Birth of Horace Moses
Horace Augustus Moses was born on September 21, 1863, in Ticonderoga, New York.
Moses attended school until he was 13, working on his family’s farm after that. Moses went on to attend Troy Conference Academy, in Vermont.
After his first year at the academy, Moses asked his uncle for a loan to help pay for his second year at the school which his uncle agreed to. After he graduated, Moses worked at his uncle’s paper company in West Springfield, Massachusetts and quickly repaid the loan. In 1892, Moses established the Mittineague Paper Mill in West Springfield. Two years later, he visited Scotland and took note of the factory towns.
A decade later, Moses purchased the Woronoco Paper Company in Westfield, Massachusetts and developed the town around it, greatly improving the lives of those who lived there. In 1914, he combined the Mittineague Paper Mill and the Woronoco Paper Company to form the Strathmore Paper Company, named for the place he visited in Scotland. The nearby towns all grew and improved thanks to his efforts. And Hammermill Papers later acquired Strathmore.
In addition to his business ventures, Moses was a dedicated philanthropist. In 1919 he helped found the Boys’ and Girls’ Bureau of the Eastern States League in Springfield. Their goal was to educate young people moving from rural towns to big cities about production and business. The following year, they changed the name to the Junior Achievement Bureau. The group spread nationally after World War II and internationally in the 1960s. Today, it works with local business to provide students in kindergarten through high school with an education in financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship.
Moses also donated large portions of his property in Russell, Massachusetts to several local Boy Scout Troops. The camp is still in use by the scouts today and displays the Silver Beaver Award the scouts gave to Moses. Moses was also on the National Committee on Boys and Girls Club Work from 1924 to 1945 and provided financial support to 4-H clubs. An award was named in his honor for his support of the organization.
Though he spent most of his life in Massachusetts, Moses always remembered where he came from and did a lot for his hometown of Ticonderoga. He funded the Hancock House, a replica of Thomas Hancock’s homes (Uncle of John Hancock). He also provided funding for other projects such as the Liberty Monument, Moses-Ludington Hospital, and the Community House.
Moses died in Springfield on April 7, 1947. The Horace A. Moses Foundation was established to carry on his philanthropic works.
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Horace Moses had a good focus on his philanthropy. Children are our future, and the most important investment we can make is in them. They need to be safe, well educated, healthy, treated with respect, structured, and educated in all areas. Including ethics, and in their religion according to the desires of their parents. Three cheers for Horace Moses!