William Jackson Moody (1796 – likely 1855 or 1856) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician.
[2] He graduated Phi Beta Kappa[3] from Dartmouth College in 1821[4] and studied law alongside William H. Seward under Elijah Miller, who became Seward's father-in-law.
[5] In 1830, Moody was among a group of real estate speculators who purchased land surrounding the claim of Russell Blackman, one of the co-founders of Jackson, Michigan.
Blackman had planned to purchase the additional land, but was away raising money at the time the so-called "squatter act" came into effect on January 1, which allowed Moody and the others to file a claim and have two years to pay for the land.
[10] Moody was a Democrat,[11] and was elected to the Michigan Senate from the 4th District in its first term, and served from 1835 to 1837.