Lemuel Moss

Lemuel Moss (December 27, 1829 – July 13, 1904) served as the sixth president of Indiana University, being the last of a long line of six "Preacher Presidents."

Early life Lemuel Moss was born in Bullittsville, Kentucky, on December 27, 1829, to Demas and Esther Moss. After the first four years of his childhood, his family moved to Dearborn County, Indiana. Moss worked mainly as a printer in Cincinnati, Ohio, until 1853. He received his B.A. from the University of Rochester in 1858, then a degree from Rochester Theological Seminary in 1860. Moss served as the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Worcester, Massachusetts, from 1860 to 1864 and of a church in Woodbury, New Jersey, from 1864 to 1866. In 1864 and 1865, he served as the secretary of the U.S. Christian Committee.

Academic career Moss began his career in academia in 1865, becoming professor of theology at the University of Lewisburg (now Bucknell University). He served 1868, the same year he received his D.D. from the University of Rochester. However, giving his unusual prowess as a platform speaker, Moss accumulated several outstanding achievements during his time at Indiana University.

President Moss was a member of the National Council of Education (1880–1884), vice president of the American Baptist Missionary Union (1883–1884), and president of the department of higher education, a part of the National Education Association (1883–1884). The affidavits states the two witnessed Moss and Graydon kissing and hugging as well Graydon sitting on Moss' lap in her office. These two were members of a group that called themselves the Moss Killers along with four fellow students and janitor Thomas Spicer. The group had drilled a hole in the ceiling of Graydon's office in order to observe her and Moss. Given the resignation of those involved, the board of trustees decided against continuing the investigation of the charges. Moss fled Indianapolis, even before his family could sell their home, leaving them to join him later. In December 1884, the Baptist Council conducted its own investigation into the relationship between Moss and Graydon; in his defense, he stated, "I have confessed that I was guilty of an indiscretion but that was all". He was later reinstated by the council.

Publications In addition to serving as editor of the National Baptist from 1868 to 1902, Moss published and edited many other works. He served as the editor of the Baptist and the Centenary in 1876 as well as serving as the writer of other various magazine articles and reviews. From 1889 to 1893, Dr. Moss was the editor of a Baptist publication, The Examiner. In 1897, Moss was the editor of the Philadelphia publication The Baptist Commonwealth.

Moss was the author of several works during his lifetime, one of which is the eight-volume Annals of the Christian Commission. He also wrote A Day with Paul and The Baptists of the National Centenary: A Record of Christian Work.

Later life While serving as a professor of Christian sociology at Bucknell, Moss also contributed to the work of the American Baptist Historical Society, serving as president from 1895 to 1900 and vice president from 1900 to 1904. Although he suffered considerable physical ailments during his later years in life, Lemuel Moss used his remaining energy on behalf of the Baptist denominations. He died on July 13, 1904, in New York City and was buried in Flatbush, Brooklyn.