Homer D. Mosier, Jr., conducted genealogical research on the surname Moser/Mosier and related variants
from 1989 to 2016 at the Latter Day Saints (LDS) Library in Stoctkon, California. The purpose of this
research was to search for the parents of his second-great grandfather, Henry Moser, who was born about 1824
in Washington County, Tennessee, and died in 1862 during the Civil War in Iuka, Missouri, following
his capture at the battle of Shiloh. Homer extracted all Mosers and related names in the states of
Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, Indiana, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania from microfilmed records, which
included Deeds, Court Records, Tax Records, Wills, and other documents recorded by LDS. Beginning in 1993,
he corresponded with relatives as well as other researchers working on the Moser families to obtain additional
information. He also subscribed to Traces, a publication by a genealogical society in Kentucky and
was a member of the Watauga Association in Tennessee.
Homer assembled his compilations into binders by states containing the Moser given names arranged in
alphabetical order and by birth dates. Because of the wide variation of the spelling of the Moser surname,
less emphasis was given for the spelling of the surname and more to the given name. Homer also included names
that were close to the spelling of the Moser surname, such as Masur, Messer, Messner, Moller, Mooser, Mosler,
Mossler, Muller, and Musser, when he thought that these may have been misspellings of the original surname.
For each given name, he provided when available the birth date, marriage date, death date, spouse's name,
children's names, and the parents' names as well as other direct ancestors. Parents names are shown on the upper
right corner of each sheet. This was his attempt to reconstruct the Moser families residing in those six
states.
Homer used abbreviations and symbols for certain designations and verifications as follows:
- Black dot (shown as a red dot on the original sheet) at the top of the sheet above the name indicates
Mosers known to be related to his third-great grandfather Henry Moser.
- Circled "P" before a name signifies that the name was posted in the Master Files of LDS, sometimes more than once,
shown by multiple circled "P" or number of dashes after the "P".
- "NP" before the name means that the name was not posted in the Master Files of LDS, which signifies that the name came
from another source.
- "POSS" means possible.
- "?" indicates uncertainties.
- "OK" or a check mark was indicated for his own verifications with other records.
- * inside a circle indicates a person of interest needing more research.
- "B" is birth.
- "D" is death.
- "M" is marriage.
Specific sources of the information from LDS records were not usually cited. Some recordings show the batch number or
microfilm number that he used. Citations were also given for sources received from correspondences.
Making this information available for a website was a huge feat. Jenny Mosier digitally scanned the thousands of data sheets
and designed the website banner. Dan Mosier wrote the html code to display the data sheets. The information presented is in
Homer's unedited handwritten notes. It is hoped that the information will be helpful to those researching
the Moser surname.
Homer Densil Mosier, Jr., was born in Mudlick, Kentucky, on July 2, 1929, to Homer Densil Mosier, Sr. and
Beatrice Sallie Pace. Homer was the second eldest of six children and the family called him Junior. The
family moved to Scottsburg, Indiana, where Homer attended high school. His father, Densil, was more interested
in prospecting for oil than caring for his family or working on a farm, and so he abandoned the family.
As a result, Homer was forced to drop out of high school to help support the family by working on his grandfather's farm
or working other jobs, such as with the Morgan Packing Company and Nat Williams Photo Studio.
In 1946, Homer enlisted in the U. S. Army and was sent to Japan at the end of World War II with the 8th Army Division.
At that time, he was sending part of his paycheck to his mother to help support the family. Then he served in the
Korean War under the 8th Army Division and 1st Cavalry Division. In 1951, he met Michiko while stationed in Kobe, Japan,
and they got married in the American Embassy. They raised three children. His Army tour-of-duty included Washington,
Japan, Korea, Virginia, Alaska, Indiana, Illinois, Georgia, Kansas, Thailand, and California. When he was stationed at
the Oakland Army Base, the family resided in San Leandro, California. Homer retired from the Army in 1968 as First Sergeant.
In 1969, he found employment as a warranty manager with Peterbilt Motors at Newark, California, from which he retired in 1985.
Homer and Michiko moved to Valley Springs, California, in their retirement. They planted and cared for over 200 unique
trees on three acres of land. Homer also enjoyed fishing, camping, dining out, playing guitar, gambling, watching football,
listening to country music, watching western movies, doing genealogical research, caring for his four cats, and
visiting friends and family. Homer passed away on December 31, 2017, California, at the age of 88 years. His remains
were interred with military funeral honors at the Chapel of Chimes Veterans Cemetery in Hayward, California.
MOSER-MOSIER FAMILY SHEETS
