Joseph Moody was born on January 4, 1835, in Hookstown, Pennsylvania, to John and Margaret Moody. His father was a farmer who owned $8,450 of real estate and $2,400 of personal property by 1860. He grew up and attended school in Greene, Pennsylvania, and by 1860, he was also working as a farmer.

 

He enlisted in the Union army on August 14, 1862, and he mustered in as a private in Company H of the 140^th Pennsylvania Infantry on August 22. The regiment took part in the Battle of Chancellorsville, and the Battle of Gettysburg. In July 1863, Union officials assigned him to duty in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was promoted to sergeant in December 1864, and he mustered out on May 31, 1865.

 

He returned to Greene after the war, and he married Martha Withrow around 1867. Their daughter Maggie was born around 1877. He worked as a farmer, and by 1870, the family owned $1,000 of personal property. They moved to Upper Burrell, Pennsylvania, in the 1870s and then to Beaver, Pennsylvania, in the 1880s. He applied for a federal pension in June 1887 and eventually received one. His wife died on January 29, 1906. He died of pneumonia in Beaver on November 3, 1916.

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