Mary Fisher, daughter of George Fisher and Sarah Vaughn, was a young woman when the Civil War broke out and probably knew the young men who enlisted from her western Kentucky neighborhood. That was not the last time she would witness men leaving home to fight in a war. When she was middle-aged, newly-enlisted soldiers left to fight in the Spanish American War and, finally, when she was an old woman, the Great War (World War I) called men to fight in Europe.
But what could a woman do? A woman's work was at home. Her job was to help on the farm, rear the children to be God-fearing, honest citizens and hope they survived whichever war was being fought.
Mary was twice married, but had no children of her own. By her first marriage to Columbus O. Barnett on 27 November 1866, she was called on to rear his five children by his first wife, Adelina E. Stephens, with the children ranging in age from eight down to one. The marriage of Mary and C.O. Barnett ended with his death in 1871. His father, Samuel S. Barnett was appointed guardian of the children and they went to live with him.
On 19 December 1875, Mary married William B. Hosick, who was 20 years her senior. The 1880 Livingston County census shows William B. and Mary Hosick living in Carrsville. Living with them were William D. Hosick and Mary's brother and sister, Martin V.L.B. Fisher and Catherine Johnson.
William B. Hosick died 21 June 1901 and is buried near his first wife, Mary Cope, in Hosick Cemetery #1 in Lola, Kentucky. Mary Fisher Hosick died 19 June 1919 and is buried in New Union (Ditney) Cemetery near Lola. Her tombstone is surrounded by four rocks which possibly mark the graves of her siblings,
Mary F.
Hosick
Dec. 20, 1841
June 20, 1919
Gone but not
forgotten
Originally published 2 Apr 2015, repeated 10 Apr 2024, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.com/
