“M” is for Moses, Ottolengui Aaron (1846-1906)

“M” is for Moses, Ottolengui Aaron (1846-1906). Chemist, geologist, inventor. Born in Charleston, Moses earned his Ph.D. at the university of Leipzig, Germany. He and his brother engaged in phosphate mining from 1868 to 1870 at the Massot Farm in Berkeley County. He then served as state inspector of phosphates (1872-1874) and geologist of South Carolina. He was the author of a report, The Phosphate Deposits of South Carolina, published by the U.S. Geological Survey. Moses also received two patents for his own inventions in the 1860s. His first was for washing, screening, and drying phosphate rock, and the second patent was for a blowpipe. Aaron Ottolengui Moses was the founder of the Hebrew Technical Institute in New York City, an institution for free education of poor boys and served as its director for several years.