Adam Bösch (then with a Umlaut on the O) came in 1795 as a military mercenary to the then Netherlands. “With a limited number of sources I have reconstructed his life course,” says Frits Bosch.
“I found his baptismal cell in Switzerland: he was born in Stein in 1762. It says on his wedding deed that he got married in Haarlem. I also found proof that he was deserted from the army in 1800. He subsequently built a existence in Haarlem. Since then we have been a Noord-Holland family.”
Build up an existence
The information from the historic sources mixed Frits Bosch with his own fantasy. That resulted in the novel The Trumbagerwho covers the entire life course of his old father. The writer: “I imagine that he wanted to build his own existence, wanted to make sure that his children would get better. He lived in a poor region in Switzerland.”
“That is why he went into the army. That was a tough life. During a large battle near Bergen, when the English and Russians took the recording against the occupying power, he was injured. He was transported to Haarlem, where he ended up in a guesthouse.”
Also in the then Haarlem it was a poverty asset at the time, especially for an injured soldier. But, Frits Bosch notes with a smile, his distant grandchildren have certainly got better.