Last week I shared a photo and information I have pulled together on the Bosman family. Let me share a little more.
This photo is two little Bosman boys, sons of my first cousin 4x removed, Adriana Remine Bosman. But which two boys are these?
The oldest was Garrett. He was born in 1873 and passed away between 1880 and 1885.
Then came John, born 1876, who survived until 1943.
James was born in 1879 and died between 1880 and 1890.
Adrian, 1880-1884.
Carrie, 1882-1884. (Double sadly, she died 4 days before Adrian).
Gerritt, 1885-1921.
Jennie, born 1889.
Cornelius, born 1890.
This simple list tells a very sad story: lots of babies, born fairly close together, and many of them not surviving into adulthood.
Here’s a thought: in 1884, there were five Bosman children. Two of these children died in November of 1884. I don’t yet know when the other two died (only John survived out of that group). What if all four died at the same time or in the same month?! I don’t know, but something tells me I need to find out.
So which two are in the photo?
It could be Garrett and John. The only other pair that works out with the dates would be John and Adrian, I believe. My vote is with Garrett and John. For one thing, being the oldest, it’s more likely that the family would have had the portrait taken. (Another mystery is why it and the photo shared last week were taken in Goshen). Another reason is that the sweet-faced older boy here doesn’t really look like John in the photo I posted last week.
The main reason, though, is that my intuition tells me that the photo is Garrett and John.
Have you ever had intuition about the identity of a person in an old photo? Or about when or why something happened in your family history? If you found the answer or solved the mystery, did your intuition turn out to be right or wrong?
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The Family Kalamazoo 
I think that intuition plays a part in genealogy. Some would call it luck or an educated guess. But I feel it sometimes goes deeper than that. So I guess what I am saying is that intuition has played a big part in my genealogy research. I have no other way to explain some of the finds that I have made.
Charles, thanks for confirming that there are others who operate that way in genealogy research. I think it’s helps to have a good sense of the family, too, when doing amateur genealogy.
That picture is priceless – maybe one of my favorite EVER!! I so love your photos…thanks.
How do you like those little striped Wizard of Oz witch stockings the baby is wearing?!
Fabulous!
It always makes me sad when I learn how many children did not survive to adulthood (or past their first year. We’ve certainly come a long way. I often wonder what impact these losses had the the families.
I have wondered the same thing. I discovered that my great-grandfather’s baby sisters both died right at Christmas when he was only 5. Imagine the sadness in that house!
Just came back here to add that you just wrote about this subject on this fascinating post: http://brotmanblog.wordpress.com/2014/03/05/david-rosenzweig-and-the-reality-of-infant-mortality/
Thanks! You got me thinking more about this after I found the story of poor baby David, and I decided to do a bit of research about the whole infant mortality problem.
Excellent post!
I have had similar experiences where I know something but have no proof. It’s an interesting experience. Sometimes I have been able to prove that I’m right. Intuition is powerful – don’t ignore it.
I agree. It’s important not to take it as fact, but not to ignore it. Best to use it as a guide in searching, I think.
Luanne, it is sad when these kinds of discoveries come so many at the same time.
One thing I have learned is that multiple deaths of children in the same family or same location can mean there was a contagious illness either in the location (town or city) or the family at that time. My Great Aunt Dorothy’s half sister, Mary Frances Kennedy, dies during the Influenza Epidemic of the late 1920s. While looking up her DC I found other children listed for that year around the same time.
I agree with you about intuition. I think our minds on a subconscious level are sifting through all the bits and pieces this research brings our way. Although we can’t consciously put all the pieces together there ARE certain things that thread them together. It’s just hard to explain why to others.
My hunch about my Grandma Bessie’s Jewish roots turned out to go deeper than I ever thought. Despite my family’s skillful cover-up when I was a child I eventually had enough to learn that she came from an Orthodox family. My parents never led me to believe that, using fuzzy explanations that gave me the impression her family was Reformed and not very religious.
It’s interesting that you call it a hunch. You had a hunch and you went with that and did a lot of very thorough research. Kind of a Nancy Drew of genealogy. Nancy used to get hunches, too. I also love how you describe the “skillful cover-up.”
I’m reading a biography right now that shows evidence of using a lot of “genealogical research.” It’s called “Mama Rose’s Turn,” about the mother of Gypsy Rose Lee. A WordPress blogger, Carolyn Quinn, is the writer. There was a lot of skillful cover-up in that family, of a lot of things, and some things Quinn wasn’t able to uncover.
Do you know if there are specific types of sources to look for, to uncover local epidemics? In a small city like Kalamazoo . . . .
Off hand I cannot say. To start, look up the years of a major epidemic. I now know that in addition to 1918 there was another Influenza Epidemic in 1927 when Mary Frances died. Try searching for epidemics in the country or region or even statewide level. A year and locale are good starting points and from there maybe local news archives or obituaries.
Luanne, Start with something like this
Major US Epidemics
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001460.html
Epidemics and Pandemics in the U.S. 1616-Present
http://www.joycetice.com/articles/epidemics.htm
When you find something in Michigan, then begin to go deeper into the areas closes to your own. Anything affecting the public health would have to be written up in news articles, government bulletins and maybe even school related news.
EmilyAnn, this material is really great. It’s making me realize how much of an effect epidemics have on our family histories, and that they should be something considered sooner rather than later. I immediately saw on the 2nd source you provided that in 1898, 5000 men died during the Spanish American war–over 4,000 of them from disease. It says that the epidemic was Yellow Fever. However, my relative (I wrote about him last year) who died in that war died of “Malarial Fever.” So I looked up both diseases. Apparently both of them are caused by mosquito bites and occur in the tropics. Other than some difference in symptoms, I wonder how they knew the difference!
Because I don’t see any real leads for the Bosman children here, I need to get their death certificates first, I think.
Thanks for really getting me thinking here and for your help starting down this path of research!!!
Yes, getting the DC’s is the best path to take. Glad I was able to provide some food for thought and new areas to consider the next time you need to do an investigation. We need to consider every possibility available.
Thank you again, EmilyAnn!!
[…] (children of Dirk Bosman and my 1st cousin 4xremoved Johanna/Adriana Remine) I posted in two posts. Part II listed the children and Part I was focused on John, Jeanette’s older brother. Jennie was […]