Biography - Peter Moos
PETER MOOS for many years was a successful and prominent tiller of the soil, but is now retired from the active duties of life, and is in the enjoyment of a competency which his own excellent business qualities and good judgment won him. He was born on the extreme northern coast of Germany, September 27, 1832, his parents being Peter and Doratio Moos, also natives of that part of the Fatherland, where they were highly respected. The father was a coppersmith and the owner of a large copper mill, where he manufactured copper plate for use in the construction of the ships that were built on that coast. The subject of this sketch was orphaned by the death of his father when he was a boy of some twelve or thirteen years. Prior to that event he had been in school, but afterward he was obliged to commence the battle of life on his own responsibility, and he at once entered a sawmill for the purpose of learning the trade. There he continued to remain until he had attained his twenty-fifth year, or until 1852, during which time he acquired a most thorough and practical knowledge of the calling.
Our subject then determined to seek a home under the shelter of the Stars and Stripes, and after landing upon American shores, he immediately proceeded to Lincoln, Ill., where his brother, Christ Moos, was living. The latter had come to this country some eight years previous; he died a few years since in Lincoln. Another brother, John, came to America with him, and is now the well-known proprietor of a machine shop at Lincoln. For some time after his arrival in this country, Peter Moos experienced some very hard times, but, true to his nature, he continued to persevere, and although for the first two years he labored on a farm, receiving only $150 per annum for his services, he, with the usual thriftiness of his race, contrived to save some money, with which he rented land in Logan County, and began tilling the soil. There he remained until 1867, when he came to Montgomery County and purchased eighty acres of land in Nokomis Township, after which he worked at farming, carpentering or anything he could find to do in order to pay for his property. From time to time he made other purchases of land, as his judgment directed, and is now the owner of two hundred and forty acres of excellent and fertile farming land in a high state of cultivation.
It is said of Mr. Moos that he built the majority of the buildings in the German settlement in which he lived for so long, and the structures which he has put up are characterized by durability and the substantial manner in which they have been erected. About 1890 he decided to locate in the city of Nokomis, for the purpose of following his trade, and since that time has been successfully employed as a contractor and builder, renting his large farm. In addition to the farm he owns some fine property in Nokomis. His prosperity dates from the time he located in Montgomery County, throughout which he is well known and highly respected.
Mr. Moos was married at Lincoln, Ill., in 1857, to Miss Christina Nisen, a native of the same part of Germany as that from which he came, and to them six children have been born: Jesse, the eldest, is a carpenter in Nokomis; Mary is the wife of Green Taylor, a son of George Taylor, the Vice-president of the Nokomis National Bank, and resides on one of her father's farms; Peter is married and lives on the home farm; William is a carpenter and builder of Nokomis; Rena married Dick Frerecks, who is in business in Nokomis; and Eddie lives on the farm. Mr. Moos is a Democrat, but is not active in politics, and upon being elected to the position of Justice of the Peace at one time refused to serve. He and his wife are exemplary members of the German Lutheran Church.
Extracted 10 Jan 2017 by Norma Hass from 1892 Portrait and Biographical Record of Montgomery and Bond Counties, Illinois, pages 269-270.
