Background
Frank Moss was born on March 16, 1860, in Cold Spring, New York. His father, John R. Moss, had emigrated from England in 1850. Eliza Wood, his mother, was of English and Dutch parentage.
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Frank Moss was born on March 16, 1860, in Cold Spring, New York. His father, John R. Moss, had emigrated from England in 1850. Eliza Wood, his mother, was of English and Dutch parentage.
Moss was educated in the public schools and studied for some time at the College of the City of New York. He also took courses in science and literature in the Chautauqua University.
After some time Moss read law and at the age of twenty-one was admitted to the New York bar. New York City in 1881 offered many opportunities to a young lawyer with ability and a crusading spirit. Tammany Hall, defeated after the exposure of the "Tweed ring" ten years before, had come back into power. A small group of unscrupulous politicians, manipulating masses of ignorant, foreign-born voters, controlled the city government. Gamblers and prostitutes plied their trades openly under police protection.
Moss first came into public notice when, in 1887 as counsel for the Society for the Prevention of Crime, he successfully prosecuted the keepers of disorderly houses in the "Tenderloin" and the police captain who had protected them. The president of the society, Howard Crosby, wrote that he had "established a reputation for wisdom, boldness, and energy, which any lawyer might covet . "
He continued to act as counsel for the society and in 1892 became a member of its executive board. In 1891 Charles H. Parkhurst was chosen president of the society and, inaugurating a radical change in policy, he made the society the instrument of a vigorous attack on the police administration and on Tammany. In the two-year battle that ensued the famous preacher aroused public opinion by his dramatic denunciations of the mayor and his subordinates, but it was Moss and his associate, Thaddeus D. Kenneson, who accumulated evidence, examined witnesses, and prepared cases. This service, to which a large part of their time and energy was devoted, was performed entirely without compensation. At a critical point in the struggle, the New York Senate appointed the Lexow investigating committee, which selected Moss as one of its counsel. In this position he added to his reputation as a persistent prosecutor and investigator.
The elections of November 1894 resulted in the defeat of Tammany, and the reformers' candidate, Mayor William L. Strong, came into office. When after two years of strenuous service Theodore Roosevelt, the president of the board of police commissioners, resigned, Moss was chosen to succeed him. Two years later, in 1899, when the municipal administration was again under legislative scrutiny he was chosen as leading counsel for the Mazet investigating committee. For a number of years thereafter he devoted himself to private law practice. Although nominally a Republican in politics he was too independent to be a favorite with the machine.
He reentered political life, however, in 1909 as first assistant to District Attorney Whitman. In this capacity he served until 1914, conducting the successful prosecution of the four gunmen who murdered the gambler Rosenthal, and participating actively in the trial of Police Lieutenant Becker. It was not merely a zealot's hatred of wrongdoing which inspired his work; he was moved also by genuine love and pride for his city. These sentiments inspired him to write The American Metropolis (3 vols. , 1897), which does not conform to the standard type of local history but is "a reminiscent, observant, reflective journey on historical lines". The reader is conducted on a tour of lower Manhattan, and as the successive landmarks are reached he is taught their history. The description of life on the East Side incorporates many incidents that the author must have witnessed. Crime and criminals occupy a large part of the third volume.
In 1919 he published America's Mission to Serve Humanity, which he wrote to show that President Wilson's foreign policy was consistent with that of American statesmen since the days of Washington. Frank Moss died on June 5, 1920, in Manhattan, New York, of heart disease.
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A devout churchgoer, Frank Moss was an active member of the congregation of St. James Methodist Episcopal Church.
In the fall of 1909, Moss was unexpectedly chosen by District Attorney Charles S. Whitman to become his first assistant. Although Frank Moss was a Republican, he was not a particular favorite of machine politics and Herbert Parsons, political boss of New York County, was reportedly displeased with his appointment.
Frank Moss was a member of the Union League Club and Republican Club.
On January 24, 1883, Frank Moss married Eva Estelle Bruce, by whom he had two children.