Biography
Moses Gossett was convicted in Union District, South Carolina, under the 1754 statute against stealing an enslaved person and aiding an enslaved person to leave an owner’s service. The court record identifies the man as Ned, claimed by James Shannon, and says Ned left in September 1854. Gossett’s appeal failed, and the Espy chronology records his hanging on July 11, 1856. The available record establishes assistance in Ned’s departure but does not establish Gossett’s broader political beliefs.