BY KAREN HANSEN
The Walnut Library received a phone call from Brenda Hunt. She saw on FamilySearch that we had the Hoskins Family Bible. Her ancestor was Dr. Ellis Horton, who married Elizabeth Hoskins in 1863. The Quaker family was in Indiana, then Iowa and back to Indiana. Brenda wanted photocopies of information in the Bible for a supplemental Daughters of the American Revolution application. There are Hoskins buried in Harlan and I found these Hoskinses listed in the 1915 Shelby County History: Bernard, Bertha, Clyda, Cora, De Verne, Eli, Eli J., Ella, Harold, Henry H., Ira, Laura, Marvin, Mayme C., Samantha (Custer). Brenda said those were not part of her family.
Checking the Family Bible that WGS has, I found it is the Mott Family Bible. I contacted Adrian Brisee, knowing that he has a large Bible collection. He does have photo copies from the Hoskins Bible. Adrian received 72 notebooks and several boxes of files and photos from the Woodin family from Harlan. They had 30 boxes of books that Adrian sold and he was given the files and photos.
Brenda needs information on Joseph Hoskins for her supplemental DAR application. Joseph and Hannah Evans Hoskins had John, who married Mary King. They had Joseph, who was born and married in North Carolina to Anna W. Moore; Joseph died in Indiana. They had Elizabeth Hoskins, who married Dr. Ellis Horton. The Hoskins children from the Bible pages that Adrian Brisee has do not match those in Brenda’s family, so she would like any help that our readers could provide.
Many of the Bibles of Adrian Brisee have and are continuing to go to Bible Rescue. Bible Rescue is a 501(c)3 non-profit that has 3 primary missions: Rescue family Bibles, Record the family history information inside each Bible, Reunite each family Bible with living descendants, extended family, genealogy centers, and anyone who believes they can put the family Bible to good use. Since their founding, they have rescued over 1000 family Bibles with thousands of entries referencing names, birthdates, weddings, relationships, marriages, deaths, and burials. You can access the family history information of each family Bible on their website and you can also purchase the family Bible. The funds raised from the purchase of family Bibles allow them to purchase more family Bibles and help them fulfill their non-profit mission. Each family Bible they rescue is sent to Family Search where they carefully scan each page of family history and make it available on their website, free of charge.
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Since we had the query about the Hoskins Bible, I have been researching the Mott family in the Bible that WGS has. There are pages of Births, Marriages and Deaths in the middle of the 1886 Bible. John Henry Mott was born in Ohio in 1858. He married Florence Matheson in 1884; she died in 1900 and he married Fannie Shipp in 1901. John Mott died in 1939 and is buried in Ashland, Nebraska. There is a note in the Bible that says it was found in the attic and given to the Historical Society by Skip and Tamie. There is also a reward of merit to Lynn Converse from Olive Grebe, teacher. Lynn was the son of Fannie Mott and her first husband, Forrest Converse. The only Mott who is buried at Walnut is Ethel Ingwersen LeRette-Mott. She was first married to Dick Dale LeRette and secondly to George Edwin Mott. I haven’t found a connection between George and the names in the Bible.
The very large Bible is in very poor condition, but has very beautiful illustrations. It would be nice to return it to family members.
KH