Locating Newspaper Articles to Document Carrie Hork’s Travels

My great-aunt, Carolyn Hork, also known as Carrie, never married. She lived in Hamilton, Ravalli County, Montana and worked in the local mercantile store as a saleswoman and buyer. Because Hamilton was a small town and neighboring small-town newspapers documented the everyday activities of their area residents.

I located many articles about Carrie’s activities in newspapers from Hamilton, Anaconda, and Missoula. The articles named some of friends and described some of her travels.

Visits to her sister, Susan
The first such article found was her trip to Missoula to visit her older sister, Susan, who married Andrew Edward Hart.[1] Two years later, she visited her sister again in Missoula.[2] There were more that I could have documented.

Visits with her sister, Ida
In 1908, she took a longer trip to Oakland, California, to visit her sister[3]. Her sister was not named in the article but it was Ida Colmann, who may have moved temporarily to Oakland after the San Francisco earthquake. Another article found in a San Francisco newspaper gave me the answer. "Mr. and Mrs. Martin J. Colmann of Pacific Avenue are domiciled for the summer months in a bungalow at 726 Fifty-third street, in Oakland."[4]

In 1949, she traveled to Long Beach, California, to be with her sister, Ida, who was ill. Her brother, Tony, and his wife accompanied her to Missoula.[5] Carrie brought Ida back to Hamilton to spend the winter with her.”[6]

Visits with sister, Urselle & brother, Cyril
Her most frequent visits were to her sister, Urselle, in Tacoma.[7]  In 1951, Carrie took a two-month trip to the west coast, visiting California, Tijuana, Mexico, Oregon, and Washington. She visited with her brother, Cyril in Los Angeles, friends in South Laguna and Ontario, California, and her sister in Tacoma, Washington. She reported “a very nice trip except for the last week in Tacoma where wet snow and cold made life uncomfortable.”[8]

Visits to Kentucky to see her niece
In 1942, she traveled to Lexington, Kentucky along with her brother, Tony and his wife, and their daughters, Margie and Marion, to visit their older daughter, Alice McGee and her husband, William McGee.[9] She also visited again in 1959.[10]

Vacations with friends
In 1920 Carrie and her friends, Bethel Irwin, Laura Harper, Laura McCulloch and Caroline Gillespie, went on a car trip through “Butte, Anaconda and Wisdom, leaving Saturday and returning Monday evening by way of Medicine Springs.”[11]

In 1936, she traveled to Alaska with friends, Edna Chapin and Rose Caserly. They went on an ocean cruise and visited Juneau and Sitka. This trip lasted about a month.[12] 

Conclusion
These were just a few of the articles I found at Newspapers.com and GenealogyBank.com. I searched primarily using just the surname “Hork” and there may have been more that I did not go through. Chronicling America and NewspaperArchive.com might also be a place to check, as well as a Montana newspaper project. Be sure to check the dates covered. I had a gap between the early 1900s papers and the next ones found in 1920. It is possible there is no coverage for those years and I should check the other sites. If you do not want to subscribe, check out your nearby FamilySearch Center, that might have computers with the subscription on them.

#52 Ancestors: Week 41: Travel

This is my sixth year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow (https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/) at Generations Cafe. I write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or My Trails into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.

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[1] “Hamilton Notes,” Anaconda Standard, 27 Oct 1905, p. 11, col. 4.

[2] “Bitter Root Brevities,” The Western News, 21 Aug 1907, p. 8.

[3] “Bitter Root Brevities,” The Western News, 8 July 1908, p. 8, col. 1.

[4] San Francisco Chronicle, 5 April 1908, p. 23.

[5] Ravalli Republican, 4 Oct 1949, p. 3, col. 2.

[6] “From California,” The Missoulian Sun, 23 Oct 1949, p. 22, col. 8.

[7] “Hamilton News Briefs,” Anaconda Standard, 13 July 1925, p. 3, col. 3. Also, “Visit from Montana,” Tacoma Daily News, 14 July 1926, p. 14, col. 4. Also, “Hamilton Notes,” Montana Standard, 21 July 1929, p. unk., col. 8. Also, “Personals,” Ravalli Republic, 31 Aug 1953, p. 7.

[8] Ravalli Republic, 12 Mar 1951, p. 4.

[9] Ravalli Republic, 3 Apr 1941, p. 4.

[10] Ravalli Republic, 8 Apr 1959, p. 1.

[11] Anaconda Standard, 3 July 1920, p. 3.

[12] Ravalli Republic, 6 Aug 1936, p. 5, col. 3.

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