James  H.  Moberly
            This name, familiar in Shelby county since pioneer days, designated one of the oldest, best known and most esteemed of its families. They are of Kentucky origin, and the Shelby county branch springs from  Thomas Moberly, who was born in Madison county, Kentucky, January 20, 1821.  He was a son of  William and  Martha (Robertson) Moberly, both of whom spent their lives and ended their days in the old state, south of the Ohio, the father dying in 1832, and the mother in 1824.  Thomas was left an orphan at the age of three years, and four years later was brought to Shelby county by his maternal uncle, James Robertson, by whom he was supported during the formative period of his life.  When twenty-one he began farm work on his own account on a place of one hundred five acres, his father-in-law's farm, afterwards given to his wife, which he subsequently purchased.  He was a careful man. of thrifty disposition, industrious habits and good judgment in making investments.  As a result he was quite successful, his original farm being increased in time to a holding of four hundred acres, situated in Union township, six miles east and north of Shelbyville. He lived on one farm forty-six years.
            For thirty-four years continuously he served as Justice of the Peace of his township and did nearly all of the local business.  He taught school for ten terms, between 1830 and 1852, was trustee and deacon of the Baptist church.
of which he was a life-long and consistent member, and altogether led such a blameless and useful life as to enjoy universal respect and esteem.  A staunch Republican and uncompromising Union man, he befriended the soldiers with such steady enthusiasm as to earn the love of every veteran.  In 1886 he became a resident of Shelbyville, and lived there in retirement until his death, which occurred October 11, 1908, when he was past eighty-seven. years of age. February 17, 1842, he married  Julila, daughter of  Noah and Polly Barnes, who came with her parents from Kentucky to Shelby county in 1833.
            Her father died in Union township in 1867. and her mother a year later.  She herself passed away June 17, 1901 . in Shelbyville.  To Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Moberly six children were born, five of whom survive and all of them have met with success in life.  John M. married  Mary .E. Dewitt, has four children, all boys and lives on a farm in Addison township;  William N. married  Missouri Worland  of Decatur county, and died there, leaving a son named after his father.  He served as a member of Captain Allen's company on the One Hundred Thirty-second Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, during the last year of the Civil war, for which he drew a pension.  Mary E., the eldest daughter, married  Dr. Albert Pherson, and has three children;  Adella,  Hetta A.  and Ora, and resides in Osborn, Ohio.  Martha F., the second daughter, married  Simuel Farthing, a farmer of Union township, on part of the old homestead, and has one child, Bertha May.  Edward R., the youngest child, married  Carrie Yarling, and resides on a farm in Marion township.  Their only child, Wilbur, died at an early age.  James H. Moberly, who was the third of his father's children, was born on the old homestead in Union township, Shelby county, Indiana, April 5, 1847.  He went through all the experiences of pioneer days, the log cabin school-house, with its greased paper Window lights, the Itinerant teacher, who "boarded- around,'' the ill-assorted class books, the cutting of wood with the other boys to keep up the fires, the short terms and the irregular attendance. In the summer, of course, he had to help with the farm work, doing the chores, getting up early to feed, carrying water to the hands, and. all the rest of the drudgery down only to the by of that period.  This kind of life continued until he was sixteen years old and a year or two later he began attending normal school and teachers institutes at Shelbyville.  Beginning in 1876, he "took up school'' in one of the country districts, and taught seven winters during the years ending with 1880.  The terms were short then, only five or six months, and the intervals were devoted to farm work.  In 1886 Mr. Moberly took up his residence in Shelbyville though he still kept in touch with the farm and acted as overseer for his father.  In November, 1906, he was elected Justice of the Peace, and since then has been transacting the business of that office.  Like his father and indeed the whole Moberly family, he has been industrious, economical and saving, with the result that he has something to show for his life's work. Two hundred and twenty-four acres of fine farming land in Union township, besides personal property, are evidences of his thrift, his saving qualities and his good judgment in business. Though reared a Baptist he is not affiliated with any church, his politics, like those of his lamented father, are strictly Republican. and he holds membership in the Masonic and Odd Fellows orders, his lodges being No. 28 of the Free and Accepted Masons, and No. 39 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Shelbyville.  He is a stockholder and moving spirit in the Shelby county joint Stock Agricultural Association. and never misses attendance at its successful annual fairs.  He has had extensive experience in the settlement of estates and as guardian for minor heirs, being regarded as a safe and reliable business man.  He has remained unmarried, and during their later years devoted affectionate care and unwearied attention to the comfort of his aged parents.
Chadwick's History of Shelby County, Indiana by Edward H. Chadwick, B.S., assisted by well known local talent, B.F. Bowen & Co, Publishers: Indianapolis, IN, 1909, pages 350-351.
Contributed by Phyllis Miller Fleming  for Christal Callahan Culp

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