THIS MONTH'S PHOTO

William B. Bosecker was born on 20 Aug 1852 in German Township, Vanderburgh County, Indiana. He was the 3rd child and oldest son of the immigrants Karl Franz Fredrich [1813-1870] & Elizabeth (Sachs) Boßecker. [1852-1904]

He had 2 sisters and 2 brothers that survived to adulthood: Anna (Bosecker)(Schmidt) Combs [1848-1908], Elizabeth (Bosecker) Schmidt [1850-1922], Christian Bosecker [1854-1920] & Andreas Bosecker [1857 - 1921]. Another brother, Charles, [Abt Mar 1860-?] died as a child. There may have been another sibling that died young as William's mother, Elizabeth (Sachs) Bosecker is noted as having had 7 children in the 1900 Census.

William married Louise Oshmann in Posey County, IN on 28 Aug 1874. Louise gave birth to 11 children but I am only aware of the following at this time:

Wilhelm Friederich Heinrich Bosecker [20 Jan 1877-21 Jan 1877], Lina (Bosecker) Goebel [Jan 1879-6 Apr 1962], Wilhelmena Louisa (Bosecker) Mann [3 Feb 1880-20 Oct 1963], Jacob Edward Bosecker [13 Oct 1882-12 Apr 1968], Andrew Bosecker [24 Feb 1885-11 Dec 1972], Henry Theodore Bosecker [29 May 1888-25 Jul 1944], William C. Bosecker [11 Dec 1890-23 Dec 1976] and Lydia E. (Bosecker) Hahn [5 Feb 1894-22 Jan 1981].

Of the remaining 3 unknown children, 2 daughters can be accounted for in the St Paul United Church of Christ's cemetery. The 2 gravestones are essentially the same; "Bosecker - Dau. of Wm B & Louisa Bosecker"

The first two of the known children, Wilhelm Friedrich Heinrich Bosecker and Lina (Bosecker) Goebel, appear to have been born in Illinois. All of the rest of the known children were born in Indiana.

From the above, it appears that William B. Bosecker grew up in German Township, Vanderburgh County, IN, moved to the Cowling, IL area for a few years and then returned to Indiana.

William B. Bosecker died on 18 Mar 1940 and Louisa (Oshmann) Bosecker died about 3½ years later on 26 Nov 1943. Both are buried in St Pauls cemetery.

SOME QUESTIONS

What church was William B. Bosecker and Louisa Oshmann married in?

What did the middle initial "B." stand for in William B. Bosecker?

What did the middle initial "C." stand for in William C. Bosecker?

What was Lina (Bosecker) Goebel's "formal" name, was she really born in Illinois and what was her exact birth date?

What did the middle initial "E." stand for in Lydia E. (Bosecker) Hahn's name?

Did Andrew Bosecker have a middle name?

When was the photograph on page 1 taken? Could it have been taken during an anniversary celebration?

AN APOLOGY

Many have written over the past few months and I have not yet responded to their letters. Please accept my apology and the promise that I will acknowledge your letters soon. Perhaps you have noticed that you are now getting your newsletters in the same month as the issue month. I have made that a priority and have been working hard to accomplish it. Reunion planning has also kept me from being as good about timely responses as I should be. I don't intend for this paragraph to be an excuse but an explanation. Thank you for your patience.

THE REUNION

Remember the All-Boßecker-Descendants Reunion will take place at St Pauls United Church of Christ on 26 May 1996. St Pauls is located at 8701 Cynthiana Road (Highway 65). Registration will begin at 12:30 PM. More details were published in the last newsletter.

PHOTO IDENTIFICATION PROGRESS REPORT

It has been a while since I have informed my readers of the progress made in identifying the pictures published in the newsletter. This progress has been a direct result of your help!

As you may recall in Issue 2 there was a picture of 7 men and 4 women. All of the women have been identified and that was discussed in Issue 4. Some of the men were known at the time of publication but the 3 fellows next to George Valentine Kirsch Sr. were listed as unknown. I have gotten conflicting possibilities regarding the identities of these men but, in my opinion, the leading contender for the gentleman on the far right is George Valentine Kirsch Jr. [1872-1960].

In Issue 3 "The Cowling Band" photo was published. In the front row, left - right: George V.F. Graesch [1895-1940] {son of John & Ida (Bosecker) Graesch} & Lewis Nelson [1895-1952] {husband of W.F.Ottillie (Bosecker) Nelson}. Middle row, left - right: Gustav W.L. Kleinschmidt [1884-1956]{no direct Bosecker connection}, unknown, Herman F. Bosecker [1886-1962], unknown, L.Otto C.Kleinschmidt [1886-1972] {husband of Hannah (Bosecker) Kleinschmidt}. Back row: all unknown except for far right; Henry L. Bosecker [1895-1954].