From: Sherri Hall [ldrbelties@earthlink.net]
Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2003 5:31 PM
To: KY-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com
Subject: [KYF] NEWS: Moses Family Reunion, 1977, Whitley Co.

Submitted by Mary Lou Hudson
  <http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00007.html#0001143>

The Whitley Republican, Williamsburg, KY - Aug. 18, 1977
heads or tales/Gene Siler, Sr.
The Moses clan has a reunion
   Last report I saw showed that New York City had a police force of 29,000
men and women, Chicago had 13,000, and Cincinnati had 1,125, Louisville had
757.
   And this reminds me that the city of Williamsburg once had a force of
just one man.  "Chief of Police" he was called.  But I don't know why he was
called chief.  He in fact was all of it -- chief, assistant chief, mounted
police, motorcycle cop, riot squad and detective bureau.
   This Williamsburg chief when I was a boy was named Lee Thomas.  He was
tall and thin.  His clothes hung loosely on his spare frame and because of
this situation the boys around town called him "Coat and Britches" behind
his back.  Some said he could turn sideways and in this manner become a hard
target to hit -- like trying to split the unseen atom.
   His salary was $75 monthly and he had to buy his own badge and uniform
besides.
   The town's present outgoing chief is H.D. Moses who hopes to become High
Sheriff.  If H.D. does as well as most of the Moses people I have known, he
will make a big success.
   Also, two other Moses people are about to become Williamsburg
professionals.  One is Dr. Bernard Moses, a physician.  The other is Dr.
L.B. Moses, an undergraduate dentist, who will soon pull your teeth, fill
your cavities and make you feel better.
   Sunday was the annual Moses reunion.  They always invite me to attend and
you can usually find me there when the Moses people gather on Little Wolf
Creek.
   One man who comes every year all the way from Chicago is Isham Moses.  He
used to be a Jellico barber but now he looks like a city banker.
   Others of the Moses tribe may come from Tennessee, Ohio, Florida and
elsewhere.
   They all seem to have a good time-singing, making music, talking old
times and yes, eatin'.  Some are real good eaters.
   You should see what those Moses women bring to the Reunion - cornbread,
chicken, pies, cakes and much, much more.
   Usually I remind the Moses people that I am a Moses one day each year.
That one day of my Moses kinship was last Sunday.
   "Didn't it rain, didn't it pour," as Johnny Moses sings in his song.
Well it certainly did rain on Little Wolf.  You can bet it just poured.
Moses means "lifted out the water".  But nobody was really lifted out of the
water on Little Wolf Creek.  They stayed much of the time in the rainwater.
   They had invited me to attend and also make a speech.
   However, they do not really come to hear a speech, so I didn't make a
speech.  They wish to talk among themselves and be sociable this one day in
each year.
   Among the most famous of the Moses family are Grandma Moses, the famous
painter, U.S. Senator Moses and Parks Commissioner Moses of New York City.
   "God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, "Moses,
Moses" and he said, "Here am I."  And he said, "Draw not nigh hither.  Put
off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy
ground."
   Last Sunday Little Wolf Creek was holy ground to the Moses people, even
though it was wet ground.  Nevertheless, all them Moseses had a good time on
Little Wolf.

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