Volume 1 : Harry Ernest Hosack
View a preview by clicking on the book, above.
When I found the photo of Ernest I had no clue how deep the rabbit hole might be. The only information I had was the note on the back "Ernest Hosack – with compliments of the author." Not a lot to go on, but at least his name was somewhat unusual.
During his short life Ernest was called "a masher" and "a young man of education and promise." I don't know that I ever arrived at the truth of the matter. Ernest was the son of a physician who served with the Union Army during the Civil War, and was himself educated at the University of Michigan School of Pharmacy. He set out on a promising career with his own drug store. But things took a turn for the worse.
Ernest died at the age of 27. He left behind him an interesting reputation, an ex-wife who never remarried and a widow who did (briefly). He also had a daughter with his second wife, born just three weeks before Ernest died. She had a story too – though a happier one than her parents.
The Process
The book developed as I dug into Ernest's story. It became an exercise in creating a "picture book" when I really had only one picture.
I began to build out a family tree for Ernest on Ancestry.com and set up a spreadsheet as a timeline. My research took me beyond Ancestry.com to newspaper sites and local libraries on-line resources. I purchased a book template on Etsy so I wouldn't have to fuss with layout (which I did a bit anyway, but the template provided good bones for the work). Then I mined the internet for sites that would give me the illustrations I needed to evoke the times and places in the story.
My primary goal was to use as many free resources as possible. That worked to a point, but I ended up subscribing to Picryl.com to find a good many public domain images that ended up in the book.
All of the sources I used are cited at the end of the book, as well as a list of on-line resources I found particularly useful for both images and information.
People Featured in the Book
Cyrus Hosack
Harry Ernest Hosack
Anna D. Dick
Minnie A. Kempf
Madeline Kempf Hosack
Walter Jacob Baker
Want a Copy?
I have published the book with Blurb as a softcover magazine (58 pages) and I'm very pleased with the quality of the physical copy. It is also available as a PDF that can be read on nearly any device. The book is priced at cost, with no markup added.
The physical copy is currently priced at $15 plus shipping. The PDF is $4.99. Blurb does run sales from time to time, so if cost is a concern you might want to be on the lookout for a sale.
I'd be delighted if you'd drop me a note or leave me a comment if you make a purchase.
You can purchase a copy here.
Or click on the image at the top of this post to get a preview.
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