Name/Title
Stephens Album, Photo 23 - Hostetler Blind FamilyEntry/Object ID
2018.1.258Description
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.
Also see item # CLOW-AN002-0001 and item # MONO-AN001-0032.
Original, no photographer listed.
Album position: page 13, photo 2.
Album patent label dated 22 March 1892.Photograph Details
Type of Photograph
Cabinet CardCollection
Candice Lynn Buchanan CollectionMade/Created
Date made
circa 1890 - circa 1900Lexicon
Search Terms
Blind, Hostetler family, MusicOther Names and Numbers
Other Number
CAND_AN007_0001_0023Provenance
Provenance Detail
Stephens Album - Miscellaneous Series - Candice Lynn Buchanan CollectionAcquisition Method
DigitalAcquisition Date
2005Notes
This photograph album was purchased via eBay auction in 2005, by Candice Lynn Buchanan who owned and shared the album with the Greene Connections: Greene County, Pennsylvania Archives Project. No additional context, ownership history, or provenance are known.
SOURCE CITATION: Stephens Album, Photo 23 - Hostetler Blind Family of Fayette County, Pennsylvania; circa 1880-1900; item no. CAND_AN007_0001_0023, Candice Lynn Buchanan Collection; Greene Connections Archives Project (GreeneConnections.com).