Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- Where Were Your Ancestral Families in the 1950 US Census?

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:

It's Saturday Night again -

time for some more Genealogy Fun!!

Here is our assignment from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing:

1)   The 1950 United States Census release to the public is just over two years away (on 1 April 2022). 

2)   Who in your ancestral families will be in the 1950 census?  Where will they be residing,  What occupations will they have?  The official "date" was 1 April 1950.

3)  Share your conjectures with us in your own blog post, in a comment on this blog post, or in a Facebook message.  Please leave a comment on this blog noting where your conjectures are located.

Here's mine:

I wasn’t born yet and neither of my parents were married, so they were living with their parents.

1.  My father, William J. Hork, was living with his mother, Anne M. Sullivan Hork, in Concord, Contra Costa County, California. He would have been 19, almost 20, as his birthday would be April 23rd. He and his mother had moved to Concord the previous September when she took a new job as first grade teacher at Williams Elementary School.[1] Their address was 2739 Sinclair Ave.[2] My father might have worked at a service station.

2.  My mother, Lela Nell Johnston, was either still living in Walnut Creek at a rural address with her parents, Tom J & Pansy Lancaster Johnston, or her parents had already purchased the 307 Nancy Lane home in Pleasant Hill by the census date. I heard stories that she attended Acalanes High School her first two years and transferred to Mt. Diablo High School her final two years, which would have been Fall 1950 and 1951. My mother was a student. Tom may have been a carpenter, pool hall owner, or taxi driver. It will be nice to see which.

3. So the above two items covered my paternal grandmother and maternal grandparents. My paternal grandfather, William Cyril Hork, was living in Los Angeles. A voter registration had him living at the National Military Home in Precinct no. 3 in 1950.[3] He probably had no occupation.

4.  No other paternal ancestors were alive in 1950.

5. Tom J. Johnston’s father, Thomas Newton Johnston, was living in Stephenville, Erath County, Texas. His mother, Nell, was deceased. Thomas was probably retired, but did work as a manager at a lumberyard.

6.  Pansy L. Lancaster Johnston’s parents, George Warren Lancaster & Lela Ann Loveless Lancaster, were living in Stephenville, Erath County, Texas. I have no idea what work Warren did. in 1940 he was an auto mechanic.

7.  No other ancestors were alive in 1950. However, my paternal grandmother, Anne, had two aunts who were still living: Helena M. Gleeson and Mary Martha Gleeson Gilbert. Both were living in Los Angeles at 829 So. Lake Street.[4]

8.  The following siblings of my grandparents were:

• R. D. Lancaster, age 30, worked in the Air Force, so could be stationed anywhere….
• Wayne Lancaster, age 23, probably still in college. Could be listed at home with parents.
• Beryl Johnston, age 40/41, not sure. In 1948-Jan 1950, she was in Greece for certain. Not sure when she returned
• Mildred A. Bay, age 39, not sure. Married Isaac Florace Bay in 1931. (I don’t have the 1940 census—to do list!).
• Hal Wayne Johnston, age 35, Walnut Creek, Contra Costa Co, California
• Luther E. Johnston, age 32, perhaps in California, perhaps in Texas.
• Ida M. Hork Colmann, age 75, living in Hamilton, Ravalli Co, Montana
• Carrie M. Hork, age 69, living in Hamilton, Ravalli Co, Montana
• Frank W. Hork, age 66, living in Warm Springs, Deer Lodge Co, Montana at the Montana State Hospital. The 1940 census did not list the inmates, only the employees.
• Anthony Hork, age 64, Hamilton, Ravalli Co, Montana, was the Clerk and Recorder for the county, but not sure when he retired.
• Ursula C. Hork Schwalen, age 58, 1110 N 8th Street, Tacoma, Pierce Co, Washington with her husband, Bernard, and children.
• Helena M Sullivan Goe, age 67, living at 710 Hickory, Anaconda, Deer Lodge Co, Montana.
• Loretto M. Sullivan Patterson, age 65, living at 554 Randolph, Pomona, Los Angeles Co, California
• John “Jack” C. Sullivan, age 63, living at 2903 Seine Ave, Artesia, Los Angeles Co, California, electrician perhaps

9. The following siblings of my parents:

• My mother was an only child, so no siblings
• Lorene Hork, 27, either still in Napa, or perhaps in San Francisco.
• Virginia Hork, 25, perhaps with mother in Concord, or living in Los Angeles, as she was a stewardess. She married in Aug of 1950
• June Hork, 23, with her husband Eugene F. Soares, address unknown, perhaps in Concord, or in San Mateo County, California.

I can’t wait until we have access to the 1950 census and can begin looking for the above relatives!

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[1] "Williams School Enrollment", Contra Costa Gazette, Martinez, California, 1 Sep 1949, mentions Mrs. Ann Hork,  clippings/newspaper held by the Contra Costa County Historical Society History Center, Martinez, California.

[2] Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co. Contra Costa County, California, 1949, p. unk, Anne M. Hork.

[3] "California Voter Registration 1900-1968," digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com), 1950, Los Angeles Co, roll 78, Prec 3, National Military Home, William C Hork; 1950, Roll 85.

[4] Helena’s death certificate stated she died at home. I am guessing that Martha was living with her, as she was in 1942, the last directory found for them.

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