell, and they had a large family of sons and daughters.[2]

His descendant William Dunn Moseley was the first elected governor of the State of Florida.

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