David Mooseman and the Merkley family

While doing some Merkley research, I came across these two photos:

David Mooseman photo (front and back)
Front label: "Cheese to Mrs. Merkley"
Back transcribed: "David Mooseman, Announced over Radio,
Argomist, War with Isabrand, Marrie(d) F C Powell,
Work at Pentagon, Graduated AC Logan"
Found in the personal albums of Sarah Nielsen

"David Moseman- not a brother but raised by Merkleys"
From the personal albums of Sarah Nielsen

I then came across the 1920 census that mentioned him too!  Now I was getting curious...

SOURCE: familysearch.org
Page cropped and highlighted by me

Listed with the Nelson Jr and Keturah Merkley family is a "David E Moseman".  A hired man, aged 24 (so about the same age as Asher's sister, Mary, and about 3-4 years older than Asher), from Utah, engaged in farm labor.  He doesn't show up on any other census related to the Merkleys.  Hmm...

So I started some more investigating based on the scrawled out pencil notes from the back of the first photo, and found out the following clues on him.

WWI military card:

SOURCE: ancestry.com
(More particular source info on bottom of image)

WWI registration card:

SOURCE: ancestry.com
(More particular source info on bottom of image)

These two cards have his name spelled out as "David D Moosman" and indicate that he was born in Escalante, UT, that he served abroad in WWI when he was 22 years old (but towards the end of the war), was unmarried, and that he was self-employed in farming in Uintah County.  They also give more particulars about his wartime experience, but don't mention much about his service with Isabrand (... Isabrand being the future husband to Asher's sister, Mary.)


Local newspaper article:

SOURCE: Vernal Express 1920, May 21, p.1

The second paragraph mentions David Moseman's name as one involved in the newly organized Dairy Association for the Ashley Valley.

Marriage record information:

SOURCE: ancestry.com/ Western State Marriage Record Index

I'm terribly lazy and just took a screenshot of the information instead of scouting out an actual copy of the document.  But all the pertinent information is here: He's a "Jr", he married an "Efcy Irene Powell" in Logan, UT on 1 Jun 1923.

College Yearbook:

SOURCE: "Buzzer" USU yearbook, 1925, p 43
Utah State Archives, SLC, UT
Senior page with photos and listed names

Closeup:

SOURCE: "Buzzer" USU yearbook, 1925, p 43
Utah State Archives, SLC, UT
David Mooseman photo closeup

He did in fact go to Agricultural College in Logan (now known as Utah State University), as can be seen in the following photos.  This page tells us he was a senior at USU in 1925, from Vernal, Utah.  Emphasizing in "Dairying" and a member of Phi Kappa Phi.

Phi Kappa Phi page:

SOURCE: "Buzzer" USU yearbook, 1925, p?
Utah State Archives, SLC, UT

This is the Phi Kappa Phi page, with David Mooseman on the top center.

Sorry the quality is so bad- the Archives department wouldn't let me scan anything- only fuzzy photos.  :(

Photo closeup:

SOURCE: "Buzzer" USU yearbook, 1925, p?
Utah State Archives, SLC, UT

Apparently sometime after graduating, David and his wife moved to Northern California, as he is listed in various phone directories:

SOURCE: ancestry.com
(More particular source info on bottom of image)
This is just one of many.  More listings can be found at ancestry.com

1930 Census:

SOURCE: ancestry.com
(More particular source info on bottom of image)

This census informs us that David and Efcy have a growing family with them, that they're renting, we know Efcy's parents are English, and we have more info on his job description at the time.

1940 Census:

SOURCE: ancestry.com
(More particular source info on bottom of image)

The 1940 census shows that he's stabilized a bit more with his job, owns a house, and now has 3 children in the family.  The ages of the kids indicate that they moved to CA when kid #2 was a toddler.

Although they lived in California, they still made it a priority to get back home to Utah to visit friends and family:

SOURCE: Vernal Express 1940, Aug 1, p.4

SOURCE: Vernal Express 1945, July 5, p.1

1945 is the last I can find record of him, so all the "announced over radio" and "worked at the Pentagon" business I couldn't find much on.

The Social Security Death index indicates that David died on 27 Jun 1982 in California, likely around the Berkeley, Alameda area.  I don't have anything tangible to back that up with other than that, but if I come across something in the future, I'll post it there. OR, if anyone out there has more to add to this story I'm happy to update as the information comes.  :)