My Trails into the Past

My great-grandfather, Johan Anton Hork, appeared in just two U.S. census records: 1880 and 1900. He arrived in the United States in November of 1870, so missed that one. He likely appeared in the 1890 census, but that one does not survive. He died in 1906. 1880 Census The 1880 enumeration was conducted in Aurora, Kane County, Illinois. [1] The surname is indexed on Ancestry as Hark, but the vowel could easily be an o. His wife, Julia, and their first four children are listed in the correct order. Mary, who was born in 1873, is 7 years old. Ida, who was born in 1875, is 5 years old. Susan, who was born in 1877, is 3 years old and listed as Susie, a close enough name to Susan. And Albert, who was born in 1879, is listed as 10 months old. His wife, Julia, who was born in 1854, is 25. So far, these facts match with what is known about the family whose last name is Hork. Anton’s age of 36, suggests a birth year of 1844. That matches the age he put down on his marriage record when stating...

Outside activities included trips to the History Center, Kaiser for a colonoscopy, and the beginning of a 26-day trip to Florida, New York City, and Kansas City aboard Amtrak.   Genealogy Genealogy Volunteer/Work: I worked on answering queries and clearing the donation receiving desk at the History Center. I did not go to the Oakland FamilySearch Center this week due to preparing for the colonoscopy the following day. I have prepared the BCG webinar press release for February and it is scheduled to go out today. Genealogy Meetings:  I met with Jacqueline and we discussed attending GRIP in person this summer and then I signed up for the advanced AI class with Mark Thompson and Steve Little. I attended the Kinseekers Labor SIG and it was a roundtable discussion this month, so I talked about the community college district who did not have records of my grandfather’s employment and the school district that did not have records of my grandmother’s employment. The Communicat...

Vincent Sievert and Susanna Raduntz are my paternal 2nd great-grandparents and two of my German immigrant ancestors. They had eleven known children and lived in Joliet, Will County, Illinois, once they arrived in the United States. Pre-immigration Vincent was born on 24 January 1823 in Schneidemühl, Posen to Christoph Siewert and Anna Marianna Ewald. He was the third son and fifth child of seven. One brother and two sisters also immigrated and lived in Joliet: Johannes Daniel Sievert, Eva Sievert, and Henrietta Charlotte Sievert. Vincent married Susanna Raduntz on 10 February 1850 in Schneidemühl. He was twenty-seven and she was eighteen. The origins of Susanna are not known from this marriage record. This information was acquired by a third cousin who had hired a researcher in Poland. We do not have any documentation nor does my cousin have the paperwork anymore. This is something I wish to recreate – hoping the church records will someday be online. I do not even know the name of...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:  It's  Saturday Night  again -  Time for some more  Genealogy Fun!! Our assignment from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings:  1)  Have you researched the ancestors of your spouse (or significant other)?  Please list the names and vital records data for your spouse/SO's grandparents and great-grandparents like in an Ahnentafel Report. 2)  Have you written genealogical sketches and/or biographies for each of them?  Here's mine: I am on the California Zephyr traveling across Nevada, logging in when we get to a big city where there is cell service. Let’s start with part 2 first. Yes, I have written about my husband’s family. I wrote a three-generation book about his Nilsen family who immigrated from Sweden, and a three-generation Kinship Determination Project (KDP) about his Lundquist family for my initial BCG certification. I also write posts about them regularly on my blog. Here is the ahnenta...

Here is a photo of the John Gleeson and Margaret Tierney family at their home in Portland, Oregon. They lived in Portland from about 1901 to 1920 when Margaret died. According to records, they lived first at 486 Burnside. [1] Later, they lived at 410 Ross Street. [2]   The photo is undated. In the photo is John and Margaret with four daughters or perhaps a few granddaughters. In 1910, the following were living in the household of John and Margaret, living at 410 Ross. Elizabeth, daughter, 34 Helena, daughter, 32 William, son, 30 Margaret, daughter, 28 Frank, son, 26 [3] These daughters were single. John and Margaret had two daughters who were married. Mary Martha lived in Los Angeles and Anna lived in Anaconda, Montana. By 1912, two of Anna’s daughters, Loretto and Ethel, lived with John and Margaret after Anna died. They, too, were living at 410 Ross. [4] The dark-haired girls could be Loretto and Ethel. Another of the girls was likely Margaret, as she lived with her paren...

It’s February and time to move on to another genealogical couple, this time, my husband’s paternal 2x-great-grandparents, Frederick Henry Davey (1853-1915), and Matilda “Tillie” Wollenweber (1859-1885). Introduction Frederick Henry Davey was born on 10 October 1853 in Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania, the only child of Thomas Davey and Mary Nicholas born in the United States. He married Matilda “Tillie” Wollenweber on 26 June 1878 and they had four children: Fred James, Matilda “Tillie”, William Edward, and Leon Thomas. Matilda “Tillie” Wollenweber was born on 27 August 1859 in Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky, to Ludwig “Louis” Wilhelm Wollenweber and Philappina Margaretha Voehringer. She was the oldest child of five. She died on 1 November 1885 in Carthage, Jasper County, Missouri. Fred married her sister, Julia Wollenweber on 28 July 1887. They had one son, George Thomas Davey. Julia divorced Fred in 1892. He married Angeline McDonald Grace on 16 Mar 1898 in Jasper Coun...