MOSSELL CHILDREN

I was a youngster in the l920s. Children spent most of their time out of doors. Indoors was for eating, sleeping and doing as few chores as possible. Radios were owned by one or two families in a city block and mainly were for adults – so when a new family arrived on the block, the kids wanted to know all about them. Their names, ages, number of boys, number of girls, etc. Very often I had this problem. I would say four boys and no girls. Their names were Frank, Mossell, Charles, and my name is Forrester, but they call me Billy. They would say that’s just three. You counted yourself twice. No, I wanted to say louder, Frank, Mossell, Charles, and me. They would say, “You said Frank, yourself, Charles and you?” Now even louder I said, “Frank, Mossell…” “You have a brother named ‘Myself’?” “No, MOSSELL!”

Mossell is an interesting name. My brother was given Nathan Frances Mossell Lee. My mother was a Mossell. Her great uncle Aaron A. Mossell, Sr. was the grandson of slaves and lived in Baltimore, Maryland. Born in 1824, he was married with three children at the time. He worked for a company that made bricks.

Note: One’s family background does not make the individual. What we ourselves do is what makes us who we are. That being said – what Aaron Albert Mossell, Sr., born in 1824, the grandson of slaves with his wife Eliza accomplished is really noteworthy. Read what each of their five children accomplished. This is a great American story. Please go to Google and write Aaron Albert Mossell, Sr.”