Mose was a day laborer who worked his way up to be a well-to-do black land owner and farmer. He insisted upon voting in the 1920 election, but was turned away by white poll workers. The altercation that ensued sparked the Ocoee Massacre, a riot by white KKK members that destroyed the black community and expelled all of its black citizens. Norman fled to New York, but his land was stolen from him and he never returned.