Last week, I viewed Billie Stone Fogarty’s webinar titled “School Censuses: What, When, and Where” at Legacy Family Tree Webinars. Many of her examples were from Oklahoma, so I decided to check out what I could learn about the school censuses in Hamilton, Ravalli County, Montana. I view many webinars, but if one doesn’t actively apply what they learned from a webinar, the knowledge will be lost.
Hamilton, Montana, is where my grandfather, William Cyril Hork, was born in 1899. He was the youngest of ten children born to Johan “John” Anton Hork and Julia Ann Sievert. FamilySearch has school census records from Ravalli County starting in 1900 and continuing until 1940. They are not indexed. They cannot be searched using full-text search. However, they are imaged.
My grandfather would be in the census at least up to 1920. His siblings would be in the earlier years. Urselle was born in 1892, Raymond in 1889, Tony in 1886, Frank in 1884, Carrie in 1881, and Albert in 1879. Perhaps Albert would be too old. Susan and Ida were definitely too old at ages 25 and 23.
Opening the first image, the folder indicated 1900, no. 3. It was the report of R. A. O’Hara, district clerk of School District no. 3 in Ravalli County, Montana. The sheets list children in family groups, in alphabetical order. Luckily, I found the Hork family in this group. The eldest child listed was Carrie at age 19, then Frank, 16, Anthony, 13, Raymond, 10, Ursulla, 8, and Cyril, 1. J. A. Hork was listed as the parent.[1]
The 1900 census is the first document I have showing the family in Hamilton, Montana.[2] Before that, John considered opening a tailor shop in Hamilton.[3] He partnered with E. N. Rainville in a general merchant tailor business on East Main Street, next door to the Hotel Hamilton. This article mentioned that John was from Missoula.[4] I need to check Missoula County’s school census records next.
Newspaper Search
School censuses were taken earlier than 1900. In 1893, the census
report showed seventy-five scholars and a total of 118 children in District 9,
which is likely in Darby.[5]
Bob O’Hara made a school census tour of Allison Addition in Hamilton in
November 1893.[6] He
might be the same R. A. O’Hara from the 1900 school census.
An 1894 article explained public school procedures. The
Boards of Trustees have direct control of their districts. Districts with a population
of less than 1,000 have three-member boards, one elected by popular vote. In
districts with more than 1,000, the boards have seven members, elected by
voters. The support of districts is derived from:
- County school tax is levied in each county, and is apportioned to the district in proportion to the school census, children between 6 and 21 years.
- District taxes, as voted by a special meeting for a special purpose.
- Fines and penalties arising from a breach of penal laws of the state.
- Money derived from the sale of town lots, which are part of the school lands.
- Money arising from an unappropriated county road tax.
- The interest on the principal of all money arising from the sale of all school lands granted by the Congress of the United States.[7]
In 1900, Albert Hork was engaged to take the school census for school district no. 3, the Hamilton district.[8] Nowhere on the census report does it mention who conducted the census. Since Albert, the eldest son, took the census, the information would be something he would have known. Of course, copying errors could occur when the report was compiled on O’Hara’s form.
Though I have not found any explanation on how the census was conducted or what the boundaries of District No. 3 were, the money from the state was allocated to the county and divided among the districts based on the number of school-aged children, thus one of the reasons for the school census.[9]
In 1901, the Montana legislature passed a bill changing the dates of the census from August 1-20 to September 1-20.[10] Later that fall, the compulsory attendance law was to be enforced. Students between the ages of 8 and 14 must attend at least twelve weeks, with six being consecutive. The school census was used to determine who might not be attending school. The directors are subject to a fine for failing to enforce the law, and the parents were also liable to punishment.[11]
In August of 1902, Miss Kittie Ostermeyer, the county superintendent of schools, sent out blank forms for the school census to the various school trustees. The reports were to be returned by October 1.[12] Now I know the forms used came from the county. The results of that year’s census were reported in October. All the districts were listed, and Hamilton was District No. 3. There was an increase of 14 children from 1901.[13]
In 1908, a notice in the paper reported that the school census would take longer, because “unusual data is required this year.”[14] The form of the census did change in 1908. Only District no. 14 is available at FamilySearch. However, 1909 had the same form. Only Urselle and Cyril are listed. Their full birthdates and ages are listed.[15]
 |
| 1909 School Census |
Summary
The school
census appears to be important for the allocation of school funds from the
state to the county, and from the county to the school boards. These funds were
part of the money districts used to pay their costs: salaries for teachers and
janitors, textbooks, supplies, building maintenance, and heating costs. Districts
took out bonds to build new school buildings. With Montana counting not only
the current students but also the children under school age, they could better
plan for future years.
I followed the family through each available census. They were just counted, but there is no indication whether they were still attending school, especially as they got older.
#WebinarWednesday
This is a new series where I further investigate a topic after attending a webinar. This way, I am applying what I learned.
All websites were accessed on 28 Sep 2025.
[1]
Ravalli County, Montana, school census, 1900, School District No. 3, J.A. Hork
children, imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99Q2-JP16);
citing IGN 005873639, image 9 of 1417.
[2] 1900
US census, Ravalli County, Montana, pop. sched., ED 81, sheet 15a, p 33
(stamped), household/family 285, John A Hork; NARA T623, roll 914.
[3] “Highway
and Byway,” Missoula Democrat, 12 Apr 1898, p. 4, col. 1, imaged, Newspapers.com
(https://www.newspapers.com/image/957327994/).
[4] “Bitter
Root Brevities,” The Western News (Stevensville, Mont), 20 Apr 1898, p. 5, col.
2, imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/957847810/).
[5] “Darby
Letter,” Bitter Root Times (Hamilton, Mont), 13 Oct 1893, p. 2, col. 4,
imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/957898895/).
[6] “Local
Mentions,” The Western News (Hamilton, Mont), 29 Nov 1893, p. 1, co. 3, imaged,
Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/957857734/).
[7] “Montana
Schools,” The Western News, 21 Nov 1894, p. 1, col. 1, imaged, Newspapers.com
(https://www.newspapers.com/image/957858698/).
[8] “The
Local Field,” The Ravalli Republican and Bitter Root Times, 3 Aug 1900,
p. 5, col. 3, imaged, Newspaper.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/442726475/).
[9] “Apportionment
of School Money is Made,” The Ravalli County Democrat, 6 Mar 1901, p. 5,
col. 4, imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/957935358/).
[10] The
Western News, 28 Aug 1901, p. 4, col. 2, imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/343162061/).
[11] “Are
After the Truants,” The Ravalli County Democrat, 13 Nov 1901, p. 1, col.
5, imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/957938750/).
[12] “Additional
Local,” The Ravalli Republican, 22 Aug 1902, p. 4, col. 2, imaged, Newspapers.com
(https://www.newspapers.com/image/442775417/).
[13] “School
census,” The Ravalli Republican, 10 Oct 1902, p. 8, col. 2, imaged, Newspapers.com
(https://www.newspapers.com/image/442785528/).
[14] “Taking
School Census,” The Western News, 9 Sep 1908, p. 2, col. 5, imaged, Newspapers.com
(https://www.newspapers.com/image/957786027/).
[15] Ravalli
County, Montana, school census, 1900, School District No. 3, Mrs. Julia Hork’s
children, imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9Q2-JPPQ);
citing IGN 005873639, image 1226 of 1417.
Wonderful to see the full names/ages of children, and the adult's name too! A nice addition to your research into this family.
ReplyDeleteIt's like a city directory for kids.
DeleteThe Oklahoma school census is excellent. My husband's family was there and, lacking birth records, they helped fill in children in the family, including a few who died young.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you were able to use those from Oklahoma.
Delete