52 Ancestors: Week 7—Ida Marie Hork

This is week 7 of the “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge” by Amy Crow from No Story Too Small.

Ida Marie Hork was an older sister of my grandfather, William Cyril Hork, who was the youngest of ten.  She was born 24 Jan 1875 in Aurora, Illinois, nearly 24 years before him.[1]  In fact, she was probably not living at home at the time of his birth. She was listed in the Spokane, Washington 1897 city directory.[2]

1897 Spokane, Washington City Directory

She married Martin J. Colmann in Eagle, Alaska on 11 Oct 1903 at a Catholic church in the Diocese of Fairbanks.[3]  How she met Martin, I do not know. I don’t know if she met him in San Francisco where he was from or in Alaska. Many people went to Alaska during its Gold Rush.

I cannot find Ida in the 1900 census, but I did find her future husband, Martin. He was living in Eagle in the Northern Supervisors District, Alaska.  According to the census, he had arrived in Alaska Feb 1898 and was working as a bookkeeper for the N.A.T. & T.E.[4]

1900 Alaska - Northern Supervisors District - Eagle Twp - Martin J Colmann

He was also listed in the Alaska-Yukon Gazetteer & Business Directory in 1903 living in Eagle and dealing with furs.[5]

Their life together was short-lived. After returning to San Francisco, the couple survived the 1906 earthquake but later decided to move to southern California where the climate was more suited for Martin’s poor health.  Unfortunately, however, he died 17 December 1908 en route on board the steamship State of California[6]. His body was put ashore at Santa Barbara and shipped back up to San Francisco. The funeral was held 20 December 1908 and his cremated remains are at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, California.[7]

Ida lived in Southern California after her husband’s death but never remarried and she and Martin had no children.  In 1920, she was living at 436 South Olive Street in Los Angeles and worked as a telephone operator at the apartment house.[8]  She later lived in Long Beach and her nieces had fond memories of visiting her there.

She returned to Montana about 1947 to live, probably to be close to her sister, Carrie Hork and brother, Tony Hork. She died 30 May 1950 in Hamilton, Montana.[9]  She is buried at Riverview Cemetery in Hamilton.[10]  I visited the cemetery in 1999 and have a photo of her tombstone.  

Riverview Cemetery, Hamilton MT

I don’t have any photos of Ida, so if any of my cousins do, please contact me!

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[1] State of Montana, State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Death Certificate for Ida M Hork, Ravalli Co, certificate #3564, Ida M. Hork.

[2] Spokane City Directory, R.L. Polk & Co, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), 1897, p 346, Miss I Marie.

[3] Diocese of Fairbanks Archive, 1316 Peger Road, Fairbanks, AK 99709, email from David Schienle, Assistant Archivist, library@cbna.org, 1903, Colmann-Hork.

[4] 1900 Northern District, Alaska census,Eagle twp, ED13, sht 4, p 156b (stamped), line 8, Mart J Colmann.

[5] Alaska-Yukon Gazetteer & Business Directory.  RL Polk & Co., 1903: pg 94, M J Colemann.

[6] "Body Landed Here,” (Santa Barbara) Morning Press, Santa Barbara, California, 19 Dec 19 1908, news article of Martin Colmann’s death. 

[7] “San Francisco (California) Area Funeral Home Records 1835-1931,” Martin J. Colmann, H.F. Suhr & Co, pg 2512, digital image, FamilySearch.org (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 2 May 2009).

[8] 1920 Los Angeles Co, CA Census, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), Los Angeles, ED 204, Sht 9, line 66, Ida M. Coleman.

[9] State of Montana, State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Death Certificate for Ida M Hork, Ravalli Co, certificate #3564, Ida M. Hork.

[10] "Find A Grave," database and digital images, Find A Grave  (http://www.findagrave.com), Memorial# 70200340, Riverview Cemetery, Hamilton MT, Ida Marie Colman.

Copyright © 2014 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, My Trails into the Past