William Cleveland Moulton, III

William Moulton

• Born: 12 Jul 1720, Newbury MA
• Marriage: Lydia Greenleaf on 16 Sep 1742 in Newburyport MA
• Died: 1793, Marietta OH
• Placespoon, c 1760, Private Collection
• Sword, c 1770 Private Collection 2 l: 5 7/8" (hilt) A typical form of the weapon differing from the normal only in that the lion's head (often referred to as "dog's head") is very narrow when viewed full face. The Moulton family did a big business in swords.

Although most of the Moultons carried on their craft in Newburyport, some went to other communities where they established themselves as silversmiths. The third William moved in a covered wagon to Marietta, Ohio, carrying his silversmith's tools with him.

Biographical notes

Travelling overland in a covered wagon, he was one of the forty-eight pioneers to settle in the Northwest Territory. His wife, two daughters, and youngest son joined him in 1789. The Founders of Ohio: Brief Sketches of the Forty-Eight Pioneers, by Julia P. Gutter, published in 1888, gives an eyewitness account of an Indian raid on the town in 1791:

". . . next [came in], old Mr. William Moulton from Newburyport, Mass., aged seventy, with his leather apron full of old goldsmith's tools and tobacco. Close at his heels came his daughter, Anna, with the china teapot, cups and saucers. Lydia brought the great Bible. But when all were in, the mother was missing: where was mother? She must be killed. "No," says Lydia, "mother said she would not leave the house looking so. She would put things away and a little more to rights, and then she would come." Directly mother came, bringing the looking glass, knives and forks, etc." 1

Links

• http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=coffinfam...
• http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~silversmiths/make...
• http://www.hampton.lib.nh.us/hampton/history/oldhome/62silver.htm

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US New Hampshire Copper 1776 Coin:

William Moulton (WM on the coin) was empowered and commissioned by the newly formed New Hampshire House of Representatives to make a copper coin in 1776. He designed and engraved the coin. On June 28 the New Hampshire legislature passed an act stating a copper coin would be made in the colony having a pine tree and the motto AMERICAN LIBERTY on one side and a harp design with the date 1776 on the other.

At lease five variations of the New Hampshire coin are known, two of which carry the date 1776 on the obverse and the initials W. M. on the reverse. 

Breen, pp. 59-61; Maurice M. Gould, "New Hampshire Cent?" Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine vol. 22, no. 11 (November 1956, whole no. 249) 1945-1946; The Garrett Collection, auction by Bowers and Ruddy, part 1, November 28-29, 1979, with the MA Janus head copper as lot 574, p. 132 and part 3, October 1-2, 1980, with two varieties of NH coppers as lots 1323-1324, p. 52; and The Norweb Collection: Part 1 Early American and U.S. Coins, a public auction sale of October 12 and 13, 1987 in New York City by Bowers and Merena Inc., Wolfboro, N.H.: Bowers and Merena, 1987, pp. 402-403 on the NH coppers with an introduction and three varieties as lots 1384-1386; Dan Freidus, "Identifying a Betts Copper," The C4 Newsletter, A quarterly publication of the Colonial Coin Collectors Club, vol. 4, no. 1 (Spring, 1996) 11-16 and front cover illustration.

In 1762, he moved his family to Hempstead, New Hampshire, where he diversified his business interests, becoming an extensive landholder, as well as continuing his work with silver and gold.

In 1788, William Moulton moved to Marietta. His wife Lydia, his daughters Lydia and Anna, and his son Enoch (sometimes reported as Edmond) joined him there in 1789. Here, Moulton continued his employment as a silver and goldsmith.

By this time, he also had taught his daughter Lydia the trade. At this time, it was almost unheard of for a woman to know a formal trade. Lydia, however, proved herself to be a skilled craftsperson, and this father and daughter provided residents of what is now southeastern Ohio with numerous products, primarily eating utensils. These two smiths traveled by wagon selling their wares. http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/