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
Published 2 April 2015, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/
