Franklin J. Moses, Sr.
| Franklin J. Moses, Sr. | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Chief Justice of South Carolina | |
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In office 1868 – March 6, 1877 |
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| Preceded by | Benjamin Faneuil Dunkin |
| Succeeded by | Ammiel J. Willard |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Israel Franklin Moses August 13, 1804 Charleston, South Carolina |
| Died | March 6, 1877 (aged 72) |
| Spouse(s) | Jane McLellan (also spelled McClenahan) |
| Alma mater | South Carolina College (now University of South Carolina) |
| Religion | Judaism |
Franklin J. Moses, Sr. (born Israel Franklin Moses; August 13, 1804 – March 6, 1877) was an attorney, planter, politician and judge in South Carolina. He served as a state senator from 1841 to 1866, when he was elected to the circuit court. He was elected as Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court in 1868 during the Reconstruction era. In 1876 he was asked to rule on a challenge to election returns in the hotly disputed gubernatorial campaign, eventually won by Democrat Wade Hampton and ending Republican domination in the state.
Franklin J. Moses was born in 1804 as Israel Franklin Moses into a Jewish family in Charleston to Major Myer Moses and Esther (Hetty) Phillips. His mother was one of 22 children of Jonas Phillips and his wife Rebecca Machado, a prominent Jewish family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His middle name was in honor of Benjamin Franklin, the statesman from Philadelphia.
Upon completing his early education in Charleston, Moses attended South Carolina College in 1819 and graduated in 1823. He returned to Charleston to study law under the tutelage of James L. Petigru. After being admitted to the bar in 1825, he moved to the state capital of Columbia.
At the urging of Judge J. S. Richardson in Clarendon, Moses was persuaded to practice law in Sumterville in a neighboring county; it was also in the rapidly developing Piedmont area of the state. This area became developed for the commodity crop of cotton and was dominated by large plantations based on enslaved African-American labor. The only possessions Moses took with him were a few law books and a ten-dollar bill; but he was determined to make his home in Sumterville.
Moses entered a practice with John L. Wilson. From the beginning, he applied two principles - to avoid prosecution of a man in the criminal courts if his life was in danger, and on the civil side, to support only those suits that had real merit. He quickly established a good reputation in Sumterville and was elected as captain of a company of cavalry, the Claremont Troop. In 1832, Moses and his younger brother Montgomery Moses established the law firm of F. J. and M. Moses, and their practice became well known across the state.
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