Born to Thomas Cross Moody and Arabella Neu on Apsley Farm near Hampshire, England, Robert Moody (1838-1915) attended school in Manchester before immigrating to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1857. There, Moody managed a freight company with his brother while also operating a general store in Pueblo, Colorado. Following his purchase of a farm near Lenexa, Kansas, and his marriage to Mary Cathryn Allen in 1868, Moody moved to Kansas City three years later, managing a ranch for P. T. Barnum. In 1879, Moody entered into a partnership with Milton Pollard and his brother, purchasing the PO Ranch in the Texas Panhandle. By 1886, he became the sole owner of the ranch and settled with his wife and seven children in the town of Canadian. Moody engaged in a number of philanthropic endeavors, donating land to the local Baptist congregation and helped found the area’s public school, while also erecting the Moody Hotel. Four years later, he moved to Kansas City while managing a number of banks in Oklahoma and Texas. In 1912, Moody retired to Long Beach, California, where he died in 1915.
Source:
Anderson, H. Allen.
A bound volume of financial records composes the Robert Moody Papers, 1883-1885, documenting his business affairs. Photostats of financial records concern Moody’s accounts, purchases, and business transactions, especially regarding the cattle trade and his ranch in the Texas Panhandle.
This collection is open for research use.
Robert Moody Papers, 1883-1885, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.
Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s