Bio: Boss, Bernard Henry (1885 - 1970)

Contact: Janet Schwarze

Surnames: Boss

---Source: Abbotsford Centennial "100 Years", 1905 Wis. State Census, WW II Draft card.

Boss, Bernard (20 Feb 1885 - 1970)

BERNARD BOSS Abbotsford was the home of a well known area poet and musician, who died in 1970. Bernard Boss He taught schools in Rib Lake, Oregon, Wisconsin, Panama and also Pasadena, California. Mr. Boss lived in the Abbotsford area and played the role of Santa Claus in area communities for many years. Boss. a writer, poet, cook, tailor, gardener and musician, helped his parents on the family farm near Abbotsford until he was twenty two years old. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Boss, moved. into the area in 1920. Henry Boss, coming from Germany, was a former wagon maker. They had eight children including, Bernard, Hugo, Arthur, Henry, Herbert, Edwin, Hattie and Walter. Bernard Boss, a University of Wisconsin graduate, left the teaching profession at the age of forty. While at the university, he sold two thousand dollars worth of music composed in his spare time. Leaving the university, he taught for eight years at Balboa, Panama Canal Zone, where he became principal of the higher education school. At the age of forty, he returned to the family farm to take care of his mother and continue self-education and mold his philosophy. After the death of his mother, he moved to another farm nearby, where for many years his front yard was a showplace of flowers and trimmed trees, until the township road was widened and many planted. trees and bushes cut down. Mr. Boss lived alone in the country for many years and when walking to the city, when he approached someone, always was ready with a poem He continued writing poetry up to his death.

Ed & Walter Boss at Logging

 The first buildings on the Henry Boss Farm.

1905 Wisconsin State Census, Holton, Marathon, Wisconsin

Name: Bernhardt Boss
Age: 20yrs.
Estimated Birth Year: Abt 1885
Birthplace: Wisconsin
Relationship to Head of Household: Son
Race: White
Gender: Male
Marital Status: Single
Place of Birth: Parent 1: Germany
Place of Birth: Parent 2: Wisconsin
Family Number: 23
Page Number: 333
Line Number: 13
Household Members
Parent Henry Boss M 60y
Parent Tina Boss F 48y
Bernhardt Boss M 20y
Walter Boss M 18y
Edwin Boss M 16y
Herbert Boss M 10y

WW II Draft Card

Name: Bernard Henry Boss
Event: Military
Event Date: 1942
Event Place: Abbotsford, Clark, Wisconsin
Residence: Abbotsford, Clark, Wisconsin
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 20 Feb 1885