My Trails into the Past

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 Albe...

I am very interested in the family members who never had children. There is no one to remember them. Ida Marie Colmann, formerly Ida Marie Hork, lived in Los Angeles area for many years after the death of her husband Martin J. Colmann on 17 December 1908. She never remarried and lived alone most of her life. In November 1947, Ida spent the winter with her sister, Carrie Hork, at the Grube apartment, and with her brother, Anthony Hork and family. [1] She likely stayed as in March 1949, a newspaper article mentioned she had moved to Hamilton from Los Angeles a year and a half ago. That same month she was visiting Missoula at the Hotel Florence for an indefinite stay. [2] However, in October 1949, Carrie Hork left for Long Beach, California, to be with her sister, Ida Marie Colmann, who was ill. She was accompanied by her brother, Anthony and his wife. [3] She and Ida returned to Missoula later that month. [4] In March 1950, Ida recently moved to Missoula following a stay in Hamil...

This is my second year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow . I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails Into the Past . I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways. Our theme this week is “Independent.” I have many independent maiden aunts and great-aunts. I have previously written about my Gleeson aunts in “ I’d Like to Meet Elizabeth M. Gleeson ” and “ Maiden Aunts .” My idea of independent for this week’s theme will focus on another of my unmarried aunts, my grandfather’s sister, Carolyn “Carrie” Marguerite Hork. Carrie on the right with brother, Cyril, and mother, Julia Carrie was born 16 October 1881 in Aurora, Kane County, Illinois to Johan Anton Hork and Julia Ann Sievert, their fifth child of ten. [1] She worked most of her life as a clerk in retail stores and never married. I have no idea if she ever had beaus. She had three brothers, Albert, Frank, and...

William Cyril Hork was my paternal grandfather. He was born 10 Jul 1899 in Hamilton, Ravalli County, Montana to John Anton Hork and Julia Sievert. [1] He was baptized at St. Francis Xavier Church in Missoula, Missoula County, Montana on 16 Jul 1899 by J.B. Carroll, S.J. [2] His parent’s names were listed as Casper A Hork and Juliana Civert. So had he been born in Hamilton and then the family traveled six days later to Missoula to be baptized? Or had he really been born in Missoula? The birth certificate for William Cyril was created in 1941 as a delayed birth registration. Three pieces of evidence was used to support his birth date: Family Bible, dated 1866, showed William Cyril Hork born July 10, 1899 at Hamilton; his father  John Anton Hork born in Germany and his mother Julianna Sievert born in Joliet, Illinois; and that he was the tenth child listed in the bible. Mabel M. Lindstadt, Superintendent of Schools of Ravalli County, signed and dated 10 Sep 1941...

I am participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge (April 2016) , where we write 26 blog posts featuring each letter of the alphabet. H is for the Marriage of Susan V. Hork to Andrew E. Hart Today’s post is a two-for-one. Susan Veronica Hork , the sister of my grandfather, William Cyril Hork, married Andrew Edward Hart on 20 May 1900. [1] Ravalli County Marriage Record for the marriage of Andrew Edward Hart to Susan Veronica Hork, 1900 She had just turned 23 years old on April 30. He was also 23 years old. It is not known how they met. They stated on their marriage record they were both living in Hamilton, Ravalli County, but neither of them can be found in the 1900 census. Her brother, Albert, and sister, Carolyn, were the witnesses to the marriage, performed by Father J.B. Carroll, S.J. Albert and Carolyn also lived in Hamilton. What is interesting is the marriage license and certificate were recorded in Ravalli County where Hamilton is located. I a...