Blessings from the Ancestors

Wow what a whirlwind genealogical week it has been. First there was the rediscovery of my notes and e-mails from 1998.

So, it is with delight, glee, and yes, even a few tears, that I would like to anounce that I have finally been able to reconnect with a direct descendant of Henry Hosch and she still lives one county over. Needless to say, Pat and I have been furiously sending e-mails back and forth and are hoping that we can eventually meet. (There is no way I'm going to lose contact this time.)

So, here are new updates on my Hosch line.

1. Pat has a copy of her ancestors family bible. There is a section of the bible labeled "Negroes" that list the births of several people and the death of a couple of people. Let's just say, that outside of the census records, this appears to be the only record of my ggrandfather Barto Hosch. The date of birth is right, within a year of my estimated dates, which were established from the 1870 and 1880 censuses. Also with two unusual names (Barto and Hosch), what are the chances that it is anyone else but my ggrandfather. So I proudly announce that ggranddad's entire name is Monroe Barto Hosch, born Oct. 31, 1862. I hope to be able to post a picture of the page from Pat's treasure but will check with her first before doing so.
2. Pat's father is still alive and well and has told Pat that some of the slave descendants visited him back during the 1970s. He has pictures of some. The next time Pat visits her father, she's going to check on these pictures for me.
3. Finally, this offer was totally unexpected. I was discussing with Pat that I didn't know who ggranddad's father was as there was never a husband / father indicated on the censuses. It was always 2ggrandmom Matilda and her children.

         While discussing all this, I mentioned that my grandfather was dark but had blue eyes. Pat volunteered that one of her cousins would be more than happy to do a yDNA test. Now I just need to reconfirm with one of my cousins that he is still willing to do the test. (It's been over a year since I asked if he would be willing to do it.)

As many of my geneafriends would say, things are revealed when they are supposed to be revealed. And to my gggrandmom, Matilda, thanks for the guidance.

Until Next Time!