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m. 20 Aug 1752 - Gen. Jeremiah Mosher1755 - 1830
Facts and Events
| Name |
Gen. Jeremiah Mosher |
| Gender |
Male |
| Birth? |
2 Jan 1755 |
Roxbury, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States |
| Marriage |
|
to Dorothy Rideout |
| Marriage |
23 Jul 1778 |
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United Statesto Susanna Thornburg |
| Death? |
8 Mar 1830 |
Washington Boro, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Burial? |
|
Washington Boro, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United StatesWashington Boro Cemetery |
References
- Jeremiah Mosher was one of the Minute Men in 1775, participating in the Battle at Lexington and served under Arnold in the attempt to storm Quebec, where he was wounded and captured. Upon his release he served as sergeant in Jackson’s Massachusetts Regiment. In 1777 he was ordered to Lancaster for winter quarters and in 1778 was wounded at Valley Forge and sent back to Lancaster where he retired from active service, married Susannah Thornburg, had four children and lived on for the next fifty years. By trade, he was a blacksmith, doing most of his work for the various stage lines running through Lancaster to Pittsburgh. His home and shop were on the south side of East King St. between Lime and Church Streets.
He was also a ruling Elder of the Presbyterian church; Lancaster County Coroner, 1810-1815; a Past Master of the Masonic Lodge # 43 in Lancaster, for the years 1795-6, and 1809-11; first president of The Mechanics Society of the City of Lancaster in 1829; and held leadership posts in several other local and state organizations, most notably the Pennsylvania Militia.
Jeremiah Mosher did not retire from active service in 1777-8 as a Brigadier General, but only attained higher titles later when he was elected Col. in the 69th Reg., 4th Div. Pennsylvania Militia, ca.1818, and elected Brigadier General of the 1st Brigade, 4th Division in 1821.
Jeremiah Mosher was highly acclaimed and widely known by the citizens of Lancaster. His life can be summed up by a toast by John Habecker, published July 7, 1840 in the Lancaster intelligencer and Journal: “ To the memory of Gen. Jeremiah Mosher - The gallant soldier and honest mechanic, who served his country in the field, and benefited the community as an honest and industrious man”.
Gen. Mosher’s burial site has been mired in uncertainty almost from the very beginning. All the newspaper accounts of his funeral are very effusive and tell of the grand military funeral held at Lancaster, led by a horse with inverted boots, followed by his burial there. But none of these accounts tell exactly where the burial took place except to say he was buried here. Circumstances would dictate that this would be at the Presbyterian Burying Ground and not at the cemetery at Washington in Manor township. He was active at the Lancaster Presbyterian church and was a friend of Rev. Nathaniel W. Sample. This was in 1830. But in 1850 the original Presbyterian log church was replaced by the existing building and further building occurred in the 1870’s and again in 1889. As a result of these revisions, the original burying ground became virtually destroyed and today only some remnants lie in a dirt floor crawl space under the Evans Chapel and no record or tombstone has ever been found citing the General. It is said that many graves that were disturbed were moved to other cemeteries, but no records are extant. By 1850-89, all the Mosher’s of Lancaster were gone or dead and the only descendants of Isabella and Joseph were living at Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
An internment move to the Washington Boro cemetery at some point is quite logical. In those years the cemetery there was Presbyterian. From the early 1800’s members of the family all held properties there along the river. And Jeremiah’s son, Jeremiah, Jr., had a blacksmith shop there. After such a move, who would have erected a marker? So even though there is no physical evidence or documentation for this move, at either end, it is the most logical answer and is in agreement with the original manager of this memorial.
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