52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – Week 26: Black Sheep

I am working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails Into the Past. I’m looking forward to writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.

This week the theme is black sheep, as in ancestors who didn’t behave well. Usually, these are those ancestors who caused enough trouble that their actions were found in the newspaper, making all of the details about their mishaps known to everyone within the reading public, and now with digitization, to anyone.

I don’t seem to have one of those kind of ancestors but thought about someone who just didn’t follow the norms. Or couldn’t seem to keep his act together. My great-grandfather, Johan Anton Hork, was just that.

He was born in Oberhundem, Kreis Olpe, in Westfalen on 9 November 1843.[1] He was the fifth child of ten born to Joseph Heinrich Horoch and Maria Catharine Trösster.

His father died on 5 October 1857 of dysentery when Johan was nearly fourteen years old.[2] Two of his younger siblings also died within days of their father of the same cause.

Johan came to America on 5 November 1870 aboard the SS Idaho.[3] He appeared to come alone. Why did he come? France had declared war on Prussia on 16 July 1870. Perhaps he didn’t want to be conscripted.

By 1872, he was listed in the Will County Business Directory as “Andrew Hork.” He was a merchant tailor, an occupation he would have his entire life. He worked at 7 Jefferson Street and boarded at 47 Bluff Street.[4]

He either met his future wife at church or around town. He married Julia Ann Sievert at St. John’s German Catholic Church on 6 June 1872. He was twenty-eight years old and she was eighteen.[5]

Their children were born in Joliet, Illinois; Aurora, Illinois; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Stuart, Iowa; Portland, Oregon; and lastly Hamilton, Montana. He tended to move every few years.

Sometime in the early 1900s, he deserted his family or was sent away, depending on who tells the tale. A newspaper article tells of Julia Hork making a complaint with the sheriff charging him with desertion.[6] My aunt told me he was sent away because of his drinking.

Drinking ended up being his problem. In Missoula, he was charged with being drunk and disturbing the peace on 27 Jan 1904.[7]

In 1906, he was in Sheridan, Wyoming, when he was “at his last straw.” He begged a bartender for a drink on a tab but he was refused. Instead, he drank from a vial of carbolic acid, dying that day.[8] The story was sensational that it was covered in other cities such as San Francisco and Denver, as well.[9]

The whole thing is sad. He appeared to be a good tailor. One newspaper account wrote, “Mr. Hork is a fine workman, and will get a big share of the business.”[10] My guess, he probably did good work, but the drink got into the way. Perhaps that was the reason for the constant moving until they got to Hamilton. Perhaps Julia put her foot down and said she was staying put.

Western News, 10 Apr 1901, p. 1

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[1] Kirchenbuch, 1649-1874, Katholische Kirche Oberhundem (Kr. Olpe), (Mikrofilme aufgenommen von Manuskripten im Bistumsarchiv Paderborn.Kein Verleih an europische Genealogie-Forschungsstell), Intl 1257842, "Taufen 1826-1847," p 139, baptism of Johann Anton Horoch.

[2] Katholische Kirche Oberhundem (Kr. Olpe) (Oberhundem, Westfalen, Germany), "Toten 1848-1878," Joseph Heinrich Horoch, 1847, p 33; FHL microfilm 1,257,843, item 3.

[3] "Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1957," digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com), film 336, 5 Nov 1870, SS Idaho, line 39, no. 1030, Joh Hork.

[4] R.L. Polk, Joliet City Directory (R.L. Polk & Co. Chicago), 1872 (Will County Business Directory), p 71, Andrew Hork.

[5] St. John's Catholic Church, Marriage (Church) Record of Anton Hork & Julia Sievert, Joliet, Illinois, Marriages, p 13, Hork-Sievert, 1872.

[6] “The Tailor Was a Day Ahead,” Anaconda Standard, 15 May 1902, p. 14.

[7] “Police Court Notices,” Anaconda Standard, 28 Jan 1904, p. 14.

[8] "The Carbolic Route," The Sheridan (Wyoming) Enterprise, 17 Aug 1906, p. .

[9] “Whisky or Carbolic Acid and Hork Took the Latter,” San Francisco Chronicle, 22 Aug 1906, p. 15. Also “Refused Drink; Ends His Life With Poison,” The Denver Post, 20 Aug 1906, p. 2.

[10] “Community Happenings,” Ravalli Republican, 27 April 1900.

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