Ervin Mortimer Hosner

Rainy days help me to focus on genealogy and that is exactly what I did for most of the day yesterday. I delved back into the Lowthropp/Cleveland family, filling in the lives of my great grandmother's line.  

Utilizing information from the census and the journals of Adaline Cleveland Hosner, I was able to learn about the children of Isaac and Adaline Hosner. 

Ervin Mortimer Hosner, the second child of Isaac and Adaline Hosner was born 7 February 1835. In 1869 Ervin married Ruth Ann Smith (b: 1842). Ervin and Ruth Ann had three children: Clarence Hosner b: 1862; Minnie A. Hosner b: 1864; and Frank H. Hosner b: 1866. The family lived in Catherine, New York, making a living farming.

An obvious mistake was made in indexing the 1870 federal census where Ervin is indexed as “mulatto.” The indexer misread the “w” for an “m.”

Ervin’s mother details the events surrounding his death, 3 July 1873.  Later that month, on Sunday, July 27, 1873 entry of Adaline’s journal reads: “We are well at present for which I am grateful. The 3^rd of this month my dear Ervin departed this life in hopes of a better world above. He had for years been troubled with the rheumatism, more or less.” 

Adaline long wished her children would return for her and Isaac’s 40^th wedding anniversary on January 23. They all did and it was the last time Ervin was at her table.

The funeral for Ervin Mortimer Hosner was held on Saturday, July 5, 1873 at 11:00 at the Mecklenburg church. Even as he was lowered into his final resting place, Adaline wrote, “Death didn’t separate him from me. He was just as near and I could realize that it was my dear Ervin that was there in the coffin … I knew it was still my Ervin.

Four weeks before Ervin’s death, he could only communicate by writing on a slate.  He wrote: “Mother I am glad you have been with me a few days. As I cannot talk with you I write … I do not want you to go home and think I shall want for anything I ought to have.”[1]  All through this ordeal Adaline tracks Ervin’s deep faith and his readiness to enter into heaven. This is Adaline’s only consolation as she watched her son’s decline. One day they would be reunited in heaven.

The Cleveland family worried about how Ruth would carry on the farm work without Ervin.  Within a couple of years Ruth realized she could not do the work and rented out some of her land. Ruth Ann (Smith) Hosner died 3 December 1894.  She is buried in the Mecklenburg, New York cemetery with her husband.

Questions arise while researching this family. At some point during the 1870s spelling of the family name changed from Hosner to Hausner.  I am trying to find out when/why that occurred.  Although this family was born with the Hosner name, most were buried with the name Hausner.  

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[1] Journal of Adaline Cleveland Hosner, typed manuscript.  Footnote on Ervin’s last days in this manuscript reads: “This account of Ervin’s last days was written on a separate piece of smaller paper and lay loose between the pages of the journal. It would appear that Adaline wrote this account late and was unable to attach it to the sewn edges of the journal.”