Nationality American | Name Sloman Moody | |
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Born February 16, 1834 Horatio, South Carolina Died March 20, 1898 (aged 64)
Ocala, Florida Alma mater Charleston Medical College Occupation Physician, farmer, businessman Spouse(s) Carrie Howse (1860–1864)
Patience Howse (1864–1869)
Eliza Pearson Children Samuel Davis Moody
Edward William Moody
Carolina Susan Moody
John Pearson Moody
Elizabeth Richardson Moody
Sloman Waldo Moody
Vincent Fair Moody
Charles Elliot Moody
Adelbert "Dell" Moody
Maxey Dell Moody
Joseph Caldwell Moody
Sarah Louise Moody | ||
Sloman Waldo Moody (February 16, 1834 – March 20, 1898), also known as Slomon Moody or S. W. Moody, was a physician, farmer, and city treasurer of Ocala, Florida. Sloman was one of Ocala's first physicians and settlers of the town. He is also the father of Maxey Dell Moody who founded the oldest family owned construction equipment business in the United States, M. D. Moody & Sons, Inc. According to the Ocala Evening Star, Moody was "one of the landmarks of Ocala" and "one of Ocala's best physicians of the years gone by."
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Early life and Ocala
Sloman was born on February 16, 1834 to Slomon Moody and Susan Collins in Horatio, South Carolina. Sloman's father and uncle Burrell Moody were owners of a plantation in Sumter County, South Carolina. When Sloman's father died in the 1830s his land was divided among his sons James, William, Charles and Slomon with Burrell Moody becoming sole executor of the Moody estate. When his uncle Charles Moody died he was given an inheritance of around $500 and other debts owed to Sloman. By 1850 decided to become a physician and went to the Charleston Medical College in Charleston, South Carolina.
After graduating Sloman moved to Ocala in 1854 to begin his profession as a physician. When he arrived to Ocala, being that the town was founded in 1846, he was known to be one of the earliest physicians in the town. He was also known to be the second oldest citizen of Ocala following Robert Bullock. The 1855 census, which incorrectly spells his name as Soloman, lists Sloman owning 13 slaves in Marion County. In 1863 Sloman was granted a lot along Silver Springs Boulevard. Sloman married Carolina "Carrie" Howse, the daughter of the first sheriff of Ocala Edmund Howse, on April 3, 1860. However, one year later on January 23, 1864 Carolina died unexpectedly. Sloman remarried to her sister Patience Ann Howse but she died five years later in 1869.
While Sloman was a practicing physician he also ran a successful drug store in Ocala. His reputation as a skillful physician brought great demand to his services that even those living 50 miles away still requested for him. Sloman's store and his practice later became known as S. W. Moody & Son with his son Samuel working with him.
Later career and death
Sloman remarried for a final time to Eliza Pearson, the daughter of a Confederate Captain named John William Pearson in 1870. Pearson died in the Civil War when he was leading Company B of the Ninth Infantry Florida, then part of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, through a cornfield at the Battle of Globe Tavern. Eliza Pearson graduated from Columbia College in 1865 majoring in French and Music. After Eliza graduated she moved back to her hometown just before the burning of Columbia by William Tecumseh Sherman's Union forces on February 17, 1865. John's hometown, and Eliza's, was Orange Springs, Florida only 30 miles north of Ocala. In 1877 Eliza gave birth to Sloman Moody who became a Private in the Spanish–American War. In 1883 Eliza had Maxey Dell Moody who would establish his own business called M. D. Moody in 1913 with the name M.D. being only coincidental to Sloman's status. Maxey's business would survive over 100 years as the oldest family owned construction equipment distributor in the United States.
Around 1874 Moody became ill and gradually ceased his practice due to his illness. He then transitioned to a successful orange farmer. He cultivated and experimented with oranges leading him to become a reputable authority figure on oranges. In December 1885 Sloman shipped a crate of oranges to John Clayton in Liverpool, England. Moody decided to invest all of his savings in orange cultivation which then ruined him when the Great Freeze of 1894–1895 destroyed much of the citrus crop of Florida. Financially ruined he returned to his practice but by January 11, 1898 Sloman became very ill. On March 20, 1898 Sloman dies in Ocala leaving behind twelve children.