Memorial Record of Western Kentucky, Volume I and Volume II, Lewis Publishing Company, 1904, pp. 129-132. Carlisle Co.

WILLIAM L. MOSBY, M.D. So great has been the advance made in the science of medicine that the results accomplished by representatives of the profession seem almost phenomenal, but the broader knowledge has been acquired only after the most painstaking, thorough and comprehensive investigation and research, and to-day the man who is a successful practitioner must be a most earnest and appreciative student, continually adding to his professional knowledge through wide reading, and assimilating this knowledge for the benefit of his fellow men. One of the most capable and successful physicians and surgeons of Carlisle county is Dr. William L. Mosby, who for almost twenty years has practiced in Bardwell. He was born upon a farm near Bardwell, in Carlisle county, November 30, 1861. His paternal grandfather was Daniel Mosby, a native of Virginia, and who when a lad accompanied his parents on their removal to Boone county, Kentucky, where he was reared to manhood. He became an early settler of what is now McCracken county, this state, and afterward removed to Carlisle county, where he spent his remaining days, dying at the advanced age of eighty-five years. He was a farmer by occupation, and was active and influential in pioneer times, taking a helpful part in promoting the best interests of the county and in shaping its early policy in accord with principles of progress, improvement and permanent benefit. The first court ever held in Ballard county following the organization of the county convened in his tobacco barn, and Mr. Mosby served as county sheriff. His children were as follows: William W., the father of our subject; Robert, of Missouri; Jack, who was killed in the Confederate army; Mrs. Betty Ashworth, of Bardwell; James, deceased; Daniel, who is living in Arlington, Kentucky; and Mrs. Sallie Elsey, of Carlisle county. William W. Mosby was born in McCracken county, Kentucky, near Paducah, on the 19th of April, 1825, and has now passed the seventy-eighth milestone on life's journey. After arriving at years of maturity he was married in Carlisle county to Miss Matilda F. Berry, who was born in this county in 1835 and is also yet living. Her parents were early settlers of Carlisle county, casting in their lot with the residents here when they were surrounded by pioneer conditions and environments. To Mr. and Mrs. Mosby have been born the following named: James, who died about sixteen years ago; Jackie, who died at the age of seventeen years; Robert, who is a resident farmer of Carlisle county; William L.; Lee, who is a farmer of Carlisle county; Bedford, who also carries on agricultural pursuits here; Mrs. Sallie Elsey, [sic] of Bardwell, and Mrs. Minnie Stanley, of Arlington. Throughout his business career William W. Mosby followed farming and stock-raising, and in his work has been very successful, so that now in the evening of life he has a comfortable competence which supplies him with all the necessities and many of the comforts that go to make life worth the living. He and his wife are excellent people of the highest respectability, and their lives are in harmony with their faith as members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South. They reside in Bardwell. William Lindsay Mosby was reared upon a farm and acquired his literary education in the public schools of Carlisle county and in Milburn Academy. He began the study of medicine when seventeen years of age, under the direction of Dr. John R. Owen, of Arlington, Kentucky, and afterward matriculated in the Missouri Medical College of St. Louis, where he was graduated in the class of 1883. He has since pursued post graduate work in the same school and also in post-graduate schools of St. Louis and of Chicago. His first year's practice was spent at Arlington, Kentucky, and in October, 1884, he came to Bardwell, where he has since lived. He is a member of the Carlisle county Medical Society, of which he has served as president. He also belongs to the Southwestern Kentucky Medical Society, to the Kentucky State Medical Association, the American Medical Association and the International Association of Railway Surgeons, being entitled to membership in the last named organization because he is local surgeon for the Illinois Central Railroad. For years he has been a member of the county board of health and has been medical examiner for a number of insurance companies. His private practice is extensive, and from the beginning of his residence here his patronage has steadily increased and is now of a most important character. He is well versed in the science of medicine in its various branches, and his large business is indicative of the confidence reposed in him by the public. In 1885 was celebrated the marriage of Dr. Mosby and Miss Mattie Pauline Petrie, a daughter of Dr. J.S. and Lucy A. (Henderson) Petrie, formerly of Cairo, Illinois, but now of Bardwell, Kentucky. Her parents were both natives of Kentucky, her father having been born in Todd county and her mother in Ballard county. Mrs. Mosby was also born in Ballard county, and by her marriage has become the mother of two children: William Eugene and Hazel Petrie. Both the Doctor and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, and he is connected through membership relations with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His political support is given to the Democracy, but he has not time or inclination to seek public office, preferring to devote his energies to his chosen calling. His deep interest in his profession arises both from a love of scientific research and of his fellow men. His sympathetic nature and genial manner, combined with his broad and comprehensive knowledge, have won him distinction as a most able practitioner.