My Trails into the Past

I have no one story that means a lot to me. I have many. Each story adds on to another story. My children’s ancestors were not famous. They did not do super remarkable things that made the history books. We have no Mayflower ancestors. Likely no Jamestown either. Our families came later to the United States, some in the late 1600 and 1700s, many in the 1800s, and a few in the 1900s. Some came from Britain, some from German States, and a few from Ireland and Sweden. They settled in the South, Midwest, and the West. We do not know their reasons, except those who came to the US from Sweden, as they came later and left a few stories. But most likely came for the same reasons other families came: opportunity, for something that might be better than where they were, whether for better jobs or for land they could own. Most of our ancestors were farmers. Later comers had factory jobs and trade skills such as blacksmith, machinist, electrician, or tailor. Some were entrepreneurs, owning a poo...

My grandmother, Anna Marie Sullivan Hork, was born 15 October 1892 in Anaconda, Deer Lodge Co, Montana, and died on Valentine’s Day, 1979 in Santa Clara, California. [1] I remember because my parents had a party for the immediate family and Dad got the call from one of his sisters that Nana had died. The funeral was a few days later at St. Matthews Catholic Church in San Mateo, California. [2] Afterwards, we went to my Aunt Virginia’s house where the after gathering could have been called an Irish wake. We all spoke of the great memories we had with our Nana. She was buried next to her husband in the Los Angeles National Cemetery. [3] She had married William Cyril Hork in Butte, Silver Bow County, Montana, on 30 November 1922, which was Thanksgiving Day. [4] They had five children, four who lived to adulthood. Cyril had problems with alcohol, so she left him and took her children to Napa, California, to live with her sister’s husband and start a new life. After working in his co...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:  It's Saturday Night again -  Time for some more Genealogy Fun!! Come on, everybody, join in and accept the mission and execute it with precision. Here's your chance to tell us about the neat genealogy and Family history gear you received over the holidays. 1) Was Genea-Santa good to you?  What genealogy gifts did you receive for Christmas this year?   Here’s mine. I did not receive any genealogy-related gifts from Santa, but rather from the director of the Oakland FamilySearch Center when he scheduled the Center to be open 4 days during the break for staff to come research. I took advantage of two days this past week to do some scanning. First, I scanned four Creative Memories scrapbooks. Two were ones I created for my youngest daughter and two were ones I had created for myself. I also found some old photo albums that I scanned. First, I’d scan the whole page and then each individual photo. I also fo...

My father-in-law, George Gorrell’s first cousin, Dorothy Davey Borst, was a pianist and teacher. [1] She was born on 25 June 1910 in Springfield, Missouri, to Fred James Davey and Alice C. Pfotenhauer. [2] Her father was a musician who played the trombone in bands and a music teacher who taught out of his home. So, there was music in her home growing up. Childhood By age ten, she was performing in piano recitals. In 1920, she took lessons from Miss Gladys Deaton and played Gypsy Rondo by Haydn. [3] Later that year, she performed “Faust Waltz” by Gounod Lang. [4] She performed a piano solo at the parent-teacher meeting at Weaver School in December 1920. [5] A recital held in July 1922 featured Dorothy Davey and Henryetta Looney, both students of Miss Deaton, and each played seven pieces. [6] She performed for a Kiwanis luncheon the following year. [7] She won the first-place prize in a piano solo contest of Southwest Missouri high schools in May 1924. “She was said to be the...

An heirloom we have is the autograph book belonging to Joseph Norman Gorrell. It appears the book was signed between 1893 and 1898. [1] Joseph was born on 9 March 1869 to Amos Gorrell, Jr, and Catherine E Shotts in Blackwater, Cooper County, Missouri. [2] He was the third child of six and the first son. [3] Autograph books back then were not about collecting signatures of famous people. But rather, friends, family, and classmates wrote sentimental sayings, along with their signatures. Autograph books have been around a long time. In Germany, they were called Stammbuch , Töpferalbum , or Album Amicorum (book of friends). [4] They were often used by university students, much as yearbooks are used today. This autograph book has a lovely cover with the letters “Autographs” embossed along with flowers. The pages inside have yellowed, but might have been buff colored. What would have been the occasion of Joseph receiving or purchasing the book? There is no title page, or a page that ...

Jack C. Sullivan was a soldier of the 4th Engineers during World War I. His military file was among many that burned in the 1973 fire at the National Personnel and Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis. More than 75% of the Army and Air Force records were destroyed. The NPRC sent me only the last pay voucher, a three-page listing of soldiers’ final pay. At least I have his signature. Because of that, I have had to build his service information using other documents. I have found departure and arrival passenger lists, muster rolls, rosters, and morning reports for the unit he served; all created during his service. Other records were created after his service, such as the Veterans Administration Master Index (VAMI) cards and the Montana Military Cards. [1] With this information, I have been able to construct a timeline of his activities. Still, he was mentioned only once in the morning reports, and his Montana card said he was gassed on August 5. Besides that, I do not know much about...