As I write this introduction the temperature outside is in the 20's. Not that impressive to you folks up north but pretty chilly for Dixie. Now that the busy holiday season is behind us and it is too cold to venture outside what is the best possible use of your time? May I suggest a couple of evenings digging out those old photos you have archived in the attic or basement. If you know who the individuals in the pictures are, please take the time to write that on the back of the photo and let me know what you've got. If you cannot determine who is in the photos perhaps The Boßecker Newsletter can help.
Scott Bosecker, 103 Meadowlark Trace, Peachtree City, GA 30269-2312; (770) 631-4855.

A Bosecker Wedding?	Andrew & Helene (Pfeifer) Bosecker [1857-1921] [1859-1948]

This Month's Photos

This month I am going to include 2 photographs; in one the couple is unknown and in the other the couple has been identified.

The photo on the left is in the possession of Brad Bosecker of Vincennes, IN. Brad told me that this photo was given to him by another family member but wasn't 100% sure of the identities of the couple. Any of my readers know who this mystery couple is?

The photo on the right is the sort of picture that I am interested in for the Bosecker/Boseker History to be published in the future. Andrew Bosecker was the son of the immigrant Carl Boßecker [1813-1870].

Photo Identification Progress Report

In Issue # 1 of The Boßecker Newsletter a picture was published of 5 couples. I reported that 4 of the 5 couples were identified while the 5th couple's identity was unknown.

In Issue # 2 another picture was published. Some of the folks in Issue #1's photo were present in the 2nd issue's photo and it was reported that there was a difference of opinion regarding the identity of one of the couples that appeared in both photographs.

In my opinion the evidence collected in the past couple of months suggests that the couple identified as Louis & Minnie (Norwald) Bosecker in these first two issues is, in reality, John & Ida (Bosecker) Graesch.

I base this opinion on labeled photographs of John & Ida (Bosecker) Graesch currently in the possession of Shirley (Graesch) (Ingersoll) Miller [Born: 1930] who lives near Seattle, WA. Her photos, plus a labeled photograph in the possession of Harold Otte [Born: 1915] of Saint Paul, Minnesota, indicate (to me) that the 4th couple from the left is John & Ida (Bosecker) Graesch.

Shirley Miller's photographs had belonged to John & Ida Graesch's daughter, Emma (Graesch)(Smith) Marvel [1892-1962] and Emma had labeled the photos.

Harold Otte's photo was identical to the photo published in Issue # 1 and had been labeled by his father, Matthew Otte [1882-1971]. Matthew Otte's parents were Wilhelm [1853-1886] & Emma (Bosecker) Otte [1856-1886]. Emma (Bosecker) Otte was a sister of Ida (Bosecker) Graesch.

What about the "mystery couple" of the "5 couples" picture? The 5th couple (from the left) appears to be Christian [1854-1920] & Charlotte (Schweikhard) Bosecker [1854-1934].

Harold Otte's photo had gentleman # 5 labeled as "Christian?" and I also received a phone call from Harold Bosecker, [Born: 1914] of rural Mount Carmel, IL. Harold stated that the 5th gentleman in the photo was his grandfather, Christian Bosecker.

Thus it appears that the identities of the men (left to right) are: John G. Bosecker [1864-1937], Frank Bosecker [1849-1921], William Boseker [1847-1914], John Graesch [1845-1924] & Christian Bosecker [1854-1920]. Their wives (left to right) are: Margaretha (Baumgartner) Bosecker [1867-1935], Friederike (Graesch) Bosecker [1853-1934], Sophia (Norwold) Boseker [1849-1933], Ida (Bosecker) Graesch [1861-1943] & Charlotte (Schweikhard) Bosecker [1854-1934].

John G., Frank, William & Ida are children of Johannes Boßecker. Christian Bosecker (son of Karl Boßecker) was a first cousin of the other Boseckers in the photograph.

Photo Search Priorities

I have located photographs of Johannes & Louisa (Thomin) Boßecker (see next article) so it would be nice to have pictures of the other immigrants, Karl & Elizabeth (Sachs) Boßecker and Peter & Margareta (Schmidt) Boßecker.

The likelihood of finding a photograph of Peter is remote since he is reported to have died in 1857. Locating a photo of Peter's wife, Margareta, is also unlikely as she is reported to have died in 1865.

Although he died in 1870, it is possible that Karl Boßecker was photographed. It seems very likely that a photo of Karl's wife, Elizabeth, should exist as she died in 1904.

Peter Boßecker had 6 children that survived to adulthood; Caroline (Boseker) Benz [1827-1887], John Boseker [abt 1831-1862], Charles Boseker [1834-1900], Henry Boseker [1838-1913], Christian Boseker [1841-1900] & Fredricka (Boseker.) Bensman [1843-1900]. With the possible exception of John, all of these folks were probably photographed. I am seeking photos of any of Peter's children.

Karl Boßecker had 5 children that survived to adulthood. I have photographs of William B. Bosecker [1852-1940], Andreas Bosecker [1857-1921] & Christian Bosecker [1854-1920]. I have seen a photograph of Elizabeth (Bosecker) Schmidt [1850-1922] but I do not have a copy. I am seeking photographs of Elizabeth and of Anna (Bosecker) Schmidt [1848-1908].

Johannes Boßecker had 9 children that survived to adulthood. I have photographs of 5 of them: William Boseker, Frank Bosecker, Louise (Bosecker) Mohr, Ida (Bosecker) Graesch & John G. Bosecker. I am searching for photographs of Caroline (Bosecker) Kirsch [1841-1884], Louis Bosecker [1843-1901], Henry Bosecker [1852-1887] & Emma (Bosecker) Otte [1856-1886].

Photographs of Immigrants Found!

As I reported in the "Photo Identification Progress Report" article, Shirley Miller had several (labeled!) old photographs. I was particularly pleased that she had photos of the immigrants, Johannes [1816-1896] & Louisa (Thomin) Boßecker [1823-1898]! I intend to publish these images in a future edition of The Boßecker Newsletter.