Singleton and Related Genealogy Pages
A history of many families.
1897 - | Name | Harold MOISE [1, 2] | |
| Birth | 15 Apr 1897 | Sumter, Sumter County, South Carolina  [3] |
| Gender | Male | |
| Education | public schools of Sumter, Tech High School in Atlanta, Georgia and Georgia School of Technology [3] | |
| HIST | Since this work (with the Palmetto and Fidelity Insurance Company) was of little interest to one with a degree in engineering, he, in 1923, with Wendell Levi, “Mr. Pigeon” himself, and another interested associate, organized the Palmetto Pigeon Plant. It has grown steadily since that time through the untiring efforts and unlimited vision of Harold Moise; and today it is the largest such plant in the world, shipping 175,000 to 180,000 squab each year. A native son looks at Sumter in 1948 A native son looks at Sumter in 1948 O.D. Harvin, shown here inspecting a cotton crop, was a well known local farmer. Sammy Way Item Archivist Thomas McAlpin Stubbs was born in Sumter on July 21, 1898, and was known to his friends and relatives as "Mac." He completed his education in Sumter prior to entering Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va. He was elected as "life president" of his graduating class and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1920. His college studies were interrupted by a one-year service commitment. He later enrolled in the Harvard Law School, receiving an LL.B. (bachelor of laws) degree. Stubbs was admitted to the Georgia Bar where he was involved in a number of activities. He accepted a position at the University of South Carolina as a law professor which he held until the mid-1950s. He was a prolific writer; the Sumter community is indebted to him for "keeping alive an interest in the early life of the community." He was instrumental in the organization of the Sumter County Historical Society and would serve for seven years as chairman of the committee designed to "research and organize data for historical markers in the county." Stubbs was considered by many to be an "authority on families, homes, organizations, businesses, churches, etc., in this area, and he gave gladly and generously of his time to anyone seeking information." He was married to the former Beatrice Whitney Jefferson of Oldham County, Ky. She was a graduate of Wellesley College, and they had three children. Due to illness Stubbs was required to move to a cooler climate and settled in Dillard, Ga. Following is an address delivered by Stubbs to the Rotary Club of Sumter May 30, 1948, describing his impressions upon his return to the city after an absence of 31 years. Stubbs was the author of "Early History of Sumter Churches," one of numerous publications he wrote, illustrated by Elizabeth White. The article was initially published in 1950 in The Sumter Daily Item and is reprinted here and on two successive Sundays with a minimum of editing. By THOMAS M. STUBBS When asked to speak to you gentlemen upon some topic of my own choice, my mind naturally turned to the changes that have taken place in Sumter since I went away to college in 1915. In fact, I have thought much on this subject since my return after an absence of 31 years. I may as well call this by the title of Thomas Hardy's novel, "The Return of the Native." On the whole my reaction might well be compared with that of old Rip Van Winkle when he returned to his native village in the Catskills after his twenty years of sleep, who, "as he approached the village - met a number of people, but none of whom he knew, which somewhat surprised him, for he had thought himself acquainted with everyone in the country around. - They all stared at him with equal marks of surprise. ... The very village was altered; it was larger and more populous. There were rows of houses which he had never seen before, and those which had been his familiar haunts had disappeared. Strange names were over the doors ... strange faces at the windows ... everything was strange ... he began to doubt whether he and the world around him were bewitched. Surely this was his native village which he had left but the day before. ... He doubted his own identity, and whether he was himself or another man. ... The very character of the people seemed changed. There was a busy, bustling, disputatious tone about it (the town), instead of the accustomed sluggish and drowsy tranquility. Rip now recovered his old walks and habits; he soon found many of his former cronies; though all rather the worse for the wear and tear of time: and preferred making friends among the rising generation." I have found quite a few of my old cronies, classmates of the Sumter High School Class of 1915. Most of them are balding, graying, or paunchy, and I wonder if I look as old to them as they do to me. Some of them are even grandfathers. When I left for Virginia and college in 1915, it was at the old Southern station which has long since been abandoned. I remember that Dr. George Dick was there at the time. I said "good-bye" to him, and he admonished me to "put Sumter on the map" up there at Washington and Lee, and I solemnly replied I would try to do so. All Life Geared to Cotton At that time Sumter had an official population of 8,000. Now, I believe, it has between 25 and 30 thousand. Then King Cotton was on every tongue, and all life was geared to the price of cotton. In the fall of the year-long queues (lines) of mule-pulled wagons laden with bales of cotton were drawn up on the curb, particularly on Liberty and South Main, and the cotton buyers were busy sampling their wares. Most people kept milk cows in town, or thereabouts, and the dairy herds and beef cattle were not to be seen in the country round about. Now the country landscape is noticeably changed. We see fine herds of cows, milk and beef variety, fine flocks of chickens and much improved strains of hogs. We also see a great variety in growing crops, much truck gardening and many fine looking pastures. If we had a county agent back in 1915, I have no recollection of it. His advice would scarcely have been taken anyway as all our farmers cared about was cotton. But today we have an excellent agent, and Mr. Bowen's contributions to our welfare is considerable. His radio chats at noon, I find, are listened to by our country people and gentlemen-farmers alike. Perhaps the greatest change and growth has been in the lumber woodworking industry. Many large plants have located here, and as one reaches the top of the bridge south of town and looks to the southeast, one sees a veritable Pittsburgh sky-line. With the emergence of this wood-working industry here and the impact of two wars and their insatiable demands for lumber, our forests have been greatly depleted and our country sky-line largely altered. Since timber is one of our chief resources, I hope we have laid out an intelligent plan for reforestation and the prevention of forest fires. I was pleased when an official of the National Farm Security Administration told me some years ago that of all the counties in the eight states over which his jurisdiction extended, Sumter was the most enterprising and alert of any in regards to these matters. From forests I naturally turn my thoughts to trees, the trees of the City of Sumter. Most of us take them for granted, but not so our visitors. They are noticed and favorably commented on by people who come from other places. I believe the trees on Oakland Avenue and perhaps others were the visions of the late Captain Suder when he was mayor. They are one of our most distinguishing features, and I hope that we may be able to preserve as many as possible in these days of super-highways. From trees I turn to gardens and flowers in my thoughts. Sumter is essentially a city of homes, and the interest taken by nearly all of our citizens in the beauty of their yards and gardens has greatly increased. Next Sunday: Stubbs talks about H.C. Bland, Main Street, traffic and the Palmetto Pigeon Plant. Reach Item archivist Sammy Way at (803) 774-1294 or waysammy@yahoo.com. Posted in Reflections on Sunday, April 1, 2012 He has written a history of the Moise family. "Making Pigeons Pay": The rest of the story Posted Sunday, January 11, 2015 6:00 am BY GRAHAM OSTEEN If you grew up in Sumter you probably know a little something about squab, the Levis and the Moises. If you've traveled broadly and eaten in good restaurants, there's a fat chance Sumter squab, poussin, cornish game hens or silkie chickens could have made it from the menu to your plate on any of the world's Seven Continents. In simplest terms, squab is a domestic baby pigeon that's delicious to eat, and Sumter has one of the oldest, best-known pigeon plants in the world. In yet another example of Sumter being The Center of the Universe, NBC talk show host Jimmy Fallon unwittingly brought Sumter pigeons to the world of late night comedy earlier this week in a popular segment titled, "Do Not Read List." The first book on the "Do Not Read List" was "Making Pigeons Pay," by the late Wendell M. Levi of Sumter. Here's a link to the Fallon segment: http://huff.to/1tQGF0P. It was all very funny as he riffed about the "pigeon godfather" and the like, but here's the rest of the story. The Sumter Palmetto Pigeon Plant was founded in 1923 by Wendell Levi and Harold Moise, and grew into the largest squab farm in the world. Moise was a World War I pilot and engineer, and Levi was a legendary hall of fame athlete at the College of Charleston ("Mighty Levi") who became a lawyer and noted author. His most important books - "The Pigeon" and "Encyclopedia of Pigeon Breeds" - are considered the most definitive books on pigeons ever written. My understanding from various sources is that "The Pigeon" is on permanent reserve at the Field Museum in Chicago, along with Charles Darwin's "Origin of the Species." It's the Bible of pigeons. Katie Levi is the daughter-in-law of the founder and the wife of Dr. Wendell Levi Jr. of Sumter. Dr. Levi is a retired surgeon who probably cut on you or someone in your family at some point in the past 50 years. He cut on me back in 1980 or 1981, and I remember because Dr. Charles Propst and I had inguinal hernia repairs the very same day, back to back. We shared a room. The Levi children are Kathy Levi Hoover, Estella London Levi Andes and Dr. Mitchell Levi III of Sumter, current chief of staff at Tuomey Regional Medical Center. Sumter businessman Tony Barwick holds a majority ownership of the plant now, and remains partners with the Levi family and their heirs. Back to the Jimmy Fallon part of the story. Katie said her grandchildren started sending emails and calling her early Tuesday morning after the Fallon episode aired, and it was all over the usual social media sites. Turns out the specific book Fallon referred to - "Making Pigeons Pay" - came about as a result of a plagiarism scandal. A professor of agriculture "somewhere out west," according to Dr. Levi, plagiarized "The Pigeon" book word for word. The author and lawyer Mr. Levi successfully sued the plagiarizing professor, killed the book and forced the publishing house to properly release "Making Pigeons Pay" under Mr. Levi's name. One more side note since it's "Famous Levis Week." London's daughter - Alex Andes - has been making a name for herself in the world of dog training and broadcasting. Here's more about her association with the world famous dog trainer and educator Victoria Stilwell - http://bit.ly/1AGOluj. The site is www.positively.com. Graham Osteen is Editor-At-Large of The Sumter Item. He can be reached at graham@theitem.com Follow him on Twitter @GrahamOsteen, or visit www.grahamosteen.com. [1, 2, 4, 5] | |
| MILI | entered the U. S. Air Corps in 1917- Upon graduation from the United States School of Military Aeronautics in Austin, Texas, he was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant and received his Pilot Wings at Dorr Field, Arcadia, Florida [3] | |
| Occupation | for a short time after the war he worked with the Chicago Pneumatic Tool Com., in Franklin, Pennsylvania; he then returned to Sumter to begin work with the Palmetto and Fidelity Insurance Companies. [3] | |
| _UID | 3208503E4D634C5AA284D7B411CBF6DC7DC4 | |
| Person ID | I104737 | Singleton and Related Families |
| Last Modified | 23 Jan 2015 | |
| Father | Marion MOISE, b. 14 Jun 1855, Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina d. 30 Jan 1910, Sumter, Sumter County, South Carolina (Age 54 years) | |
| Mother | Isabel Nones DELEON, b. 5 Feb 1859, Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina d. 14 Sep 1927, Atlantic City, New Jersey (Age 68 years) | |
| Marriage | 7 Nov 1877 | Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina [6, 7] |
| _UID | 823F565C0CAB442D90F8F012E7AFCCA32A7D | |
| _UID | 823F565C0CAB442D90F8F012E7AFCCA32A7D | |
| Family ID | F38220 | Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family | Theresa ANDREWS | |
| _UID | ED72D34345D1417D8AA89A00D6D92EE7D93F | |
| _UID | ED72D34345D1417D8AA89A00D6D92EE7D93F | |
| Family ID | F72494 | Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified | 23 Mar 2026 | |
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