Bordon Goes to Michigan

Bordon Josiah Hosner (b: 17 January 1847) was the tenth and last child of Isaac and Adaline (Cleveland) Hosner.

Bordon married first abt 1869 Clara M. Terry (b: 1851).[1]  They had two daughters: Myrta A. Hausner (b: 1872), and Ada S. Hausner (b: 1874).

No comments were made in his mother’s journal about the marriage to Clara or the birth of the two daughters until an entry on Sunday, April 6, 1879 when Adaline notes, “His (Bordon’s) wife didn’t make him any trouble. Bordon did not try to see his little girl. She lives with his wife’s parents. So Bordon was not disturbed, went back [to Michigan] in good health and in peace and may the God of peace be with him.” 

The journal entry tells us two things. First, sometime between 1875 and 1879 Bordon and Clara split up. He moved to Pittsfield, Washtenaw, Michigan. The 1880 federal census for Pittsfield, Michigan shows Bordon as a border in the family of Josiah and Mary Rundell. Josiah is a farmer; Bordon is an “engineer.”  Bordon fell in love with and married the farmer’s daughter - Jeanette Rundell, age 26, a schoolteacher. 

In 1880 Clara M. (Terry) Hosner and her daughter, Myrta Hausner were living with George and Adaline Terry in Hector, Schuyler County, New York. George was a house painter; Clara was a schoolteacher. In that household also lived Clara’s brother, 25 year old Hamilton Terry, also a schoolteacher.

On 29 November 1881 at the age of thirty-three Bordon Joshua married Nettie (Jeanetti) E. Rundell.[2] 

Second, the journal entry suggests one of Bordon’s daughters died at a young age. Upon further investigation it was Ada (b: 1874) that died.

In 1882 Bordon writes that he wants to come home for a visit, but his mother notes in her journal that she fears his first wife will make trouble and can even have him jailed. Bordon’s mother was determined to write to him to discourage his visit.  That must have been painful for her. I imagine she ached to see her youngest child again before she died. 

Bordon and Nettie remain in Michigan through the 1900 federal census that shows Bordon is a farmer.  Nettie reports she has had one child with none living.  They don’t appear on the New York 1905 census, so I assume he continued living in Michigan until his death in 1906.  

Bordon Josiah Hosner died 1906 and is buried in the Mecklenburg, New York cemetery.[3]

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[1] Adaline Hosner’s journal states Bordon’s wife and child went to live with her parents after they separated. The 1880 federal census shows Clara M. Terry age 28 school teacher living with her parents George and Adaline Terry. In that household is granddaughter Myrta Hausner.

[2] https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NQSH-S35  [Accessed Aug 2013]

[3] Bordon Josiah Hosner information from the Mecklenburg, NY Cemetery transcription.

Wordless Wednesday - L.S. Shepard, Spencer, NY 1915

L.S. Shepard and his auto truck on the lawn west of the Baptist parsonage, Spencer, New York

George Washington and Elizabeth (Culver) Hosner/Hausner

George Washington Hosner, born 12 November 1838, was the fourth child of Issac and Adaline (Cleveland) Hosner. George married Elizabeth Culver (b: 1842), daughter of Enos and Grace Culver.

George Washington Hosner/Hausner died in April 1892 and is buried in the Mecklenburg, New York cemetery. George made a living by farming; they had no children.  Following George’s death, Elizabeth continued to live in Hector, NY until 1910 when she was 68 years of age she lived with her sister, Emma Nivison, in Hector. 

Elizabeth (Culver) Hosner/Hausner died 2 March 1914.  The Watkins Express stated: “On Tuesday morning March 2^nd Mrs. Elizabeth Hausner, who has been in poor health a long time was released from suffering. The funeral was on Friday afternoon at the M.E. Church of which she had been a faithful member many years. Rev. B.B. Corbin officiating.  Burial in Mecklenburg Cemetery.”

Funeral Card Friday - Joan Mary DeGraw Westervelt

Joan Mary DeGraw Westervelt

Wordless Wednesday - Antrim, PA Mining

Cable Line, Antrim, PA

The back of this undated postcard has these handwritten notes:

54 buckets - half of them full and half empty;

33.00 feet across air line;

About 800 ton a day of mine (or nine) hours. 

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.” 

Sunday’s Obituary – Almina Dorn 1839 -1913

Mrs. Almina Dorn, widow of the late Francis Dorn, died at the old home in South Danby Tuesday morning at 2:30 aged 74 years. She had been declining in health for some time with a valvular disease of the heart. 

Truly it can be said a noble woman has gone. She is survived by six daughters, Mrs. Aaron Baker of Brookton, Mrs. Fred Van Etten, of Danby, Miss Edith and Mrs. Eugene Shepard of Van Etten, Mrs. Willis Butler of Ithaca and Mrs. Fred [Sarah G. Dorn] Countryman of Danby and four sons, Fred Dorn of Brookton, Judd Dorn of Newfield, Edd Dorn of Willow Creek and Olin Dorn and one brother George Swartout of Van Etten.

The funeral was held Friday at the home at 2:00 p.m. and burial in Rural Cemetery, Danby.

[According to the family bible record, Almina Swartout Dorn was born August 20, 1839 and died June 24, 1913. Danby Rural Cemetery records shows Francis E. Dorn b: 21 Nov 1837; d: 27 Aug 1907. Almina and Francis had to sons predecease them: Warren G. Dorn d: 1882 at 7 years, 10 mo and Alvah Dorn, died 1892 age 21 years. ]