New Research and Writing Assignment: Hope You Are In The "Mood"!

Greetings Students!  As we continue our distance learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic here is the next blog post assignment.

You all did a great job with your personal ancestor research. Now I'd like to bring us all back to Charleston for the next project.  There is a very interesting man buried in the graveyard at Bethel United Methodist Church who is very prominent but few people today know about him.  Findagrave.com's Bethel UMC site, for example, lists only one "famous memorials" and it's not this person. He should be on such a list and we'll try to make that happen!

Rev. John Mood (courtesy geni.com) 

Rev. John Mood (1792-1864) deserves to be added to that famous/prominent list of Bethel burials.  What I judge the best research post on him I will, with the student's permission, submit it to findagrave to try to get Rev. Mood added as a famous memorial.

Mood was a Methodist minister and also part of a family of Charleston silversmiths.  Today, Mood- made silver products are valuable and highly sought after, from spoons, pitchers and jewelry to slave badges and bits, spurs and other equipment for Confederate cavalry during the Civil War. 

People at antique shops and high-end collectors in South Carolina and beyond, know the Mood name and greatly respect it.





Your assignment is to research John Mood and write about his life and times.  There is a lot about him on the Internet.  Searches of "Rev. John Mood Charleston" and/or "John Mood Charleston silversmith" will turn up many sites about him, his family and the silverwork he, his brother and their father (who emigrated from Germany).  There may not be many images of John Mood but it's fine to use the one above so long as you give source credit as I have done in the caption.

There are images of and articles online about his father, Peter Mood Sr. (1766-1821), who is also buried in Charleston at St. John's Lutheran Church.  I'm not sure if there are images of John's brother, Peter Mood Jr.

Silversmiths and gilders such as the Moods had signature stamps on their creations. That's how you can tell who made them (so long as they're not forged).  Look for John Mood's stamp to include in your story.

Courtesy marks4antiques.com

Online you can find many images like this of Mood silver designs. Be sure to include at least a few such images and give credit to where you found them. See the example in the caption (left).

Since most of you are not in Charleston now, I will provide you this photo of Rev. John Mood's ledger stone. Much, but not all, of the inscription can be found on his findagrave entry. He is included on that site, but as I said he's not been given "famous memorial" status, which I believe he deserves.

Your completed post should be at least 300 words in length, should have several images (be sure to give source credit in the captions) and several embedded links.  Have at least four embedded links. As I said, there is a lot online about him and his family's business.

And don't forget that he was also a preacher. So be sure to cover that important part of his life also.

The due date is Wednesday, April 15 by noon. Here (below) is a wide shot of the Bethel churchyard and a photo of the church itself.  You are welcome to use these if you like, just give photo credit to me, Patrick Harwood. Note: if you only use the photos I'm sharing here and no other ones that you find yourself, that will not show much research and initiative on your part. 

Strive, as I've stressed all semester, to have an engaging headline that will make people want to read your piece, an engaging lead sentence (think feature leads), and short paragraphs that will enhance the flow and readability of your writing. Let me know if you have any questions.