Mr. Moss became very prominent in banking, organized the first dial telephone company in the area, founded a newspaper that was a forerunner of the Billings Gazette, started a central heating plant and the Billings Utility Company. In association with H.W. Rowley, Mr. Moss developed the Billings Light and Water Power Company and the Northern Hotel. He assisted other prominent local citizens, such as I.D. O'Donnell, in development of local irrigation, the sugar factory, and the Billings Polytechnic Institute (now Rocky Mountain College). He started a toothpaste factory using bentonite, and a meat packing plant. In the early 1900s, Mr. Moss and T.A. Snidow ran 80,000 head of sheep bearing the Moss-Snidow brand and several thousand head of cattle.

Preston B. Moss died February 1, 1947, after suffering a heart attack. He was 83 years old. He and his wife are interred in the family plot in Mountview Cemetery.

Martha Ursula Woodson Moss

The children thought P.B. was stern and Mattie was fun. Their children nicknamed her "Fun." Mattie and P.B. Moss celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on June 5, 1939. Mattie died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage on November 6, 1951, at the Mansion. She was 87 years old. Many of her oil paintings hang in the Mansion and examples of her china painting are displayed as well.

Woodson Jackson Moss

The oldest son, Woodson Jackson Moss, born in Paris, Missouri, on April 17, 1890, attended school in Billings, graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, on June 23, 1909, and then attended Yale University. He returned to Billings and began his career in ranching. He married Abbie Deckert Cunningham of Forsyth, Montana, on December 17, 1929. Woodson operated his cattle ranches on Pass Creek in Parkman, Wyoming, and in the Garvin Basin in Montana. He died at age 79 on May 21, 1969.

Kula Moss Arnold

The second child, Kula Moss Arnold, born December 29, 1891, in Paris, Missouri, came to Billings with her parents in 1892. Kula (pronounced "Cullie") is an Indian word meaning "pretty bird." She attended school in Billings before studying at Roger's Hall in Lowell, Massachusetts, and Dwight School for Girls in Engelwood, New Jersey, and attended the Semple Finishing School in New York City. One of her roommates in school was Margaret Porter, the daughter of the author known as OHenry. Kula and Melville homesteaded in the Garvin Basin in Southern Montana before Kula married John Bingle Arnold on January 11, 1923. They made their home at 137 Clark Avenue. Their only child, John Bingle Arnold, Jr., died at age seven. Kula died of a heart attack at her home on May 30, 1958, at the age of 66. Many pieces of her furniture were brought to the Mansion to replace pieces that had broken or were later removed. Several quilts and needlepoint items which Kula worked on are also in the Mansion.

Melville Hollingsworth Moss

Born on January 26, 1896, P.B. and Mattie's third child, Melville Hollingsworth Moss, was a musician. She was first introduced to the harp at 9 or 10 years of age and studied under Martha Buchanan, one of the first music teachers in Billings. She also played the bass and the piano. After graduating from Billings High School in 1914, she spent four years in the New York area while studying at the Dwight School for Girls in Englewood, NJ. Traveling abroad was Melville's favorite pastime. She preferred traveling by ship and took fourteen cruises which included destinations in Africa, the Far East, South America, Europe with Kula, and two trips around the world.

It is due to Melville's protectiveness and care that the house has been preserved so nearly intact. When the Moss family moved into the Mansion, Melville was seven years old; she lived there until her death on November 2, 1984, nearly 82 years later. She never married. 

Preston Boyd Moss, Jr.

The fourth child and second son, Preston Boyd Moss, Jr., was born in Billings on January 13, 1898. He graduated from Billings High School and also attended business school in Billings. During World War I Preston Jr. served in the Army Medical Corps but never saw action. His troop's ship was crossing the ocean when the Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, so the ship turned around and came home. Preston worked for the Northern Pacific Railroad and Pullman Services from 1924-1965 when he retired. He married Minnie Anderson of Murdock, Minnesota and built a home at 2511 Longfellow. They had no children. Preston Jr. died on August 21, 1971, at 73 years of age. Minnie died in Billings on January 1, 1988.

David Hickman Moss III

David Hickman Moss III, Mattie and P.B.'s fifth child, was born in Billings on February 8, 1900, and attended Billings Public Schools before enrolling in Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire in 1918. In 1920 he entered Yale University where he studied for two years before coming back to work on his brother, Woodson's, cattle ranch in Parkman, Wyoming. David later operated the Moss Implement Company in Billings, selling farm implements, until his retirement in 1956. He married Marjorie Powers in Hardin, Montana, in January 1929. They had one daughter, Marilyn Moss Castleman, who currently resides in Arizona. David died August 28, 1958, at 58 years of age. The Preservation Society purchased the Moss Mansion from Marjorie Moss and her daughter, Marilyn, and Preston's widow, Minnie Moss.

Virginia Moss

The sixth child, Virginia Moss, was born in the Mansion on February 14, 1903. At the age of five, Virginia died of diphtheria on April 2, 1908. Because of her sunny disposition, her brothers, sisters and playmates considered her their favorite. She was beloved by all.

Please click here to view slides of the Moss family
 

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