Frank B. Moss (1852-1906) - Mayor and Fire Chief

Phoenix Fire Department

Frank Benjamin Moss was born on September 15, 1852, in Slades Corners, Kenosha County, Wisconsin, to Francis Maas and Christina Schmidt.  He grew up in Wheatland, Wisconsin, where he began at the age of 16 to learn the blacksmithing trade from his father.

As a young man, he moved to the boom town of Virginia City, Nevada, where he worked at his trade and also ran a lumberyard.  He moved to Tombstone in 1878, where he initially worked as a teamster.  Wagon trains crossing southern Arizona traveled mostly at night to avoid the day’s heat and attacks by Apache Indians.  Reportedly, Moss came under fire on two occasions but escaped unharmed. 

About 1880, Moss relocated to Phoenix where he set up a blacksmith and wagon-making shop at the northeast corner of First Avenue and Adams Street.  On May 31, 1885, he married Ida May Harriman in Mesa.  They had three sons: Earl, Ralph and Ernest.

Business was good and Moss prospered.  He invested in real estate, ranched and raised cattle, did some mining and owned and trained race horses.  He also joined the volunteer Phoenix Fire Department, where his skills as a blacksmith and wagon-maker were appreciated.  By 1890, he was an assistant chief and by 1892 he was the chief. After being injured on the job, he had to give up his position as fire chief.  Moss then turned his attention to city politics and, in 1894, won a seat on the Phoenix City Council.

The political climate in the growing city was sometimes volatile.  Fed up with the wrangling, Dr. Roland Rosson resigned as mayor on April 6, 1896.  Moss was appointed acting mayor, a position he held until a special election was held on June 2, 1896.   Moss returned to work in his new blacksmith shop on the corner of Washington Street and Fourth Avenue.

On December 4, 1898, for unknown reasons, Moss moved out of his home and separated from his wife.   Citing abandonment as the cause, Ida filed for divorce on June 14, 1899.  Scarcely a month after the divorce became final, she married Orrin W. Lawrence, a Phoenix policeman. 

On July 10, 1905, Moss again became acting mayor. This time, he held the seat for almost a year.  During his stint, he signed into law several progressive city ordinances.

On the evening of March 19, 1906, Mayor Moss rode his bicycle to City Hall.  While climbing the steps, he complained of chest pain and medical help was summoned.  Moss died between 9 and 10 PM, likely of a heart attack.  He was 53 years old.

 Throngs of citizens viewed Moss’s body as it lay in state at City Hall.   After the funeral, he was interred in the Odd Fellows Cemetery. 

 -by Mark Lamm and Derek Horn