Saturday, December 28, 2013

The final entry in the Reeves Family Album is the funeral card for Jennie's father-in-law.

Theodor Hubert Hoss, my great-great grandfather was born in Ahrweiler, Germany Sept. 22, 1824 (he and Jennie shared birthdays!). Catholic Church records indicate the Hoss family had lived in that town for several generations.

The story is passed down that Theodore was the son of a vineyard master and came to the area of Cassville, Wisconsin in 1854 to avoid the Prussian military conscription. However he was drafted into the Union Army during the Civil War, where he mostly served guard duty in the South. His only military exploit, we are told, was that shot a pig while on sentry duty.

After the War the family tried making a living in Northeast Nebraska but after locusts destroyed their crops, they headed to Washington Territory in the mid-1870s.

Theodore attempted to grow a vineyard in the area of present day Vader, Washington but the climate was not grape friendly. By the 1880s he joined his sons in the booming new town of Centralia, Washington, where he made a living in woodworking, mostly as a cooper.

Those who knew him told me he was gentle soul who maintained a thick German accent throughout his life. The only time anyone saw him get excited or angry was when he discussed politics with another German relative, August Amler. The two would shout and yell, but since the conversation was in German, no one knew exactly what the topic was about!

He died in Centralia Jan. 28, 1908 and is buried in the Pioneer Cemetery.

This concludes the album. To see the entire collection, simply use the Reeves Family Album tag.

Friday, December 27, 2013

Phone photo 3095

Aberdeen, Washington

Is this wonderful, or what? Nice work.

Morty Comix # 2681

Morty Comix #2681 was folded and left in the coin return slot of the only remaining pay phone booth in McCleary, Washington. Problem is, this phone doesn't work. So if you are stranded here, and if you don't have a cell phone-- you are trapped in The Twilight Zone!

Phone photo 3094

Manger scene figures held up with metal farm fenceposts

Montesano, Washington

The big sheep looks like Harold, the most dangerous of animals, the clever sheep

Pat Kelly Sings Bacharach

I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself

Phone photo 3093

The other side of Santa and the reindeer

Montesano, Washington

The Andrew Jackson Song

Andrew Jackson

Was a psychopath

And woe to anyone

Who incurred his wrath

Yes, he's the hero of New Orleans

But also the father of the Trail of Tears

Andrew Jackson

Was a psychopath

Phone photo 3092

Weird Siamese Twin Reindeer

Montesano, Washington

Phone photo 3091

Montesano, Washington

Clara Hoss

Jennie's album concludes with the funeral cards of her parents-in-law.

Napolione Clara Hubertina Cüppers, my great-great grandmother, was born Apr. 26, 1826 in Euskirchen, Germany, between Bonn and the border of France. According to family lore she had some French ancestors and was somehow related to the "lesser nobility." It is also said her family was Jewish, her father was a jeweler and the family employed servants.

She married Theodor Hubert Hoss, a Catholic, in a civil ceremony in her town in 1853 and in the following year the couple, with an infant daughter, set off for Wisconsin. As the family worked their way across the frontier heading West I was told she liked to remind her husband about the life she gave up. The Hoss family arrived in Washington Territory in the mid-1870s.

Clara died in Centralia, Washington Dec. 14, 1896 and is buried in Centralia's Pioneer Cemetery.

Phone photo 3090

Bickmore's "Complete" Home Center

Montesano, Washington

Another entry for the Blog of Unnecessary Quotation Marks

Cissy Houston Sings Bacharach

I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Phone photo 3089

Holding up the shell of a burned building

Montesano, Washington

Frank Reeves

Pressed into lower right is the name of the photographer. Hard to read, but I'd guess it says: B. McArdle, Centralia, Wash.

Walter Francis "Frank" Reeves photo probably taken between 1910-1916. Those who remember him told me that at this point in his life, Frank was cranky and plain spoken, yet would cry at weddings. He was my great-great grandfather.

The old Union Army veteran lived with the family of his daughter, Jennie Hoss. He died suddenly at the breakfast table, Dec. 11, 1916. The former family home in Centralia served as a bed and breakfast under a few owners for a time and is now the local headquarters down there for Windermere Real Estate. It has been reported over the years that Frank, along with a child, are still hanging around the building in the form of ghosts.

Phone photo 3088

Elk resting at a bulb farm, Satsop, Washington

Phone photo 3087

Elk herd kneeling in the bulb farm field, Satsop, Washington

The White Stripes Sing Bacharach

I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself

Phone photo 3086

Fishing/cargo net washed up on the beach, Ocean Shores, Washington

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Favorite Movie Quotes: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

"Bad people do bad things because they can."

Phone photo 3085

Fishing net washed ashore, Ocean Shores, Washington

Jennie Hoss

Undated photo of Jennie (Reeves) Hoss, the keeper of the Reeves Family Album and my great grandmother. I'm guessing this photo was taken in Centralia, Washington during the first decade of the 20th century.