N O T E S

HOSNER, HAUSNER, HORSNER and HASNER

The following was found on Microfilm #1405485, Item #2 at Salt Lake City’s FHL and was written in 1935 by Alice Hausner Harris. It pertains to the Jacob Hasner family of Fishkill, Dutchess County, N. Y. Jacob Hasner was probably a descendant of Hermann and Anna Marie Rescherret Hassmann (var.) of Usingen, Germany, or his brother Dietrich, all of whom came to the New World in 1709, among the Palatines sent by Queen Anne. They first settled, probably as Palatines, in Ulster County, N. Y. I have been given extensive lineage on their son, Johann Lorenz, and that information is in my Hasner file (see database address on this website's homepage). However, as to the identity of this Jacob, born about 1749, there is nothing in this piece to reflect his relationship to the immigrant Hasners. I am using the name, Hasner, here because it has been determined that it is the correct spelling of the name which had many variations and continues to have many variations.

The note which came in with this mailing indicates that the cemetery information was taken from a book, “Old Gravestones Dutchess Co., N. Y.” by J. W. Poucher, published 1924 - p. 67-69.

I was particularly interested in this article, sent to me by a newly-found cousin, Patty Brennan, of Oregon, because it contains references to the Wiltse family of Fishkill. The Wiltse name appears in my ancestral line as the wife of my Nicholas Hosner, b. about 1801, reportedly born in Otsego County, N. Y. and who settled with his father, John Hosner, the son of Nicholas Hosner (b. in Fishkill in 1743) and Fanny Nelson Hosner, in Jefferson County (Plessis), N. Y.

There was no copyright on the article I am about to copy. I would like to point out, too, that this article was typed with dirty keys (I remember those from high school and my first job!) and the o’s, e’s, and sometimes s’s have given me fits.

In closing this introduction, I’d like to think that this genealogy summary written by Alice Harris of East Northport, L. I. in 1935, will help the modern-day Hosner researchers who have not yet been able to find their lines via the Internet or elsewhere.

Thank you, Patty, for sending this to me by Priority Mail today!

Shirley Farone

[email protected] - Ashland, OH - May 18, 2002

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The first known American ancestor of above named families was Jacob Hasner of Fishkill, Dutchess County, N. Y. We found no record of his birth but he died January 13, 1835, aged 86 years, 29 days and is buried in Community cemetery, Leetown, Dutchess County, N. Y. We believe he married first Catherine Cozene in 1773, January 19th. We have found no record her death. We find that later he married Mary Wiltse of Fishkill but can find no record of the marriage. She died Nov. 7, 1835 and is buried beside her husband. A daughter, Cozella, died March 26, 1835, aged 26 years and three months and is buried beside her parents. Brothers and sisters of Mary Wiltse Hasner were Daniel, Martin, Peter; sisters, were Jane Knapp, Elizabeth Berry, Hannah Valentine and Phebe Emmons. Mary Wiltse Hasner was poisoned. The following is a copy of a letter written in 1835 by Martin Hausner of Fishkill, N. Y., a son of Jacob and Mary (Wiltse) Hausner, to Joseph Secord of Hector, N. Y., who married a sister of Martin.

“Fishkill. Dec. 11, 1835.

Dear Brother and Sister.

We embrace this opportunity to inform you of our present condition in respect to health, etc. Mother is dead; she departed this life on Tuesday, the 17th of November, 1835. The cause of her death is suspected to be poison. She was at Chancy Weeks’s where she and the rest of the family were poisoned, it is supposed, by a black man in Week’s employ. Three of Weeks’s family have died and most of the rest are in a lingering condition. I brought Mother home where she suffered much for 11 weeks. I have been sick for 8 weeks some part of the time very low but at present I am quite smart although I have not as yet been outdoors. Mother has left some property consisting of bed and bedding, wearing apparel, etc. Amy and Mary (sisters of Martin) have made a division of the same and have left your share in my care. I want that you should write as soon as possible to let me know if I shall send them to you, keep them for you or what I shall do with them. I want that you should send or carry this letter to Borden in order that he may be acquainted with affairs. (Borden was a brother of Martin and Mrs. Secord.) I should like very much to see you all but write and let me know how it is with you. Yours in love,

Martin Horsner.”

 

The correct spelling of the name is Hasner; but different members of the family have changed the spelling to Hausner, Horsner, Hosmer and Hosner.

Evidently, all or most of the children of Jacob Hasner were by his second wife. His first wife probably died young. We find no record.

A copy of the Will of Amy Wiltse is in Liber B page 393, Fishkill, Dutchess County Wills, dated Sept. 17, 1803 proven Nov. 22, 1803. She was the mother of Mary Wiltse Hasner.

The children of Jacob Hasner were:

Robert who married Rosella ? about 1844 and removed to Western New York. There is no further record of the family except that the name is common around Rochester, N. Y.

Possible descendants of Robert and Rosella:

John Horsner married Pamela (called Betsey) and about 1848 moved to Mecklenburg, N. Y. where he died and is buried in an old cemetery overlooking the mill pond; there is no marker. After his death his widow and children moved to Michigan. There is no further record.

Another daughter married Joseph Secord -- believe her name was Phebe.

Another daughter married ? Spaulding of Hector; her name was Hannah.

Another daughter, Amy, married a Farrington and was the mother of David Farrington of Perry City, Tompkins County (NY). Their children were David (father of Mrs. Ed Curry of Mecklenburg. Isaac who married Elizabeth Owen; Henry, married Lois ? . Their children were William of Mateawan (?), N. Y. and Bertha ? of Trumansburg, N. Y. John of Searsburg, N. Y. A daughter of John married Mahlon Curry of Enfield. A daughter of David Farrington, Jr. was Adaline, who died unmarried. There were other children.

We have not tried to go into the history of the Secord and Farrington families but it could easily be done by their descendants. Joseph Secord and his wife are buried in the Jones cemetery, Hector, N. Y.

Martin Horsner or Hasner married Mary Hurd whose father was a Revolutionary soldier from Nyack, N. Y. Their children were Charles who married first ? Baker; second, Emily Baker, a sister. Their children were William and Willis Hausner of Ithaca, twins. Willis was a mail carrier for many years. When young, they were famous as ventriloquists and toured the country. Charles Hausner and his wives are buried at Ithaca, N. Y. -- also Willis Hausner and wife and William. His wife is still living; she was Julia Wood of Erin, N. Y. A daughter of William and Julia Wood Hausner died several years ago but left several children -- she was Winnie ?

Another son of Martin Horsner and Mary Hurd Horsner was Borden who married Mary Wood of Erin. Their children were Peter (married Jennie ? ); Will, married Grace Williams; Elmer, of Detroit, Michigan; and Lettie, who married first, Mark Hausner of Enfield, one daughter married to Owen Rolfe of Enfield, three children, Blanche, Mildred and Wesley. Second, Lettie married Daniel Griffen of Ulysses, one son, Walter, married to Mabel Chase of Jacksonville, two children Maybelle and Daniel, Jr.

Another son, Edward, lived, died and is buried in Michigan; know nothing of his family; he was married and had children.

Another son, Alonzo, married first, ? Wood of Erin, one son the late Fred Hausner of Ithaca, father of George Hasner of Ithaca. Second, Alonzo married Mary Randolph of Ithaca.

Jacob Hasner, another son of Martin, married Sarah ? (looks like a name had been pencilled in) and lived near Cayuta (does she mean Cayuga) Lake. Three children, Walter, father of Corr (does she mean Cora) Hausner of Ithaca. Augusta married, but no children. Another daughter married ? Carpenter; a son of theirs married Gladys Russel of Enfield, N. Y.

Martin Horsner and Mary, his wife, had two daughters: Mary and Elizabeth who married brothers named Stillwell of Hector. Both had several children.

Two sons of Martin and Mary died unmarried, Peter and Almerie. Peter died at Petersburg, Va. battle of the Crater; Almerie died from wounds. Charles, Jacob, Borden, Peter, Almerie and Alonzo were all soldiers in the Civil War and all were wounded; two died, viz. Peter and Almerie> It is told their mother said when they departed for the front that she ‘would like to go and fight and had a notion too anyway.’

A daughter of Jacob Hasner and Mary Wiltse Hasner was Mary who married a Hitchcock of Columbus, Ohio. She had several children, a granddaughter was the late Mrs. Grant Curry of Enfield, N. Y.

Borden Hausner, another son of Jacob and Mary Wiltse Hasner, was born in 1781, died March 9th, 1856, married Lavinia Brewer, daughter of Hendrick Brewer, in Fishkill, N. Y. in 1805. Borden was 75 years, 5 months old at his death. Lavinia Hausner died June 2, 1873, aged 85 years, 8 months and 20 days. They are both buried in Jones cemetery, Hector, N. Y. They came to Tompkins County in 1816 with five children from Fishkill, N. Y. One of the children was born on the way. They traveled in covered wagons and were about two weeks on the trip. They first settled in Trumansburg, then in Enfield in a house now torn down located on a cross road one mile north and one half mile west of Miller’s Corners. About 1828 they moved to a log house half a mile north of Head schoolhouse. They bought this place and it remained in the family until 1904. Later, they moved half a mile west of the Head schoolhouse and this place remained in the family until about 1910. At this time (1935) both places are owned by Thomas Kelsey, but the buildings have fallen down.

Martin Horsner and his wife, Mary, the Secords, Farringtons, Spauldings, and John Horsner came from Dutchess County about 1840 -- some of them a little earlier, some later.

Jacob Hasner was a Revolutionary soldier serving with Second Dutchess County Volunteers under Colonel Brinkerhoff. At first, Jacob refused to sign the Articles of Association, but later signed and enlisted as a soldier. He was honorably discharged. Hendrick Brewer was also a Rev. soldier and served with Dutchess County Militia under Colonel Luderton; also honorably discharged, Hendrick Brewer was the father of Lavinia Hausner, wife of Bordon Hausner, son of Jacob Hasner and Mary Wiltse Hasner.

The old Hasner homestead is located between Gay’s Head and Carmel, N. Y., on the border of Dutchess and Putnam counties (NY), at the foot of what is locally known as “Horsner’s Mountain.” About 1920 the walls were still standing; the place at that time was owned by a Dr. Rushmore of New York City; his house nearby was occupied as a summer residence. It is about two and one half miles from Gay’s Head and twelve from Carmel.

The children of Borden Hosmer (sic) and Lavinia Brewer Hosner were, Matilda, born in Dutchess County in 1806; married Nathaniel Ayres of Trumansburg in 1832 and died in 1844, no children. She is buried in Trumansburg.

Isaac, born in Dutchess County, May 15, 1808, married Adaline Cleveland, January 23, 1833, and died November 5, 1877. Adaline Cleveland (a cousin of Grover Cleveland) was born May 6, 1809, and died October 6, 1882. Both buried at Mecklenburg, N. Y. The children of Isaac and Adaline Cleveland were, Irvin, married Ruth Burd (one could wonder if that was supposed to have been Hurd!):

Their children were Minnie, married Dr. Clapper, two children: Clarence married Florence Smith, lives at Montour Falls, N. Y. - four children, all graduates of Cornell University. Frank of Corning, N. Y., married Mattie Smith; three children, all graduated from Cornell. Frank was a lawyer and died about 1920.

Another son of Isaac and Lavinia (I think she meant to say Adaline here) was George, married Elizabeth Culver; George and his wife are buried at Mecklenburg. They had no children.

Another son of Isaac and Adaline was Henry Clay, who married Sarah Starr; two children, Emma and Edith. Edith died unmarried; Emma married ? Wilson and lives in Ithaca and has one daughter, Mildred, a Cornell graduate. Henry Clay (Hosner) and his wife are buried at Mecklenburg, N. Y.

Another son of Isaac and Adaline Isaac, Jr., died in infancy.

Another son, Borden, married Clara ? -- one daughter, Myrtie.

Gillette, son of Isaac and Adaline, married Augusta Morgan; three children: Emmett, of Ithaca, N. Y.; Margaret of White Plains, N. Y. and Anna, married to Howard Bodle; Anna died and left two daughters, Mary and Florence. Mary is the wife of Merle Crippen of Smith Valley and has two children.

 

 

Adele, a daughter of Isaac and Adaline, married William Tucker; they had six children; two died young; Carrie (deceased) married Frank Beardsley -- had three children: Herbert (deceased), Mable married Owen Carmen, Olive married ? Darling. Mabel and Olive both have children.

Lavinia, daughter of Adaline and Isaac, married first, Albert Tucker -- one son, Albert, Jr., who married Ida Lanning, daughter of Horace Lanning of Enfield, N. Y. -- three children.

After the death of Albert Tucker, Lavinia married Charles Hubble; one daughter m Belle (deceased) married Bert Willis -- several children.

A daughter of Adela (or Adele) Hausner and WilliamTucker, Olive, married John Rightmire of Trumansburg -- one daughter, Delia, married ? Wixom -- children. Both Adele (or Adele) Rightmire and her husband, Mr. Wixom, graduated at Cornell.

Adaline, a daughter of Adela and William Tucker, taught school at Asbury Park, N. J. and is a resident of that place; she is unmarried.

Jessie, daughter of William and Adela Tucker married Arthur Agard (or Agerd) and resides at Willow Creek, N. Y. -- several children.

Martha Hausner (commonly called Patty) was the daughter of Borden and Lavinia Hausner and was born in 1813 in Dutchess County and married, first, Cornelius Updike -- four children, Levi, Julia, Cornelia and Phebe. Levi married Adaline Rumsey -- one child, Bertha, who died unmarried. Julia died unmarried. Cornelis married Sylvester Wright -- children, Julia, Minnie, Fred, Frank, Riley and others. Julia married Levi Rumsey -- children, Myrtie, married Patrick, Susie married Allen, Nellie married Myers. Susie and Myrtie have children. Also, Levi and Julia Rumsey both deceased, had two sons, Floyd and another, both married and have children.

Phebe, daughter of Martha Hausner and Cornelius Updike married Mr. Ayres. They had three children, Clinton, Susie and Esther, married to Bushnell. Susie died unmarried; Clinton and Esther have children.

Amy, daughter of Borden and Lavinia Hausner, was born about 1815; married Hiram Cole and had children as follows: Fred died unmarried; William died unmarried. Elliott married and left children; Delphine married Daniel Updike, left children. Amy Hausner Cole is buried at Trumansburg, but we have been unable to find the record of her death.

Phebe, daughter of Borden and Lavinia Hausner, was born in 1816 on the road between Dutchess and Tompkins County, while her parents were emigrating. She married John Updike, October 9, 1827, but we lack the record of her death. Her children were Lyman, who married and left children; Louisa died unmarried at eighteen; and Arminda, who married Willis Morgan. They had two children, Fred, who married Nettie Brewer and died in Chicago in 1893, leaving one son. Fred was a M. D. Charlie, son of Willis and Arminda Morgan (Updike) married Miss Bower -- one son, Harry, who died unmarried. Willis Morgan and his wife are buried at Trumansburg. Lyman Updike, son of Phoebe and John, had two children -- Eugene, born in 1850, and Louisa M., born, 1856, married Henry Eeaton of Beaver Dam, Wis.

After the death of Cornelius Updike, Martha Hausner, daughter of Borden and Lavinia Brewer Hausner, married Cornelius Brower. Their children were William, a Civil War veteran, -- married and left children. Albert married Elizabeth Harvey -- died without children. Cornelius married Diane Harvey -- several children -- one daughter, Olive, married Nathan Rumsey --- died without children. Charles, son of Martha and Cornelius Brower married Mary Loomis -- three children -- all married and have children.

Elizabeth, daughter of Cornelius and Martha Brower, married George Harvey. Children: Joel, unmarried; Percy, married, resides in Rochester, N. Y. -- has children; Ray, married -- no children, lives in Ithaca and is a veteran of the World War. Mattie married Ed Murphy and lives in Newfield -- three children, Edward, Elizabeth and Phyllis. Lydia Harvey lives in Ithaca and is unmarried.

Martin Hausner, son of Borden and Lavinia Hausner, was born in 1818 and married first, Mary Burlew, daughter of David and Samantha Ganoung Berlew. They had one child, Decatur, who died unmarried. Second, Martin married Olive Harvey, who had no children. Third, Martin married Imogene Doty, who left no children. Martin Hausner and his wives, Mary and Olive, are buried at Trumansburg. Imogene Doty Hausner, is buried at Mecklenburg. Martin Hausner died in 1904.

Jacob Hausner, son of Borden and Lavinia Hausner, was born in Tompkins County in 1821 and married Mahlah Sheldon of Ithaca and died in 1885. Muhlah, his wife, died in 1900. They had one son, Samuel, both married and have children.

Samuel Hausner and his wife, Ettie Harvey Hausner, are buried at Mecklenburg.

Henry Hausner, son of Borden and Lavinia Hausner, was born about 1822 and died in 1902. He married first, Henrietta Larcom, who died in 1873; second, Uranis (or Uranie) Manning, a widow daughter of Ephraim Rolfe of Enfield. Henry and his two wives are buried at Mecklenburg. Neither Henrietta or Uranie (or Uranis) had children.

Oscar, son of Borden and Lavinia Hausner, was born 1826 and died 1849, unmarried. He is buried at Jones cemetery near the graves of Borden and Lavinia Hausner and Cornelius and Martha Brower.

James Hausner, son of Borden and Lavinia Hausner, was born October 10, 1827, and died April 18, 1898, at Mecklenburg. He married Sophia Soper of Rutland, Penna., December 5th, 1859. She was born June 22, 1839 and died March 2, 1921, in Mecklenburg. Their children were Alice, married first to Richard Griffen of Enfield -- one son Erven Griffen, residing at Trumbull’s Corners, N. Y. He married Lida Tucker -- they have four children, Alice, Florence, Alfred and Richard. Alice married Daniel Baker of Ithaca, N. Y. and has a son. Alice Hausner married second, Harold H. Harris, of New York City. Mr. Griffen died in 1905. Mr. Harris died in 1932. Mrs. Harris resides at Northport, L. I. Mark, a son of James and Sophia Hausner, married Lettie Hausner, a daughter of Borden Hausner, second son of Martin Hausner 1st. (sic) Mark Hausner died November 10, 1901.

Miranda Hausner, daughter of Borden and Lavinia Hausner, was born in Enfield in 1820 -- married George Johnson in 1870 and died in February, 1911. They had one son, Charles, who married Hattie King and died about 1918. They had one daughter, Miranda, who married and had children and resides on the homestead of her grandparents, Miranda and George Johnson, on the Mecklenburg Road. The house is the oldest, occupied house in the town of Enfield. George, Miranda and Charles Johnson are buried at Mecklenburg.

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A statement at the end of the article follows. It was notarized 16 November 1935. It isn’t clear to what specifically the notarized statement refers -- it appears that perhaps there were attachments other than the Hasner history.

 

The Hasner, Hosner, Horsner, Hausner, Brewer, Soper, Corey, Baker, Pelton and Griffen family records herewith attached are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.

East Northport, L. I. November 16, 1935.

Signed by: Alice Hausner Harris

Witness: Alice Kernan

Suffolk Co., N. Y.

 

State of New York

County of Suffolk

On the 16 day of November 1935 before me came Alice Hausner Harris to me known and known to me to be the individual described in, and who executed the foregoing instrument, and acknowledged that she executed the same.

Signed: Alice Kernan, Notary Public (no evidence of a seal came through the photography)

END of Notes by Alice Harris of Northport, L. I.

________________________________

The last page was titled, “Interesting Facts and Additional Date of the Hasner! Hosner! Hausner! and Horsner Families.” The contents follows:

At the present time Alice Hausner Harris, compiler of these notes, is the only living grandchild of Borden and Lavinia Hausner. The date is September 25, 1935.

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Martha Hausner Brower died in 1891.

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Lavinia Brewer Hausner often related that her parents, Hendrick Brewer and wife, melted their pewter dishes during the Revolutionary War to make bullets for the Continental soldiers. They were also greatly afraid of the Indians.

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Lavinia Hausner was of Quaker descent on her mother’s side and was noted for her hospitality and trim Quaker way of dressing.

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Both the Brewer and Hasner families were of Holland Dutch descent. The Brewers were among the first New York settlers. Both families are related by marriage to the Rappleye’s, Bogardus, Farrington, Howe, Underhill, Brett and other early settlers.

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At the present time the accepted spelling of the name is Hausner. The correct spelling is Hasner as proven by old silver markings still in the family.

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Lyman Updike, son of Phebe and John Updike and grandson of Borden and Lavinia Hausner, was one of the 13 survivors of the Lady Elgin; this steamer was wrecked about 1860 on Lake Michigan and 300 people perished. A famous old song was written concerning the wrecking of the Lady Elgin. “Lost on the Lady Elgin, sleeping to wake no more, doomed with that 300 who failed to reach the shore.”

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At the present time no one named Hausner resides in the town of Enfield. Fifty years ago or less there were ten or fifteen families of the name. The Hausner properties have all been sold. Borden and Lavinia Hausner and Martin and Mary Hurd Hausner have hundreds of descendants but no more than ten of the name.

The end.

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Note: If anyone who has read this has any input, please contact me at [email protected]. It is my plan to enter this family’s lineage on my Family Treemaker Computer Program. I have noticed some stumbling blocks in interpretation and I know I’m going to need the help of others.

by Shirley Farone

Another Note: On 8 Oct. 2006, I received a letter from Heather Coequyt of Minneapolis, MN regarding Hosner, Hausner, Hasner families. Heather indicated that her mother is a Hasner. I'd like to present Heather's letter here because I don't know how to answer her properly, nor can I comply with the corrections Heather suggests because I can't locate the source about which she was writing. Maybe someone can help. I have Heather's e-mail address in my personal files. Here's the letter:

"Shirley,

"I just read some info you posted a few years back about the Hasner family. My mother is a Hasner. Your info helped me out a lot. I was having a hard time finding the burial site for Jacob Hasner and Mary Wiltse Hasner. Thank you.

"In your info you stated that the family of John Hasner, son of Jacob Hasner and Mary Wiltse all went to Michigan after his death. This is not true. Most did, my line did not. Ezra Hasner, a son of John, moved to IL then MN eventually settling down in eastern SD.

"My g. g. grandfather, Emery Hasner, was the grandson of John Hasner of Dutchess County NY and he knew of his ancestry going all the way back to Jacob and Mary. My g. g. grandfather, Emery was born in MN and lived to be over 100. He lived with my g. grand father until his death. My g. grandmother (his daughter-in-law) had the foresight to write down the family lines before he passed away. Unfortunately most of it is more recent. It only lists Jacob Hasner/Mary Wiltse, then John Jacob Hasner/Permila, then their son Ezra who didn't follow his brother and mother to Michigan, instead moving further west. I have almost all the descendants from there out.

"Thank you again for posting the info on the Hasner family."

Heather Coequyt
Minneapolis, MN

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Another item about the older brother of my John Hosner - you will see that most of the Nicholas and Fanny Nelson's family, including themselves, moved to Clarkston Township, Monroe County, N. Y. This is near Rochester. There seems to be no indication as to why my John Hosner went north to Jefferson County, N. Y. instead. (by Shirley Farone - 8-23-2002)

THE HOSNER FAMILY CEMETERY

In West Bloomfield Township, Michigan

By Gerald R. Hosner

The photograph, on the front of this HOSNER family cemetery story, is a composite of the upper and lower portions of a gravestone that was originally located on the East Side of Farmington Road, South of Maple Road in Section 33, West Bloomfield Township, Oakland County, Michigan. It Lists

Jacob HOSNER, Sr., died March 3, 1835

Lucinda, died February 23, 1838
Alfred, died February 25, 1838
Erastus, died November 26, 1842
Children of Jacob and Asenath HOSNER, Jr.

This meant that Lucinda, Alfred and Erastus were the children of Jacob HOSNER, Jr. and his wife, Asenath WAIT or WAITE.

Due to the angle of the photograph, the data at the bottom of the picture did not reproduce. Bob Wheaton of the Rochester, MI office of the Oakland County Newspaper observed the original photograph in January 1998 and advised that the information read as follows

Infant son of Thomas HOSNER - Isenath HOSNER, Jr.

Since these Hosners died and were buried at this gravesite in 1835, 1838 and 1842 we believe they originally used temporary grave markers and sometime on or after 1842 the permanent gravestone was erected.

According to Mike Messina, of the West Bloomfield Police Dept., when he first joined the police force in 1971 there were two gravestones on this gravesite. Both gravestones identified the Hosners that were buried in this small cemetery. In approximately 1972 vandals removed both gravestones from this cemetery.

As the result of newspaper and TV coverage in 1997 some very kind person mailed the composite photograph shown in this report to Mike Messina. The Hosner family is very grateful to the unknown person mailing in this photograph.

We are making a plea to anyone reading this report, that may have photographs of the two gravestones or have names of the remaining two Hosners listed on the second gravestone, to send that information to

Mike Messina
West Bloomfield Police Department
4530 Walnut Lake Rd.
West Bloomfield, MI 48325-0130
Tele 248-682-9200 Fax 248-682-1811

The Hosners, also recorded as Horsner, Hosmer, Hasner and Hofner and other spelling variations were among the early Europeans to settle in Fishkill, Dutchess County, New York. We believe Jacob Hosner, Sen. (Senior) was born in Dutchess County, New York area. His family moved to Minden Twp., Montgomery County, New York and later to Clarkston Township, Monroe County, New York.

Jacob HOSNER, Sr. married Catharine MURPHY and their children were Betsey, Thomas, Catharine, Nicholas, Jr., Jacob Jr. and Phebe. They lived in the Clarkston Twp., Monroe County, NY area in 1822-1830+.

There were many Hosner families located in or near Clarkston Township, Monroe County NY from as early as 1822 until about 1866. However, the Hosner families involved in this story were

Jacob HOSNER, Sr. and Catharine MURPHY
Thomas HOSNER and Hannah BACHELOR
Jacob HOSNER, Jr. and Asenath WAIT or WAITE

In April 1820 the US Congress passed an Act, "an act making further provisions for the sale of the Public Lands." This included the Territory of Michigan. After these lands had been surveyed and plat maps became available the lands were offered for sale in Detroit, Michigan. This was an excellent opportunity for settlers in New York State to purchase virgin timberland sites for farming. Each of these Hosner families were eager to move from their small land holdings in New York State to the new lands in Michigan.

Thomas Hosner, of Monroe County, New York, purchase on May 2, 1831, 80 acres of land in West Bloomfield Township section 33. Later purchases would include the land next to this original purchase that included the site of the Hosner family cemetery.

According to the Oakland County, Michigan Register of Deeds, under record book H, pg. 219, on September 16, 1833, Thomas Irish and his wife Ismenia, in the town of Bloomfield, County of Oakland, territory of Michigan sold for $330 an 80 acre parcel of land known as the East half of the South East 1/4 of Section 33 to Jacob Hosner (whom we believe to be Jacob HOSNER, Senior). He was living in Clarkston, Monroe County, New York at that time.

On Mar. 3, 1835 Jacob HOSNER, Sr. died and was buried in the gravesite on Farmington Road. Bernadine M. Pepple has reported that there was a diphtheria epidemic in the area at that time and all of the Hosners listed on the gravestone shown on the front page of this report, plus two, more died of diphtheria.

On April 4, 1838 Seely Harger arranged, with the trustees of the Burying Society No. 4 of West Bloomfield, to have the plot where these Hosners were buried, established as a cemetery site. West Bllomfield Township Supervisor, Jeddy Hood, has stated this was the first cemetery established in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan. It was not until September 20, 1838 that the North Farmington Cemetery was established as a burial site.

Thomas HOSNER died in 1845 and his wife, Hannah Bachelor died in 1854. Both were buried in the North Farmington Cemetery. Jacob HOSNER, Jr. died in 1871 and was also buried in the North Farmington Cemetery.

Almon HOSNER, son of Jacob HOSNER, Jr., and his wife Sarah HALL occupied the Hosner farm which had 150 acres located on the North side of Maple Road in section 27 and another 150 acres located on the South side of Maple Road in section 34 for many years.

According to Bernadine Pebble her grandfather, Lewis G. Weber, purchased 140 acres of farm land on the west side of Farmington Rd. acrossed (sic) from Almon and Sarah HOSNER'S property in 1903 as well as the 10 acre plot that contained the tiny cemetery plot where all the Hosners had been buried earlier. (See enclosed plat map dated estimated (sic) 1910).

The Webers and Hosners became close neighbors and friends. We suspect, without knowing, that Almon HOSNER had maintained the tiny Hosner cemetery site during the many years he occupied his farm. Possibly, prior to Almon Hosner's death in 1925, he discussed with Lewis Weber his concern about the future protection of the cemetery property.

According to Bernadine Pebble her grandfather, Lewis Weber, had an agreement with the Hosners that the current and future generations of the Weber family would watch over and protect the Hosner Family Cemetery. Dorothy Weber remembers her family taking care of the Hosner Family cemetery and putting flowers on the grave in 1934. At that time the Weber family was farming the property surrounding the tiny gravesite. The Weber family commitment to protect the Hosner Family Cemetery has continued with Dorothy Weber and her daughter, Bernadine Weber, who married Paul Pebble. Paul and Bernadine Pebble built a home at 6750 Farmington Road, which is directly across the street from the Hosner Family Cemetery site.

Years went by and the brush and trees grew up in and around the cemetery site. Since vandals had removed the two Hosner gravestones all that was left was an ornamental cast iron fence around the gravesite that was now hidden by brush and trees.

That status changed when the property was sold and it was being cleared of trees and brush in May 1997. The contractor, who was clearing the property, also cut down trees and brush in the Hosner Family cemetery site and damaged one side of the wrought iron fence. Dorothy Pebble observed this event and called the police who stopped all clearing.

In the past two years numerous meetings have been held by the West Bloomfield Township Trustees, Hosner family members and Stella Evangelista, the current owner of the property which surround the cemetery, regarding the restoration of the cemetery site and the re-dedication of the Hosner Family Cemetery in September 1999.

Jacob HOSNER-Sen.; Thomas HOSNER; and Jacob HOSNER, Jr., plus their families could not imagine that their tiny cemetery would have been restored and that their descendants, by 1999, would total over 700 persons living all over the road.

The Hosner and related family members wish to thank the West Bloomfield Township staff, the Weber and Pebble families plus Stella Evangelista for all their efforts to restore the Hosner Family Cemetery and potentially establish it as a Historical site in the State of Michigan.

The writer, Gerald R. HOSNER, welcomes corrections, additions and comments on these family members or any other Hosner family. Please send to

Gerald R. Hosner

4170 Harbor Hills Dr.
Largo, FL 33770
Tele 727-587-9951

082399 (date)

Note Gerald Hosner is now deceased - I believe in March or April of 2001 -- His wife, June, probably survives and may continue to live in Largo. I believe the couple had three sons -- one of whom was living in Columbus, Ohio at the time of his Dad's death. (by Shirley Farone - 8-23-2002)

More on the graveyard situation

 

A calling card was attached to the photocopy of the following article on which a penciled in date of December 11, 1997 appeared. The article was written under a photo of the wrought iron fence which surrounded the graves being written about. “Dorothy Weber lifts a piece of wrought-iron that bordered a tiny cemetery. When an earthmover hit the fence, neighbors called police.

Information on the calling card:

From the Detroit Free Press, Oakland Bureau,Suite 400, 306 South Washington, Royal Oak, Michigan 48067 - FAX: (248) 586-2620 Phone: 248-586-2609 - 313-222-6600

Graves stop dozer, for now

JOEL THURTELL

Press Staff Writer

Developers run into tiny cemetery

(article written around a small map showing the location of the graveyard)

West Bloomfield Township officials are agonizing about how to deal with a recently rediscovered cemetery so small one could part a minivan in it.

The tiny graveyard on Farmington Road south of Maple is about 7 by 14 feet and is said to hold the bodies of seven members of an 1830’s pioneer family named Hosner. But it was overgrown with (? - poor copy) and brush and little known until (cut off) ----y 14.

On that day, from her house on Farmington Road, Bernadine Pepple noticed a front-end loader working its way through brush toward the graveyard.

“It was eating trees up faster than I could believe,” said Pepple. In less than an hour, the machine had cut down several trees near the cemetery and run over one side of an wrought-iron fence.

Furious, Pepple called police.

With that call, she started a wave of outrage and a call for action from local politicians.

It could be a very serious offense,” said West Bloomfield Township Supervisor Jeddy Hood. “Defacing a cemetery is a real no-no.”

Township Trustee Ray Holland is still angry. “If he did not see the wrought-iron fence, he must be blind,” said Holland.

Bill Lang Jr. was one of two men clearing brush and trees for property owners Jose and Stella Evangelista. Stella Evangelista said she plans to build offices here.

“We just clipped off some trees around it,” said Lang. “We didn’t knock the fence down.”

But now that the graveyard has come to light, it deserves to be recognized with a marker telling visitors it is West Bloomfield Township’s first cemetery, said Hood.

“If we can use the old wrought-iron fencing, it is quite beautiful, and then I see a rock or stone marking it as the first burial site in the township,” she said.

Not so fast, says township Clerk Sharon Law. Creating a historic site would be very nice -- as long as there are still people buried there.”

Dorothy Weber, 82, is convinced there are bodies. Seven, to be exact.

“They have never been taken up,” she says.

Weber is Pepple’s mother. She moved to a house across from the cemetery in 1932 and recalls seeing two headstones with names of seven members of a Hosner family. The headstones were stolen about 25 years ago.

She doesn’t remember their individual names, but recalls there were two grandparents, two parents and three children. Weber said she recalls old-timers saying all seven died diphtheria.

County records from 1838 show that a much larger area surrounding the small plot was deeded to “trustees of Burying Society No. 4 -- West Bloomfield” for use as a “burying ground.” Again, tradition according to Weber and Pepple says most of the bodies were removed to another cemetery.

But tradition is no historian, said Charles Martine of the Oakland County Historical Society. “We got so many question marks, many cloudy areas.”

West Bloomfield Township police have decided not to charge the machine operator with the misdemeanor crime of “malicious destruction of tombs and memorials to the dead” because, said Sgt. Mike Messina, if you make a case, you’d have to show there’s a body in there.”

“You’d have to go to a judge and get a court order to disinter,” said Martinez.

Then there’s the cost of prosecution. “The only person with stand (?) to make a complaint is a relative, said Messina. He thinks he has found a relative in Gerald Hosner, Largo, Fla., but adds, “We’re certainly not going to fly somebody in from Florida for a misdemeanor.”

Gerald Hosner probably would not have made the trip, anyway, and we do not know positively who are the people in the ground there, so I can say I am directly related to the said Hosner.

Yet Hosner may have a solution to the township’s dilemma.

Take soil from the site and transport it to a plot in North Farmington Cemetery where most of the Hosners are buried,” suggested Hosner. “Put up a plaque and write “Hosner Family.”

“That way, all the Hosners from the time period are together.”

Yet another article graveyard situation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is from what may be a seasonal paper -- no date, but one might suspect it to have appeared in about 1998.

"The Eccentric" is the name of the paper -- this was from the West Bloomfield-Lake Edition

bi-line is "covering West Bloomfield, Walled Lake, Commerce, Orchard Lake, Keego Harbor and the Lakes area" and "Your community newspaper for 28 years."

Family finds past at lost cemetery

Historical questions bring Hosner descendants together

By Greg Kowalski, Staff Writer

(to the left of the text is a poorly re-produced photo of a man with some unidentifiable objects -- with the test as follows Old concern In this 1984 photo, Tom Bird, township planning manager surveys some damage.)

Article follows

It was a family reunion, of sorts, for the Hosner clan.

Cousins who didn't know that each other existed met for the first time Tuesday at West Bloomfield Town Hall to discuss the thread that links them together -- the tiny cemetery on Farmington just south of Maple.

"I thought I was the only Hosner around," said Lydia Denise (Hosner) Singleton, 87, who is a descendant of Jacob Hosner Sr., an early West Bloomfield pioneer who died in 1835.

It is members of the Hosner family who are believed to be buried in the approximately 7 to 10 foot cemetery that dates from the 1830's.

The cemetery had been largely forgotten until last May when a construction vehicle smashed the wrought iron fence that surrounded the cemetery and enraged neighbors and township officials.

Since then, Ray Holland, township trustee, has been tracking down relatives of the Hosner family. "I feel a little bit like Sherlock Holmes," Holland said to nine members of the Hosner family who met to discuss the fate of the tiny cemetery.

Using old photos of tombstones before they were stolen years ago, Holland was able to determine that the cemetery contains the remains of Erastus Hosner (born, 1826 - died 184?* - Lucinda Hosner (b. 1832 - d. 1835 -- Alfred Hosner (b. 1835- d. 1838) -- a Isenath Hosner Jr. (b. 1840 - d. 184-. There likely are at least two more family members buried in the plot, all probably victims of a diphtheria epidemic that swept through the area.

*when this was copied, the right edge didn't come out.

The Hosner family property was listed on township maps as late as 190? but the family scattered, some moving to Oregon.

There once was a school house at the corner of Maple and Farmingtoon and a barn nearby that is remembered by some old-timers.

(a continuation from Page 1 follows after "Please see CEMETERY, A1")

Dorothy Weber used to live nearby. "I remember relatives who used to come and look at the cemetery. They'd give the kids a few dollars to cut they (sic) grass. They said (the people buried in the cemetery) died of diphtheria."

Other family members have old pictures that link them together through tenuous connections that are generations old.

All agreed that the cemetery should be preserved.

"It should be kept and restored in some way," said Richard Singleton. He lives in Rhode Island and returned to the area for the meeting called by Holland.

"The place should be restored and made a part of historic West Bloomfield," Weber said. "I feel it would be a very sad mistake to move the people from the home they have been in for 100 years."

Moving the graves is one option available to the township. But none of the Hosner descendants liked that idea.

The property is owned by Stella Evangelista who is developing a portion of it into an office building. Evangelista also attended the meetings and said that damage was done accidentally.

"I had no intention of desecrating that property," Evangelista said. "I come from a religious family and we honor the dead."

Evangelista volunteered to maintain the cemetery as part of her land although she said she had deeded the cemetery to the township in the early 1980's. She also said she would be willing to contribute money toward the restoration.

Sgt. Mike Messina of the West Bloomfield police said a criminal investigation against the construction company that damaged the cemetery has been dropped.

"We would have to prove someone is buried there (for it to be officially be (sic) considered a cemetery)," Messina said. That would mean digging up the graves. "That's probably not what we want to see happen," he said.

Holland said the township already allocates several hundred dollars a year to help maintain the Pine Lake Cemetery in the township and could set aside some money to maintain the Hosner cemetery.

Holland said he will meet with the Hosner relatives again to update them on preservation efforts.

-----------------------------

Another article - Detroit Free Press/Tuesday, January 27, 1998

 

Photo puts to rest doubts about cemetery

BY JOEL THURTELL

Free Press Staff Writer

West Bloomfield officials haven’t decided what to do with this Oakland County township’s oldest and tiniest cemetery, but an anonymously mailed photograph has convinced doubters that there are human remains in the 7-by-14-foot parcel.

West Bloomfield Police Sgt. Mike Messina said the photo shows one of the tombstones as it once stood in the 1830’s Hosner family graveyard.

“It’s amazing, incredible,” exclaimed Hosner family genealogist Gerald Hosner of Largo, Fla. “It’s a real cemetery. There are real people buried there.”

The cemetery made news late last year after its wrought iron fence was damaged by heavy equipment operators while the owner was having the land cleared to make way for an office development.

Property owner Stella Evangelista said last month that she asked the bulldozer operator to repair the cemetery. “You have got to fix it or else an attorney is going to press charges,” Evangelista said she told the contractor. Evangelista didn’t re-

Please see GRAVE, Page 6B

Photo puts to rest doubts

about family’s cemetery

GRAVE, from 1B

turn calls Monday.

Bill Lang Jr., one of the men who cleared the land, denied damaging the cemetery.

Neighbors reported the damaged fence to police, and Messina was assigned to investigate. But with no headstone to be seen, it was impossible to identify who was buried there, and there were local reports that the bodies had long ago been exhumed and placed in a different cemetery.

The photo came in an envelope with no return address. It was a photocopy of two photos pieced together to show the top and bottom parts of the stone, Messina said. Messina said he remembered seeing the tombstone and others when he began working as a patrolman, 26 years ago, but said thieves stole the last stone at least 15 years ago.

The photo appears to have been taken while the stone was still in the cemetery.

The equipment operator won’t be charged because the police likely would still have to open the graves to prove there are remains there, Messina said.

For West Bloomfield Township officials, the more important issue is what to do with the cemetery now that all parties are satisfied that it’s a burial ground.

The cemetery’s future will be discussed in a meeting of Hosner descendants, local history buffs, township officials and other interested people at 10 a.m. today in Room 76 of the West Bloomfield Township Hall.

The “Jacob Hosner Sen” named on the stone was Jacob Hosner III, who died in April 1835, not March 1835, Gerald Hosner said. Hosner found additional information about the pioneer Hosner family in census records and Jacob Hosner’s will in Oakland County records.

The gravestone provides names of four Hosners who were previously unknown. Erastus, Lucinda and Alfred were grandchildren of Jacob Hosner Sr., and children of Jacob Hosner Jr. Isenath Hosner was the infant son of Thomas Hosner, another of Jacob Sr.’s sons.

Staff writer Joel Thurtell can be reached at 1-248-586-2609