Santa
Clara County
Biographies
DANIEL
LEWIS MOODY
The livery business conducted by Daniel Lewis
Moody in Santa Clara has proved a profitable enterprise both for its owner and
the city in which it is located. The business was established in its present
location about thirty years ago, Mr. Moody also engaging then as now in the
buying, selling and breaking of horses, his business sagacity and judgment,
energy and ability, being the groundwork for the competence which he has built
up in the passing years. Born in Jackson county, Mo.,
October 9, 1835, he was the son of John Moody, a native of Tennessee.
In an early day John Moody removed
from his native state to Missouri, where he located in Jackson county and engaged in farming and stock-raising. His latter
years were spent among the scenes of California, to which state he was brought
in 1859 by his son, Daniel L. He located in Mountainview,
(sic) where he purchased and took up land, upon which he engaged in farming
until his death in 1888. He became a member of the Christian Church in this
locality. Politically he adhered to the principles advocated in the platform of
the Democratic party. His wife, formerly Mary King, of
Kentucky, also died here. They were the parents of five sons and five
daughters, all of whom attained maturity, while five are now living.
Daniel Lewis Moody was the youngest
son and the sixth child in his father’s family. He was reared to the age of
fourteen years among the scenes of his birthplace, receiving a rather limited
education through the medium of the common schools in the vicinity of his home.
In 1851, in the care of his uncle, Peter Haun, he
crossed the plains to California by means of ox teams. Upon his arrival in the
west he located with his uncle in Santa Clara, where he remained for a short
time, going then to live with his brother, George W. Moody, in the San Joaquin
valley, and engaged in taking care of cattle during the years 1852 and ’53. In
1854 he returned to Santa Clara county, and for a time
was employed by farmers throughout the section, after which he rented land and
engaged in farming independently. Four years later, in 1859, he returned to
Missouri and brought his parents back to California, after which he rented land
in Mountainview (sic) and engaged in farming for two
or three years. In 1863 he went to Mexico and remained a short time, when he
returned and farmed for another year, after which he engaged in trading, buying
and breaking horses, following this with the establishment of the business with
which he has since been connected.
In Santa Barbara, Cal., in 1874, Mr.
Moody was married to Rosa Tillford, a native of
Missouri, and whose death occurred in this city. Of the two children born of
that union Lulu B. is deceased, and Elsie is at home. In Watsonville, Cal., Mr.
Moody was united a second time, Eliza Spiegel, of California, becoming his
wife. Mr. Moody is a member of the Church of Christ of Santa Clara, in which he
officiates as deacon and trustee, and is active in the promotion of religious
thought and life in the community. Politically he casts his ballot with the
Prohibition party.
Transcribed By: Cecelia M. Setty.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 665-666. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Cecelia M. Setty.