y o m i n q by Harry S. Douglass - Old Fulton History

April 1954 Page 93
QUEER TRAVELERS OF THE HIGHWAY (cont.)
James Mosier and John Styles
Two characters who did not travel so extensively but confined
themselves to the Town of Middlebury and a part of Genesee County
were James Mosier and John Styles. Mosier, who worked among the
farmers in the vicinity of Dale, mostly was lacking in mentality but
did the best he knew0 He always attended a church service when
possible, dressed in blue overhalls and jacket which were clean0 He
wore a straw hat. People were used to his dropping into services
and thought nothing of his peculiar dress. His greatest accomplishment
was a recitation on the animals that Noah had on the Ark, He
named all the animals and imitated the different noises they madejhe
showed how the ass brayed, the lion roared and the monkeys chattered
and the whole thing was quite amusingo
John Styles was not lacking in mentality to any great extent.
He knew enough to stay away from work. He took pictures of odd
people and things that happened locally and sold them. He also sold
other small articles. The best thing he did was talkj He could
talk for hours with no more effort than water running over a dami
Other Characters
There was "Tinker Green" who pushed a hand cart and mended
umbrellas, wash boilers, pots and pans0 I was not so well acquainted
with him as some of the others. Josh and Billy, a queer pair of
brothers named Jones, of whom Josh was tall and Billy, short0 Their
folks left them a farm in the town of Perry but they lost it because
they would argue about how long they should cut sticks of stove wood
and other things quite as simple. They would then sit down and
dispute until the sun went down. They took to traveling, sold
sticking salve and cough medicine. They finally ended up in the
County Home0
Then there was Timothy Holbrook, whom I and others have
mentioned before,. He said his full name was Timothy Washington Moses
Israel Holbrook0 He was a wild looking man. I believe his ancestors
were Quakers as he wore his hair long beneath a broad-brimed hat,and
he wore a long black coat. On the right breast of his coat was one
large pearl button; on the left a circle of twelve pearl buttons,the
one button representing Christ and the other his disciples. Some
people called him "Buttons." One day when It was real hot he sat
under a tree by the roadside and rested. While reading his Bible,he
fell asleep and some boys cut the buttons off his coat. He said
they had cut the heads off his disciples. He traveled up and down
the highways, even in the hottest weather, and preached to anyone
who would listen0 He was sure that some day the President would be
asked to leave the White House and he would be made king. He could
quote prophecy to prove it!