The Moses family was prominent in Columbus, Georgia, before, during and after the Civil War. Raphael J. Moses was born in 1812 and reared in Charleston, South Carolina. He prepared an autobiography in the 1890s at the request of family members. After becoming a lawyer, he migrated to St. Joseph and Apalachicola, Florida, and then to Columbus, Georgia in 1848, where he became involved in a wide variety of businesses. From his estate, Esquilene (now Benning Hills), he shipped some of the first Georgia peaches to the North. During the Civil War he served as commissary officer for James Longstreet's Corps. His observations about Confederate leaders, recorded in this autobiography, are widely quoted. He remained active in politics and economic matters after the war. His well-written autobiography gives a penetrating analysis of Columbus's power structure before and after the war. After becoming involved in a dispute over fees with William H. Young of the Eagle & Phenix, Moses became a leader of the "outs" political faction and actively fought the influence of Young and his institutions. He died in Brussels, Belgium on October 13, 1893, but is buried in Esquiline cemetery in Columbus.