My Trails into the Past

   My father's sister, Lorene, passed away this week on 26 Nov 2012.  She died peacefully in her sleep.  She was my father's oldest of three sisters.  Here is a short bio I wrote in 2004. Lorene High School       Ethel Lorene Hork was born Aug 3, 1923 in Santa Monica, California.  She attended St. George's Catholic Grammar School and Chaffey Union High School in Ontario. In grammar school, Lorene remembers "skipping second grade to the third grade and crowning the Blessed Virgin in Our May Church procession." She also won the American Legion School award.       Her first job was as an usherette in a movie theater in Napa. She was paid $12.00 a week. She worked for the Army as a civilian for 18 months and lived in Japan not far from the Imperial Palace. After working there, she traveled around the world with friends visiting Asia, the Middle East and Europe. She returned to the United States on the Queen Mary. Lore...

This post was originally posted on  October 17, 2011 but thought it was appropriate to repost today on Veteran's Day. Seaman Cyril W. Hork My grandfather, William Cyril Hork (1899-1967) served in the United States Navy.   His active service in the Navy was between January 5, 1918, where he enlisted at Salt Lake City, Utah, and June 14, 1919 where he was discharged, again at Salt Lake City.[1] I have his Service Record and learned he used another variation of his name: Cyril Willis Hork.  You can see his signature here: I also learned where he trained and served.  His training took place in San Diego and at Mare Island, California.  He then was stationed at the U.S. Sub Base in San Pedro, California.  From March 31, 1919 to Jun 12, 1919 he served on the U.S.S. Alert. So what was this  USS Alert ?  I found information on the website  California Center for Military History  and there was a photo of the  USS Alert . ...

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings has a fun Saturday blog activity and today I decided to play.  What the Name Roulette is: Find the name of one of your great-grandmothers. Divide her birth date by 90 and round to the nearest whole number.  Use that number to find the ancestor in your tree with the same Ahnetafel number. Write 3 facts about that ancestor. To find the roulette number I took the birthdates of all four of my great-grandmothers and found that by dividing by 90, I came up with the same rounded number of 21.  The ancestor with 21 is my great-great-grandmother, Mary Sheehan. Mary Sheehan was born probably in Cahirkeem, Co Cork, Ireland. (1)  I do not know her exact birthdate.  The two census entries (1870 & 1880) in the United States have her birth year as 1827 and 1832. Her tombstone listed her age as 70 making her birth in 1832. She married Jeremiah Sullivan sometime around 1841-1842, as their first child was born in Nov 1843. (2) ...

Anna Marie Sullivan    On this day, 15 October 1892, my grandmother, Anna Marie Sullivan was born in Anaconda, Deer Lodge County, Montana.  She was the youngest child of six born to John H. Sullivan and Anna Marie Gleeson.  She was one hundred percent Irish, even though her mother was born in Ontario Province, Canada to second generation Irish immigrants.   Her parents came to the United States in 1879 and lived first in Mitchell, Davidson County, South Dakota before settling down in Anaconda, Montana, where her father worked as an electrician at the Anaconda Mining company.   When Anna was twenty years old, her mother died.  By now, she was attending the Montana State Normal College in Dillon, Montana, where she played basketball, volleyball, and sang in the Glee Club.  She then spent her time teaching. Glee Club - Anna is in the center right   I don't know how she met her future husband, William Cyril Hork, but they married ...

    Susana Julia Sievert is a younger sister of my great-grandmother, Julia Ann Sievert, who married Johan Anton Hork.  Susana was born 20 Sep 1863 in Joliet, a city in Will County, Illinois. [1]   Susanna was the sixth child of Vincent Sievert and Susana Raduntz.  Susana was obviously named after her mother.  Vincent and Susana Sievert came from Schneidemühl, Posen, part of present day Poland that had been heavily settled by Germans until the end of the World War II. [2]     Susana Julia married Louis Aloysius Raub sometime between 1904 and 1906 when Louis moved to a new address, possibly signaling a marriage. [3]   Prior to his marriage, he lived with his mother and brothers.  Louis had his own business, L. A. Raub Co., which sold clothing, hats, and men’s furnishings. [4]   Louis’ parents were Germans who came in the late 1840’s from Alsace-Lorraine. [5]     Louis had a sixth grade education while Susana compl...

My great-grandfather, John Anton Hork had at least 10 brothers and sisters.  Several of them died before they reached adulthood.  Two of his siblings, Albert Hork and Clementina Hork, came to the United States.  One brother, Frederick Wilhelm Casper Hork, remained in Germany and married Elizabeth Dollberg on 5 May 1872.  They had a least two children: Anna Bernadine and Friedrich Hork.  The baptismal records microfilmed by the LDS Church stops at 1876.  So there may be more children that I don’t know about yet.  Friedrich Hork was born on 16 September 1874 in Elpse, in Kreis Olpe, Westfalia, Germany.  I have the baptismal record showing his parents as Friedrich Hork and Elisabeth Dollberg. I do not know any more about the lives of the Horks that remained in Germany.  Hopefully, I can find some information soon. Happy 138 th Birthday to Friedrich Hork! Copyright © 2012 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, My Trails into the P...

   Randy Seaver of GeneaMusings has a fun activity on Saturday afternoons and asks other genealogists to join in the fun.  This week's activity is to find the number of your ancestors you have identified in your research.  If you have researched back 10 generations, that would add up to 1023 ancestors, including yourself.  Wow, that's a lot of people!  I wonder how many I have found?    I use RootsMagic to record my genealogy and created a report called "Ahnentafel of Lisa Suzanne Hork".  It lists my ancestors using the Antentafel Numbering System.  1 is for myself, 2 is my father, and 2+1=3 is my mother.  Now you double your father and my grandfather's number is 4, and add 1 to that number for his wife, my paternal grandmother and she is 5.  Do the same for my mother (3X2=6 (maternal grandfather) and 6+1=7 (maternal grandmother).  Here's a short chart to illustrate the numbering system: me father mother...

Today is the 178 th anniversary of the birth of Susan Nicholas Davey (1834- ).  She was the second child of my husband’s great-great grandfather and an older sister of his great grandfather, Frederick Henry Davey (1853-1915). Susan is one of my researching mysteries that I have been actively working on.  As you can see, I have a date for her birth but no date for her death.  Susan was born 11 Aug 1834 and baptized at St. Agnes parish in Cornwall, England on 2 Nov 1834 (1).  Familysearch.org has placed the Cornwall Parish Registers 1538-1900 online and although there are no indexes, I was able to find the baptism record because I knew her birthdate from a photocopy of the Davey Family Bible.  The family was living at Mount Hawke. St. Agnes Parish, Cornwall, England - Susan Davey baptism November 2, Susan Nicholas, daughter of, Thomas & Mary Davey, Mount Hawke, Smith, George Bellomy, Curate. I found the family in the 1841 & 1851 cens...

My great grandfather, John Anton Hork, had one sister who also immigrated to the United States.  I do not know if he ever knew she came to the U.S. She settled in Brooklyn, New York and worked as a dressmaker.  I have found her in several city directories and the 1900, 1910, and 1920 census. 1902 Brooklyn, NY city directory, p 600 for Clementine Hork (1) She lived her final years at the Home for the Aged, which was run by the Little Sisters of the Poor.  She died 5 Sep 1928 and I have just received a copy of her death certificate.  It says she is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery. Clementine Hork death certificate 1928 (2) Happy 161st Birthday, Clementine! (1) Lain & Healy, Lain & Healy's Brooklyn Directory , digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), 1900: 600, Clementine Hork; <http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 19 Jan 2011. (2) Clementine Hork, death certificate 18531 (1928), City of New York Municipal Archives...

1961 Copyright © 2012 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, My Trails into the Past

Our genealogy society had a meeting this month at the Concord Family History Center.  Actually, we call it a workshop, so members can use the computers, books, and microfilms after the center has closed.  I let other members have access to the computers and checked out the binder listing all of the microfilm records the center had available.  The films were listed by locality and I saw many films of Louisville, Kentucky and got excited. I'm looking for Louis W Wollenweber, my husband's gg-grandfather, who was from Germany.  He married Phillapena Voehringer, also from Germany, in 1858.  We had the date based on a transcript of a family bible.  Now I have the record as recorded in the marriage register: Louisville, Kentucky Marriage Register, Sep 1858, p 98 (left side of register) This side of the page reads:       Sep 3, Louis W. Wollenwebber & Phillippena Voehringer, Augustus Bargas  Augustus Bargas is the person who marri...

Last week, Michael John Neill wrote about German maps found on Ancestry.com.  I decided to give it a try and find the home town of my Horks:  Oberhundem.  I followed the same instructions Michael gave and found it in no time.  Oberhundem in part of Westfalia, which today is the German state of North Rhein-Westphalia.  According to Wikepedia, it is "the most populous state with 4 of the countries' 10 largest cities." Here is the map from Wikepedia: Oberhundem is a small town and is near Arnsberg at the edge of Sauerland.  The maps on Ancestry are historical maps.  I made the map large and then cropped it so I could see just the three towns where I found church records for the Hork, Trosster, and Soemmer families. Germany, Topographic Maps, 1860-1965, 1898 Attendorn map, Ancestry.com I found church records in Oberhundem, Kirchhundem and Altenhundem.  If you look close enough, you can imagine one of the little squares was their house...

Ancestry.com just released some New York state census records.  I have not been able to find my great grandfather's sister, Clementine Hork since a 1902 Brooklyn city directory and a 1910 census in Brooklyn, Kings Co, NY.  She arrived in America in 1891 with her brother, Albert M. Hork. In Brooklyn in 1900 and 1902, Clementine was listed as a seamstress.  My great grandfather was a tailor.  When I find her in 1925 in Brooklyn, she is living in The Little Sister of the Poor Home for the Aged. 1925 New York State Census, Kings Co, Brooklyn, block 4, ED 8, p 42, line 24, Clementine Hork Now to find her between 1910 and 1925.  I will look in the 1920 census again and in more Brooklyn city directories. I also want to find when she died.  I should research this Poor Home for the Aged.  It probably was run by Catholic nuns. Copyright © 2012 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, My Trails into the Past

I have recently found the marriage banns (the announcement of the intent to marry) and marriage record for my husband's 2nd great-grandparents, Thomas Davey & Mary Nicholas at FamilySearch.org.  I knew the location of their marriage from the transcription of the Davey Family bible. [1]  The bible was dated 1859, published in Cincinnati, Ohio, so was purchased and filled out after they arrived in the United States.  Besides the marriage date, this bible lists the birth dates of the children.  Their son, Thomas N. Davey added notes on 28 Nov 1902 about the births and deaths of Thomas & Mary. Thomas Davey and Mary Nicholas were married in St. Agnes Parish in Cornwall County, England.  The bible stated the date as 23 Feb 1832.  However, I did not find the marriage on that date.  First let's look at the marriage banns: "E ngland, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-2010," www.familysearch.org : accessed 16 May 2012, citing Marriage Banns 1788-1...

Loretto M. Sullivan 1885-1972 My great-aunt, Loretto.  I visited her in the summer of 1969.  She had such a great sense of humor and we loved hearing her stories every night at dinner.  Too bad I don't remember any of them now. Copyright © 2012 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, My Trails into the Past

In the early days of searching the 1940 census, California was one of the states available on Ancestry.  My husband and I searched through several Sacramento enumeration districts (EDs) for his father, thinking that he was already living in California on April 1, 1940.  He worked at McClellan Airfield before World War II as an aircraft mechanic.  However, we did not find him living with Mrs Hansen at her boarding house. Next we searched the home of his parents, and there we found him. 1940 Federal Census, Jasper Co, Missouri, ED 49-33, sht 11a George is on the right George's father, Joseph N Gorrell can be found on line 10.  The family lived at 502 South Pennsylvania Street in Webb City.   Joseph owned his home, worked as a shopman for the utility company, was married and attended 8 years of school. We found George, age 25, completed 4 years of high school, working at a floorman at garage.  We have a photo of George in front of the service st...

It took a while to find, first waiting for Ancestry to put San Bernardino Co, CA online, but after searching through 35 pages of Cucamonga (ED 36-36), I found my father! Cucamonga, San Bernardino Co, California, ED 36-36, p 472 They were not at the address I expected (278 San Bernardino Ave) but rather at 236 East Foothill Blvd.  Luckily for me, they were still in the same Enumeration District. What did I learn from this census?  My grandmother was working in a cafe as a waitress.  She finished 4 years of college.  The family lived in Ontario, San Bernardino Co, CA in 1935.  She worked 46 hours in the week, worked 52 weeks during the year, and made $650.  Monthly rent was $20.  There is one error:  Anna was not born in California, but rather Montana. My father, William, was 9 years old, and completed grade 4.  I suspect that was the grade he was in at the time of the census.  All of the children were listed as attending school...

It's Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun!! My mission is to: 1) Pick one of the persons from your ancestry who should be in the 1940 United States Census. 2) Using the column headings below (from 1940 United States Census Questions ), predict what the entries will be in each column. 3) Share your predictions on your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook status or a Google Plus post. I chose my father, William J Hork, who might be living in Rancho Cucamonga, California. this will be my father's first census. He was born Apr 23, 1930, so his mother was very pregnant in the 1930 census. I just missed seeing him by days. * State: California * Populated Place: Rancho Cucamonga * Ward of City: ??? * County: San Bernardino * Township or other division of county: ??? * Block Nos.: ??? * Enumeration District: 36-36 (I hope) 1. Location - street, avenue or road: San Bernardino Ave 2. Location - house num...

This is a blogging theme for the month of March which is Women's History Month. I'm a bit behind but do want to participate in the daily blogging posts. These 31 posts will be posted between my two blogs " My Trails Into the Pas t " and " Mam-ma's Southern Family ." March 19 — Have you discovered a surprising fact about one of your female ancestors? What was it and how did you learn it? How did you feel when you found out? My grandmother, Anna M Sullivan's aunt was Helena M Gleeson.  Helena never married and was a school teacher at Prescott School in Anaconda, Montana.  What surprised me was what I found in a city directory:  in 1936, she was listed as Principal! Anaconda City Directory, 1936, p 32 Now I need to do some research about Prescott School in Anaconda.  I will contact the Historical Society and the School District to see what I can find about her career there. Copyright © 2011 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, My Trails into the P...

This is a blogging theme for the month of March which is Women's History Month. I'm a bit behind but do want to participate in the daily blogging posts. These 31 posts will be posted between my two blogs " My Trails Into the Past " and " Mam-ma's Southern Family ." March 18 — Shining star: Did you have a female ancestor who had a special talent? Artist, singer, actress, athlete, seamstress, or other? Describe. Anna is in the center to the right of the teacher My grandmother, Anna Marie Sullivan, attended Montana Normal College, and I have her college yearbook.  In the yearbook I found she was on the basketball team and the Glee Club.  What I remember most about my Nana, was that she was always singing.  She taught us to sing little ditties while washing dishes.  That always made washing dishes much more fun. I don't think she ever sang formally, such as in a church choir or other chorus after college.  She was an elementary school teach...

This is a blogging theme for the month of March which is Women's History Month. I'm a bit behind but do want to participate in the daily blogging posts. These 31 posts will be posted between my two blogs " My Trails Into the Past " and " Mam-ma's Southern Family ." March 17 — Social Butterfly? What social organizations or groups did your mother or grandmother belong to? Sewing circle, church group, fraternal benefit society or lodge? Describe her role in the group. My mother, Lea Johnston, served as Social Secretary in her Freshman year. Later after she was married to my father, William J Hork and had a couple of children, was a member of the Junior Women's Club in Pittsburg, California.    From a newspaper clipping in the  23 Jun 1960  Oakland Tribune ,  I learned: " Junior Club Officers Inducted .  The Junior Women's Club of Pittsburg has installed Mrs. Bess Gibson as president, succeeding Mrs. Edward Marchoke.  Other 1960-...

This is a blogging theme for the month of March which is Women's History Month. I'm a bit behind but do want to participate in the daily blogging posts. These 31 posts will be posted between my two blogs "My Trails Into the Past" and " Mam-ma's Southern Family ." March 15 — Write a six-word memoir tribute to one of your female ancestors. This is an interesting project.  I'm to write a memoir of someone with just six words.  Here goes: Lea Nell Hork:   Creative, artistic, loving mother of six. Copyright © 2011 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, My Trails into the Past

This is a blogging theme for the month of March which is Women's History Month. I'm a bit behind but do want to participate in the daily blogging posts. These 31 posts will be posted between my two blogs "My Trails Into the Past" and " Mam-ma's Southern Family ." March 14 — Newsmakers? Did you have a female ancestor who made the news? Why? Was she famous or notorious? Did she appear in the social column? No female ancestor that I have found has been the subject of "news" in the newspaper, however many ancestors have been the subject of Society News.  My husband's grandmother, Matilda (Davey) Gorrell was very active in Society affairs in Webb City, Missouri.  She was active with her church group, Joplin (Missouri) Globe, 9 Oct 1938, p B3 the Webb City Temperance Union, and with the Webb City Garden Club.   Joplin (Missouri) Globe , 13 Jul 1947, p B3 I even found a notice of her illness. Joplin (Missouri) ...

This is a blogging theme for the month of March which is Women's History Month. I'm a bit behind but do want to participate in the daily blogging posts. These 31 posts will be posted between my two blogs "My Trails Into the Past" and " Mam-ma's Southern Family ." March 13 — Moment of Strength: share a story where a female ancestor showed courage or strength in a difficult situation. Julia A. Hork This was a difficult theme for me.  I feel I don't know my female ancestors well enough to answer this. But I came up with my great-grandmother, Julia (Sievert) Hork.  She separated from my great-grandfather, John A. Hork. It probably took a lot of courage to send your husband out of the house.  I don't know any of the details.  He probably drank too much.  And because of the drinking problem, probably had little work.  He was a tailor.  Newspaper articles I have found said he was an excellent tailor.  But maybe the drinking got in the way ...

This is a blogging theme for the month of March which is Women's History Month. I'm a bit behind but do want to participate in the daily blogging posts. These 31 posts will be posted between my two blogs "My Trails Into the Past" and " Mam-ma's Southern Family ." March 11 — Did you have any female ancestors who died young or from tragic or unexpected circumstances? Describe and how did this affect the family? Ethel Quigley with son, John I have not found any direct line female ancestors who died young or from a tragic or unexpected circumstance.  However my grandmother, Anna Sullivan's sister, Ethel E. Quigley, died young on 26 Oct 1927, directly following the birth of her second child, Ann.  The baby died, too. Ethel was born 11 Feb 1891 in Montana to John H. Sullivan and Anna Marie Gleeson.  She was their youngest child and she grew up in Anaconda, Montana.  When her mother died in 1912, she moved to Portland, Oregon to live with her gra...