Thomas Moody

Military Service: Revolutionary War Thomas Moody was a participant at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse.

On 1 May 1784 the NC legislature recorded that they "Received from his Excellency the Governor, the following message: To the Honorable the General Assembly:

Gentlemen:

I lay before you a Petition from the widow of Thomas Moody deceased praying a gratuity, & c. You have also herewith a Recommendatory letter from General Greene on the subject--Alex Martin".

At the same time received the letter and petition referred to in the above message, which being read, were referred to the Committee of Propositions and Grievances."

The letter from Nathaniel Greene referred to above stated: "Halifax Septemr 2d 1783 Sir

The bearer of this Thomas Moody, and old Gentleman represents his great sufferings by the enemy when they were in the neighborhood of Guilford. He was in our army in that action & piloted the Artillery, & no doubt was much exposed. If anything can be done for him in his distressed situation, it will be relieving the unfortunate & rewarding the fidelity of an honest old man. Your Excellency is the best judge of the probability of interesting the assembly in his affairs and will advise the old Gentleman accordingly. I shall be happy if anything I can say will promote his wishes, as I believe him to be an object of public charity & meriting some attention. I have the honor to be,

With great respect

Your Excellencys

most obedient

humble servant

Nath Greene"

On 14 May 1784 John Butler, chairman of the Committee of Propositions and Grievances reported to the legislature regarding the petition of Mary Moody. They recommended the petition be rejected, feeling it was more properly the jurisdiction of the County Court or County Wardens.
The legislature decided to reject the report of the Committee stating:

"Resolved, That this report be rejected; that the Treasurers or either of them to pay the said Mary Moody, the sum of fifty pounds out of any public monies they may now have in their hands to be applied towards the relief of herself and her children, as a reward for the spirited and extraordinary services of the husband of the said Mary in his lifetime rendered to this Country on a variety of occasions, and particularly at the battle of Guilford Court House in which he was engaged, he being then of the age of seventy years and upwards."3

On 14 May 1784, the Senate received a Resolve allowing Mary Moody the sum of fifty pounds. The Clerk of the House was ordered to issue a certificate to Mary Moody for the allowance made to her.

The claim went either unpaid, or partially paid, for on 1 Dec. 1789, "The committee of claims to who was referred the memorial of Hans Hamilton, late Sheriff of Guilford county, report That the matters set forth in the said memorial in their opinion are fact, and the certificates contained therein are genuine, and have never been...paid off by any holder of public money, except by the said Hans Hamilton, and by him taken up in part of the taxes of said county...Your Committee are therefore of opinion, that the Treasurer should be directed by the General Assembly to pass the certificates mentioned in said memorial..." One of these was "in the name of Mary Moody for fifteen pounds, dated in May, 1784."

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From Donna Moody's "Prelilminary Study of Our Moody Line"

Our Moody line is Scotch-Irish descent from (County) Derry, Northern Ireland. The area was a sparsely settled wilderness when Thomas Moody was first in Rowan County by 1756. This part of Rowan was cut off and Guilford County created from it and part of Orange County. He was most likely Presbyterian in religion. Although likely too old to serve in the militia in the War of Revolution, he would have been a Whig patriot like the McCuistions with whom he was so closely connected. Thomas Moody (1) died before February 1784. Married at least twice, he left a widow, Mary. Daughter, Ann Moody McCuiston was also alive. Alexander Moody, who lived with Ann and could have been a son of Thomas, peceded Thomas Moody in death.

"This is the only Moody family in Guilford County, NC in the earliest days."
Moody & McCuiston. Northern Ireland to America. ca 6 Aug 1735.

"the Moodys and McCuistons migrated to America about 6 Aug 1735, as a note found in the back of an old Mccuistion(sic) book states 'landed in America 6 August 1635 at New Castle written September ye 14 1735 robert mcCuiston(sic).' This was at Newcastle, PA, which became Newcastle, Delaware, when Delaware was formed. Until more is known, we would assume that Thomas Moody (1) and his family came on or about the same time.

Moved to Guilford County area of NC before 1756 when it was still Rowan County.

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1759, Owned 640 acres of land in NC

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We now have Ydna confirmation that our Moody's were from Scotland originally. Our name was most likely spelled MUDIE or MOODIE, however the former is the oldest spelling of the name. One branch was said to have come out of Fifeshire, some from Ayrshire and others were from the Northeastern parts of Scotland in the Orkney to Edinburgh areas. There have also been several links found in Perthshire and Renfrewshire, Scotland.
While I was searching some of the earliest records of MUDIE's in the 1600's and 1700's, I did notice the Surname of RATTRAY in various forms of spellings showing up as well. I hope this may be helpful to others researching this line of MOODY's (Mudie's/Moodie's) from Scotland to Nor. Ireland to Nor. America. Thank you for sharing your wonderful family tree. (my orig. message post appears below, some of the info may have changed over time as our much broader Moody family tree continues to grow and we learn more and more about them).

Just a brief Note to let readers of your webpage know that Jean McQUISTON was Thomas MOODY's First Wife and Mary WITTY/Whitty/McWitty (various spellings) was his 2nd wife