LOCKPORT

The city of Lockport, New York placed Aaron A. Mossell (see previous blog) on their Walk of Fame as an outstanding businessman and civil rights leader and his philanthropic contributions to the needy.

His grandparents were slaves. He was raised in Baltimore, Maryland. As a young man and learned the brick-making business there. He bought a home, married, and had two children. The Civil War was going on. He had no formal education and with no education, segregation, and no future, he decided to move the family to Canada where he went to night school and got a basic education.

Soon he founded his own brick-making business. It was successful and his family also grew to five children. One daughter died in Haiti while assisting her minister brother who did missionary work for the AME (African Methodist Episcopal) church. The other daughter became a teacher in Florida. the three boys finished college.

Aaron's sons also did well. Dr. Nathan F. Mossell was the first black doctor to finish the University of Pennsylvania medical school. Aaron A. Mossell, Jr. was the first black man to finish the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He was very active as a lawyer during the race riots in Philadelphia and the civil rights movement. Later, he went to Wales and spent the rest of his life there. Aaron Sr.’s granddaughter, Sadie Tanner Mossell, along with her husband, Raymond Pace Alexander were nationally known attorneys for their fight to uphold the precepts and standards of the Mossells. You can Google Sadie Mossell and Aaron A. Mossell for an overview.