Name/Title
Closser Album 02, Photo 01 - Hostetler Blind FamilyEntry/Object ID
2019.9.40Description
Locally-famed Hostetler Blind Family of Fayette County, Pennsylvania. Several of the children in this family were born blind, specifically anophthalmic (without eyeballs). Three of the children born with this condition (Catherine, Bartholomew, and John) and another sibling who became blind (Jesse Samuel) joined together to form a famous quartet of blind musicians. They were the children of Daniel and Mary (Gibbons) Hostetler.
In this image it appears that the three blind brothers and one blind sister (damaged area of photo) are photographed with another sister who was not blind.
Researcher Derek Pegritz provided the following identifications, believed to be [Left-Right]:
BACK ROW - Unidentified sister, Bartholomew Hostetler;
FRONT ROW - Catherine Hostetler, Jesse Samuel "Blind Sam" Hostetler, John Hostetler.
Album 2 Series preserved in original order.
Also see item # CAND_AN007_0001_0023 and item # MONO-AN001-0032.
Original, no photographer listed.Collection
Harold T. Closser CollectionMade/Created
Date made
circa 1880 - circa 1900Lexicon
Search Terms
Blind, Hostetler family, MusicOther Names and Numbers
Other Number
CLOW-AN002-0001Provenance
Provenance Detail
Closser Album 02 - Harold T. Closser CollectionNotes
The Harold T. Closser Collection was passed from Henry Moninger Closser [1850-1908] and his second wife, Sarah Ann "Sadie" (Thompson) Closser [1860-1957], to their son Harold T. Closser [1902-1998] and his wife, Catherine (Hoge) Closser [1905-1933], to their son William Henry Closser [1933-2010] to his son William Henry Closser who shared the collection with the Greene Connections: Greene County, Pennsylvania Archives Project in 2019.
Source Citation: Closser Album 02, Photo 01 - Hostetler Blind Family, item no. CLOW-AN002-0001, Harold T. Closser Collection, shared by William Henry Closser, Greene Connections Archives Project (www.GreeneConnections.com).