The Girl Behind the Woman
Sources vary on Phoebe's last name. Public records list it as "Moses", while family records often say "Mosey" or "Mozee". Annie wrote her name as Moses.
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Born on August 13, 1860, Phoebe Ann Moses grew up in a Quaker family in Darke County, Ohio. Her father passed away from pneumonia when she was only six years old, leaving her mother alone with nine children to care for. At eight years old, she began hunting with her father’s rifle in order to put food on the table for her family.
Due to their poverty, Phoebe and her sister went to live at the Darke County Poorhouse in 1868. It was promised that for five years of her life she would be cleaning, cooking, and caring for her host family while receiving an education.
However, this promise was not kept.
Phoebe's humble childhood farmhouse, located in Darke County, Ohio. Currently, this area is an empty plot of land but old photographs showcase its earlier days. (Photo from Ohio History Central)
The site of Phoebe's childhood home. The historic site in the Western Ohio countryside is marked with a plaque that reads, "Annie Oakley's Birthplace". (Photo by Sofya Lukacheva, 2019)
"The girl would have no work, he said, except to watch the three-week-old baby boy. He looked at all of the little girls, then asked Auntie [Mrs. Edington] about me....I told Auntie that I wanted to go, so she sent a letter asking my mother. The man was to come back for me in two weeks and see if mother consented. She did and I went away with him."
~ Annie Oakley, Autobiography of Annie Oakley
“All went well for a month. Then the work began to stack up. I got up at 4 o’clock in the morning, got breakfast, milked the Cows, fed the calves, the pigs, pump the water for the cow cattle, fed the chickens, weeded the garden, take to wild blackberries, got dinner after digging the potatoes for dinner and picking the vegetables-- and then go hunting and trapping. Mother wrote for me to come home. But they wouldn't let me go. I was held prisoner. They wrote all the letters to my mother, telling her that I was happy and going to school.”
~ Annie Oakley, Autobiography of Annie Oakley
Reena Ding, Sofya Lukacheva, and Colleen Schweninger pose in front of a life-size Annie Oakley cutout. (Photo taken by Joe Schweninger, Garst Museum)
Mrs. Moses was told that Phoebe was happy and enjoyed staying there, however that was not the case. Phoebe was mistreated and “nearly froze to death.” She would never use their names in the future, but would only refer to them as 'the Wolves'.
“Suddenly the 'She-wolf' struck me across the ears, pinched my arms and threw me out the door into the deep snow and locked the door. I had no shoes on and in a few minutes my feet grew numb.
I was slowly freezing to death. So I got down on my little knees, looked towards God’s clear sky and tried to pray. But my lips were frozen stiff and there was no sound.”
~ Annie Oakley, Autobiography of Annie Oakley
Finally, Phoebe fled from the Wolves and took the train back to her farmhouse, a kind gentleman giving her the fare to escape her abusers. Phoebe Ann returned to the Darke County Poorhouse to work for the Edington family. There she learned to be a seamstress and received an education.
When Phoebe returned from the Wolves, her community supported her through an education and supported her game-hunting.
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Phoebe handstitched all of her showcostumes. Creating her own costumes gave Phoebe a sense of autonomy that she lacked in her childhood.
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