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John Hosch
Born February 4, 1841 |
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The boyhood days of John Hosch were passed in picturesque Luxemburg, Germany. In this old-world city, on the 4th of February, 1841, this son of John and Mary (Flummel) Hosch first saw the light of day and in the schools of Luxemburg he obtained his early education. The children of the Hosch family followed the example of many of their associates by coming to America, and when afterward the parental home in Germany was broken tip by the death of the father, the mother also crossed the Atlantic. She made her home with the subject of the sketch and it is in eloquent testimony of her welcome there that she continued to live with him until the time, of her death.
John Hosch, who came to America in 1868, spent his first three months on American soil in St. Charles, Minnesota. and then proceeded to Jones county, Iowa, where he located. He was a stonemason by trade and after two diligent and thrifty years he branched out as a property owner, buying two hundred and seven acres of his present home farm. The fear 1881 was marked by the erection of a most comfortable and substantial stone house, where he is still residing.
In 1871, Miss Catherine Bisenius became the bride of Mr. Hosch. Although at that time a resident of Dubuque county, Iowa, she is a native of Prussia, Germany, having come to the United States in 1853 at the early age of two years. Her parents were among the earlier settlers of Dubuque county. Mr. And Mrs. Hosch have to their credit, that increasing rarity, a fine, large family, numbering twelve: Matthias, who lives in Cedar county, Nebraska, Mary, the wife of Peter Kurt, whose home is in Dubuque county; William, also a resident of Dubuque county; Margaret, the wife of Nicholas Knapper, of Dubuque county; Michael, who has settled in Pierce county, Nebraska; Anna, who married Jacob Brightbaugh and is living in Chicago, Illinois: and Nicholas, John, Peter, Susan, Lena and Catherine- all six living at home and adding greatly to its cheer and attractiveness by their presence.
Mr. Hosch has achieved success in his special line of agricultural endeavor, which is the raising and feeding of cattle. He belongs to the democratic party but is content with the exercise of the right of franchise, never having sought the honors and emoluments of office. He and his family are members of the Catholic church. The case of Mr. Hosch is especially gratifying as it exemplifies the possibility of rising from the most lowly circumstances to prosperous and influential citizenship. When he arrived in Minnesota, he had but one dollar and twenty-five cents in his pocket, and one dollar of that amount he was forced to expend for his first night's accommodation, thus leaving him with a capital of twenty-five cents. Today he owns six hundred and twenty-seven acres of land and is undoubtedly one of the very substantial citizens of Jones county. Among his holdings are a half section of land in Cedar county, Nebraska, and a section of land in Meyer county, that state, owning in all one thousand, five hundred and eighty-seven acres.
Source: History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 297. |
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