Today in Wheeling History: January 19--Joel E. Moss, founder of the prominent J.E. Moss Iron Works in Wheeling, was born (1887).
Joel E. Moss was born on January 19, 1887, in New York City. His parents were Julius Moss, who was born in Bavaria, Germany in 1852 and worked as an ornamental ironworker, and Celia Reich Moss, who was born in Austria in 1860. The family moved to Wheeling, West Virginia, when Joel was 8 years old. He first attended school in New York City. He was a pupil at Wheeling High School until 1901. Through self-study with the International Correspondence School of Scranton, he gained technical knowledge of structural engineering.
Moss worked for his father's company, Architectural Iron & Wire Works, starting as a young boy. In 1910, he started his own contracting business before founding a small iron works shop in 1911, which grew into the J.E. Moss Iron Works. The company was incorporated in 1913 and expanded rapidly, absorbing the Architectural Iron & Wire Works of Wheeling in 1916, and the Riverside Bridge Company of Martins Ferry, Ohio, in February 1924. By the 1920s, the J.E. Moss Iron Works spanned 20 acres and employed 500 workers to manufacture steel products shipped across the country. It had sales offices in Cleveland, St. Louis, Charleston, WV, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh. The company handled major building, factory, and bridge projects across the U.S. as well as in Canada and Cuba.
Moss was involved in several Wheeling business and civic organizations. He was a member of the Jewish Eoff Street Temple. In 1914, Moss married Sarah Thomas and they had 5 children together before divorcing in 1928.
Moss later moved to California where he died in October, 1963, at the age of 76. His burial was at Mount Sinai Memorial Park in Los Angeles.
To learn more: (http://tinyurl.com/yc6udvjd) (http://tinyurl.com/2e4ctxvt) (http://tinyurl.com/mwxn7uup) (http://tinyurl.com/yykaw35x) (http://tinyurl.com/54ufzy8b) (http://tinyurl.com/2kwnyenu)
Photo Credits: Ohio County Public Library, Wheeling WV; Structural Steel, The J.E. Moss Iron Works, Wheeling, West Virginia, Harper-Gutman Company, Wheeling, WV; Ohio County WVGenWeb, Find a Grave
Joel E. Moss was born on January 19, 1887, in New York City. His parents were Julius Moss, who was born in Bavaria, Germany in 1852 and worked as an ornamental ironworker, and Celia Reich Moss, who was born in Austria in 1860. The family moved to Wheeling, West Virginia, when Joel was 8 years old. He first attended school in New York City. He was a pupil at Wheeling High School until 1901. Through self-study with the International Correspondence School of Scranton, he gained technical knowledge of structural engineering.
Moss worked for his father's company, Architectural Iron & Wire Works, starting as a young boy. In 1910, he started his own contracting business before founding a small iron works shop in 1911, which grew into the J.E. Moss Iron Works. The company was incorporated in 1913 and expanded rapidly, absorbing the Architectural Iron & Wire Works of Wheeling in 1916, and the Riverside Bridge Company of Martins Ferry, Ohio, in February 1924. By the 1920s, the J.E. Moss Iron Works spanned 20 acres and employed 500 workers to manufacture steel products shipped across the country. It had sales offices in Cleveland, St. Louis, Charleston, WV, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh. The company handled major building, factory, and bridge projects across the U.S. as well as in Canada and Cuba.
Moss was involved in several Wheeling business and civic organizations. He was a member of the Jewish Eoff Street Temple. In 1914, Moss married Sarah Thomas and they had 5 children together before divorcing in 1928.
Moss later moved to California where he died in October, 1963, at the age of 76. His burial was at Mount Sinai Memorial Park in Los Angeles.
To learn more: (http://tinyurl.com/yc6udvjd) (http://tinyurl.com/2e4ctxvt) (http://tinyurl.com/mwxn7uup) (http://tinyurl.com/yykaw35x) (http://tinyurl.com/54ufzy8b) (http://tinyurl.com/2kwnyenu)
Photo Credits: Ohio County Public Library, Wheeling WV; Structural Steel, The J.E. Moss Iron Works, Wheeling, West Virginia, Harper-Gutman Company, Wheeling, WV; Ohio County WVGenWeb, Find a Grave
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