My Trails into the Past

The obituary said he had been in ill health for a long time. [1] Michael J. Sullivan, the youngest brother of my great-grandfather, John H. Sullivan, died on 31 October 1931. [2] He had been the president of the Sullivan Electric Company in Butte, Montana. [3] My next thought was, what was the cause of his lasting ill health? The obituary was not forthcoming, however, there was more information on the death certificate. He died at home at 162 West Granite Street of “Uraemia” he had since 2 October. [4] Uremia is when there is a buildup of waste products in the bloodstream because of untreated kidney failure. It causes nausea, vomiting, weight loss, and fatigue. Without treatment, it is fatal. [5] Besides the uremia, he also had chronic myocarditis, which is the inflammation of the heart muscle. This weakens the heart muscle making it hard for the heart to pump. [6] Another secondary condition was chronic nephritis, which is an inflammation of the kidneys. [7] This is likely t...

I am doing one big happy dance today. Besides writing about my find, I want to give a tip on how I finally found a record I had been looking for. I had been looking for the death record for my great-grandfather’s brother, the Reverend Father Albert M. Hork, for many years. He died in 1912 and I have visited his tombstone at the convent cemetery of the Sisters of St. Mary’s in Beaverton, Oregon. [1] I had searched in various Oregon death indexes online at FamilySearch and Ancestry with no luck. I really wanted to write more about him because an obituary stated “he had come to Oregon on account of his health,” and “about a year ago his health became so poor that it was necessary for him to retire from active service.” [2] More information came from the obituary written about him in the diocesan newspaper, Catholic Sentinel . It appeared that he had been of ill health all of his life:     “He left his native country and entered the Scolasticate of the Jesuit Fathers at...