The Mosby Family:
John Mosby's Brother and Sisters:


William H. "Willie" Mosby
age ca. 12 in school uniform

John Singleton Mosby was his parents' second-born and eldest surviving child. An elder sister, Cornelia, was born the year before him and died in infancy.

After John, came six daughters -Victoria, Blakeley, Lucy, Catherine Ada, Leila and Florence and a second son, William H. "Willie".

Brother: William H. "Willie" Mosby:

Col. Mosby's younger brother, William H. "Willie" Mosby, was 13 years younger than John, having been born on December 26, 1845. After Mosby formed the 43rd Battalion, his brother joined the command, appearing for the first time on the October-December 1864 muster roll. In 1864, he was promoted to adjutant of the battalion. Willie took after their father -- he was dark haired and taller than average at 5'10 and medium boned, whereas his older brother took after their mother and was small-boned, on the short side of medium height, with a fair complexion and sandy hair.

After the War, Col. Mosby's younger brother settled in Amherst County, near their parents, and served as US Postmaster, an appointment that his elder brother secured for him through the Grant administration.In 1872, he married the former Lucy Booth of Baltimore and had five children. After Alfred Daniel Mosby died on 19 Feb 1879. William and his family moved to Bedford County, where he died on August 27, 1913, three years before his older brother. He had kept active until the end, and in his 60's was open enough to change to learn to drive an automobile. He had driven his car to Gettysburg with fellow Rangers, the Chapman brothers, a few months before his death.

Sisters:

Note: the following information is sketchy at best, as consists of what we could pull off the Internet, from published works and from World Family Tree., We'd be grateful for more complete information from descendants and other researchers.

Victoria C. Mosby:

Colonel Mosby's closest sibling in age was his sister Victoria. She was born in 1835 in Nelson Co., VA., and died young, on 18 Oct 1866 in Amherst Co., VA at their parent's house.

Louisa Blakely Mosby

Louisa Blakeley Mosby born about 1837. She went by her middle name, and was nicknamed "Blake" by her elder brother. She was roughly the same age as Col. Mosby's wife, Pauline, and came to stay with her and the Mosby's two young children in Bristol during the first two years of the War. Also in the household was Pauline's younger sister, Delia, nicknamed "Deal" by Col. Mosby. His letters home are filled not only with instructions to "give my love to Blake and Deal" but also with brotherly admonitions to ensure that the two girls read mind-improving literature.

Lucy Jane Mosby

The third Mosby sister to survive to adulthood was Lucy, born about 1839. She married Charles W. Russell, a young lawyer from West Virginia, and died young. After her death, he married her younger sister Leila (see below)

Catherine Ada Mosby

The fourth surviving Mosby daughter, Ada, was born ca. 1840-45 (? if you have her exact dates, please email us -- online genealogical data is conflicting and incomplete, as is what we've found via World FamilyTree). She also died young and John and Pauline Mosby named their daughter, Ada, after her.

Leila Mosby

Leila was born sometime after her second brother Williie, e.g. ca. 1847-49 She married Charles W. Russell, her sister's widower, and travelled with him to Persia where he was a senior US diplomat, causing Col Mosby to nickname them "The Persians" in his letters to other relatives (e.g., "any news from the Persians?") Mr. Russell was also a senior official in the US Justice Department, at one stage responsible for supervising his famous brother in law in his post war career. Upon Col. Mosby's death, Mr. Russell edited his memoirs, which were published posthumously in 1917. Leila Mosby Russell attended her brother's funeral and was at the dedication ceremony for the Mosby Memorial in Warrenton.

Florence Mosby

The youngest Mosby daughter, Florence, was strongly influenced by the devout Catholicism of her sister in law, Pauline Clarke Mosby and converted (as did one other Mosby sister). She became a nun and was a member of the Sister of Charity order, living in Lynchburg, VA.

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