A Long Lost Branch. A Mystery. And A Theory.

 

This post will be about a litany of people in my family tree. The main characters aren't directly related but its a story worth telling, or at the very least, I need to get it out of my head and onto "paper" to help flesh it all out. A lot of facts will be included but they will only support a theory I'm working on. You can decide for yourself if you agree with me or not.

This all started with the post I wrote on my 4th great grandfather Maize R. Foster. While going through his Estate File I came to the portion where his land was divided up amongst his heirs. All of them where his children except for a Sanford Hosack. I wondered if he was married to Maize's oldest daughter, only known by L J Foster from the 1850 census. She is never mentioned in his Estate and Maize didn't leave a Will. I believe she died, either in childbirth or from whatever illness killed Maize, and left his son John and wife Sarah unmentioned in the Estate as well.

I found myself looking into the Probate Files for anyone with the last name Hosack in Collin County, TX and game to the Guardian File for a William S. Hosack dated 1858. In this file it says that "William S. Hosack is the minor of (there's a blank space) Hosack deceased is as such heir entitled to an interest in the Estate of Maize R & Sarah Foster deceased."

 

Then it says he's the heir of L J Hosack:



To me this is proof that the L J Foster from the 1850 census was married to Sanford Hosack and they had a son William S Hosack.

So I went to see if I could find a marriage record anywhere. The best I could find was transcribed indexes for a Louisaha Foster that married a Jesse Harris in Collin County in 1852. Then in 1855 a Lucinda Jane Harris married a John S Hosock. Maybe Sanford Hosack's first name was John? And he was L J's second marriage? These records came from FamilySearch. Ancestry has the 1855 marriage transcribed as Lucinda Jane Harris married to John Hosock Sr.

Now to go back to the Guardian File for William S. Hosack. Sanford Beck was appointed his guardian 29 March 1858. In 1860 William S. Hosack isn't with the Sanford Beck family anywhere according to census records. And he's not listed in Beck's Estate File when Sanford dies in 1871 either. There is however in 1860 6 year old William S. Hoosick living all the way in Los Angeles, CA with a Samuel Hart family. Samuel has a wife Lucinda and daughter Aceneth who is just 2 years older than Wm and was born in MO. Samuel's occupation is listed as a 'Teamster'. In 1860 a Teamster would've been someone who hauled goods across the country with a team of mules.

Here is some additional information I've been able to dig up on Samuel Hart. Samuel Hart was born about 1824 in either PA or NY and married a Huldah Ann Brott in Lee County, Iowa in 1849. They were in Clark, MO in 1850 and in 1851 they had a daughter named Louisa Aceneth Hart. Then according to a family history and a newspaper article they had another daughter named Lucile Platte Hart in 1853.

"Lucile Platte Hart was born while her parents were traveling by covered wagon en route to California. She was born on the Platte River at Fort Laramie, Wyoming. This is where her middle name came from. Her mother Huldah died when Lucile was two weeks old. Samuel was quite distraught at his wife's death. Having a 2 year old daughter to care for, Samuel allowed a Mormon couple Ann and Winters to care for the newborn. After two weeks the Winters had fallen in love with Lucile and persuaded Samuel to leave her with them to raise. Samuel decided it would be best for Lucile to stay with the Winters since he had 2 year old Aceneth to care for. Samuel left Lucile with the Winters in Salt Lake City, Utah and continued on to California.

Samuel would visit Lucile regularly through the years. When Lucile was 15 years old, Ann Winters sent word to Samuel that her husband was preparing to marry Lucile off to a much older man with two wives already. Samuel hopped on a horse and went to Salt Lake City to get Lucile and take her home with him."

So who is this second wife Lucinda? Is she my Lucinda Jane Foster/Harris/Hosack... maybe she didn't die? Is she someone else all together?

If Samuel was traveling the Oregon Trail how did he come across Wm S "Hoosick" born in TX?

In 1870 Samuel and Lucinda Hart are found living in Warren, Iowa. July 3 1870 Aceneth is in the marriage records of the same county/state married to a J W White and in the Iowa, Select Marriages, 1809-1992 there is a Wm Hosaac with spouse Louisa H. J. Butts and child Agnes Pearl Hosaac. Is that Pearl's marriage record information?

More to come......