Mose Thomas was an employee of The Espy Mercantile Company, where he likely worked all of his life. Clad in a pair of blue jean overalls and donning a Headland National Bank cap, Mose was a strong, hard worker who was almost always chewing a wad of tobacco. He also had a toothpick dangling out of his mouth (yes, while he was chewing!). He'd constantly work that toothpick, sliding it completely into his mouth and flicking it vertically, and then back out again.
I worked with Mose - as did my brothers and a cousin or two - a couple of summers when I did some work for the mercantile - almost a rite of passage for the Espy boys. Sometimes I'd ride in Mose's old white-bodied, blue-cab pickup, and we'd go to various farms to check fences and feed (plus count) the cows. On occasion, we'd do something even more daring, like round up a bull to be loaded onto a trailer. Often there would be others out helping - my uncle and some other farm hands. I have tons of little Mose Thomas stories - as do others in my family - and my plan is to add them to this post over time.
My brother Miles and I also enjoyed watching wrestling on TV. Seems like we'd watch it on Saturday afternoons. Miles loved Bullet Bob Armstrong. Mine was Robert Fuller.
To be such fanatics, one thing my brother and I had not done was actually go to Dothan for some live action. Dad gave us permission to go with Mose Thomas to Dothan one Saturday night. Mose came to pick us up at the front door at my grandparents' home on Main Street. He and Ruby Nell actually came up the circular drive and parked, and we walked out the front door to get into the truck. We sat in-between Mose and Ruby. Mose drove us the fifteen or so miles to the Farm Center in Dothan. I remember thinking it must be a bit curious that we showed up with this older black couple. But once we got our tickets and seats, well, wrestlin' took over! And the four of us whooped and hollered during all the matches! Quite a night, plus a unique cultural experience! Have to thank my dad and Mose for making it happen.
Article on wrestling's prominence in Dothan, Alabama in the '70s & '80s here.
And perhaps one day I can find a photo of Mr. Mose Thomas and add it. How 'bout a video?!?!
Don McClendon videoing Mose
Mark Espy, Sr. talks a bit about Mose
This old truck I spotted in Asheville resembled Mose's truck in a way. Perhaps just a lot cleaner!
Same truck? Weaverville, North Carolina (2021)
2 comments:
Ruby Nell was not Mose's wife. Ruby Nell was William Earl Rhodes mother. Mose actually worked w/ a Mr. Jackson, who was a farmer before he came to work for Mr. Major. Mose is one of a very few people to survive the 'lockjaw' disease. He cut his foot w/ an axe and it got infected, but Mose survived. He told me my cousin Dr. Thomas Baxter Woods would come and doctor him where he lived on Mr. Jackson's farm. Mose was probably one of the strongest men I have ever been acquainted with.
some history on Mose: he was one of a very few people to survive 'lock jaw' that is where you have an infection so bad you body eventually becomes so rigid that you can't move and it would kill you. Also, Ruby Nell was not Mose's wife, he was actually married to another woman and I can't recall her name now. She lived in their house on rock creek road and Mose lived w/Ruby Nell on the West Farm. Mose was one of the strongest man I believe I have ever known and really quite knowledgeable. One of the comical stories about Mose was, Mr. Major would tell him that someone had reported to him that one of their cows was out (Mr. Major had cows in the pasture at the west farm which Don later used) but Mose would like to say they were their cows until they were carried to be sold but he never received any of the money. He was basically as good a man that I have ever known and would pretty much do anything for you. Mila used to say when she taught school in Headland for a couple of years that whenever some of her black male students were absent that the other black students present would tell her that they were out of school helping Mr. Mose Thomas pick cotton. Mose said he got the 'lock jaw' (not the technical term) from cutting his leg w/an axe while cutting firewood. Tetanus shots would prevent the 'lock jaw'
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