My Trails into the Past

This has been a hard post to write in that I could not think of anything specific to write about. I’m sure many of my ancestors had the courage to make the journeys they did to come to the United States and later make the moves further west each generation. It takes a lot of courage to leave the place you know to go to a place that is unknown. I do not know the reasons they moved. No record has been passed down either by journal or letter, so we can only guess at the reasons they may have made the journeys. Things were bad at home and another place looked better. Or the place at home was too crowded and the land further west offered new hope. Perhaps someone else moved first and wrote back saying, come! There is one person I know who must have had some courage. First to leave her husband, and then to move across the state to a new place to live. This was my paternal grandmother. She was probably thinking about her four children: three daughters and one son. Like a mother hen, she w...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:  It's Saturday Night again -  Time for some more Genealogy Fun!! Our assignment from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings is to: 1)  What is "Your Oldest Confirmed Record?"  What is one of the oldest documents you've personally found for any ancestor?  2)  Share your oldest confirmed record:  what it is, where it came from, and what it revealed.  This topic was suggested by Linda Stufflebean. Here's mine: Like Randy, my earliest documents are church records. I have a few German records from the mid-1700s for my Hork family in the area of Westphalia. The surnames I found were Döbener, Horoch, Sommer, Trösster, Voß, and others. One of the earliest is from the church, Saints Peter and Paul Church in Kirchhundem. Since it is so old, there is very little information in the church record.  All it says is: Matrimonium Joannes Rottgens Horareck ex Meggen et Dorothea Voß ex Altenhundem [apud?] Jodoco Henric...

The theme for this week’s 52 Ancestors is “A Small Detail I Love.” I discovered a small detail that warmed my heart. My grandmother, Anna Marie (Sullivan) Hork registered to vote in Los Angeles, California, as a Democrat. Her husband, William Cyril Hork, registered as a Republican. [1] She chose the party that matched her convictions and did not just follow her husband’s advice. In fact, this could have been the start of their disagreements about things that later led to their life-long separation. #52Ancestors: Week 36 – “A Small Detail I Love” This is my ninth year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow ( https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/ ) at Generations Cafe . I write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or My Trails into the Past . I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways. [1] "California Voter Registration 1900-1968," digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com), 1...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:  It's Saturday Night again -  Time for some more Genealogy Fun!! Our assignment from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings is to: 1) Have you found an unusual, chilling, amazing, or fascinating newspaper article about your ancestors?  2)  If so, please share the article and what you learned about your ancestor(s) from the article.  Provide a source citation too! Thank you to Lisa S. Gorrell for this SNGF idea. Here's mine: Several years ago, I visited the Pittsburg (Calif) Historical Society to write an article for the Contra Costa County Genealogical Society’s newsletter. I had a regular column highlighting local research resources. I was super surprised to find my mother’s names listed in a newspaper index. We lived in Pittsburg from about 1956 to 1963. It seems my mother was involved with the Junior Woman’s Club in Pittsburg and she was mentioned on various committees as each year these were chosen. Of course, she wasn’t...

Father Albert Hork, my great-grandfather’s brother, was a Roman Catholic priest. He was assigned to many parishes in Nebraska, Arkansas, and Oregon. He served in Nebraska between 1888 and 1904, when the communities were small and the areas just being settled. He tended to serve those communities with German immigrant settlers. Learning about his service from diocese records only gave the facts of locations where he served and dates of those services. Newspaper articles tended to fill in the rest of what I know. Sometimes he served as the parish priest of one church and the roving priest for neighboring church whose parish were not large enough to support a full-time priest. He was assigned as the first full-time priest at Frances Church in Randolph, Nebraska. Before his arrival, visiting priest served the parish on an irregular basis. They might say a mass once a month, baptize any children born since the last visit, and then come back again in a month. The first priest who did tha...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:  It's Saturday Night again -  Time for some more Genealogy Fun!! Our assignment from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings , is to: 1)  Sunday is Father's Day in the USA, and usually a time for memories and gratitude to our paternal birth person. 2)  For this week's SNGF, tell us three things about your father that are special and memorable to you. Here's mine: We did this this topic last year, https://mytrailsintothepast.blogspot.com/2024/06/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-three.html . Now to think of 3 other things about him. 1. My dad was the youngest with three older sisters who likely spoiled him. They called him Billy. Napa 1940 - Virginia, June, Lorene, Billy & a young Nappy 2. He liked sports and playing football. When he played quarterback, he could throw with either arm. 3. He was a Boy Scout and had a dog named “Nappy” when living in Napa. Copyright © 2011-2026 by Lisa S. Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Re...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:  It's Saturday Night again -  Time for some more Genealogy Fun!! Here is our assignment from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings : 1)  Were you lucky enough to receive or find artifacts from your ancestors (parents, grandparents, or others) as you pursued your genealogy research?   2)  Describe one or more of the artifacts you found or received and where you obtained them? Thank you to Marian B. Wood for this SNGF suggestion. Here's mine: I have written about many artifacts or heirlooms that have passed down to me, and it took a while to locate something I have not yet written about. Front side Rear Side These are medals that were given to me from my Nana (Anna Marie Sullivan Hork) along with a rosary of hers. I photographed them many years ago, but never really looked at them until today. The cross at the bottom likely came from a rosary that perhaps broke. The other items I will research some and explain them. No....

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:  It's Saturday Night again -  time for some more Genealogy Fun!! Our assignment from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings , is to: 1)  The life of every person has events and decisions that have a risk factor that can significantly affect their life. 2)  Describe a risk that one of your ancestors made that affected their life. How did it all turn out?   Here's mine: When I think about people who take a big risk, I think of those who either moved away from family to make a new life, or quit their job to start a new career. My grandfather, William Cyril Hork, who was known familiarly as Cyril, moved his family to Los Angeles from Montana sometime after his marriage to Anna Marie Sullivan on 30 November 1922. [1] Their first daughter, Lorene, was born on 3 August 1923 in Santa Monica, Los Angeles County, California, just about nine months later. [2] I don’t know much about his occupations. He tended to work as a labore...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:  It's  Saturday Night  again -  Time for some more  Genealogy Fun! ! Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!): 1)  What automobile models did your ancestors have?  Pick an ancestor and share something about their cars. Thank you to Lisa Gorrell for this week's SNGF challenge topic. Here's mine: I created a book about our parents, Bill & Lea Hork, and gave it to all my siblings and their children. This is an excerpt from the book about the cars they owned. We were not well off and rarely had a new car. I remember some of the cars Bill and Lea owned but I do not have photos of all of them. I located photos online for illustration. Chevy When our parents were married in 1952, Bill was driving a 1948 Chevy. Here is a shot of them leaving on their honeymoon. Leaving on the honeymoon in the 1948 Chevy Chevy Wagon Sometime before 1963 or 64, they h...

Some of my unexpected discoveries are learning that other siblings of our ancestors also came to the United States. We get so busy focusing on our direct lines, that we do not realize other family members immigrated, too. Sometimes they came to the same area, and sometimes they settled in other parts of the country, especially if they came years later. Unexpected discoveries can also be pleasant surprises. Finding more kin is always great, as their records can aid in taking the family back further generations. My Husband’s Family A good example is the Voehringer family. His great-grandmother, Matilda “Tillie” Wollenweber’s parents were Ludwig Wilhelm Wollenweber and Philappina Margaretha Voehringer. [1] Census records hinted that Ludwig was from Bavaria and Philappina was from Württemberg. [2] There was no obituary for Philappina, only death notices, one in English, [3] and one in German. [4] Neither gave information about next of kin. Her death certificate gave no information ...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:  It's  Saturday Night  again -  Time for some more  Genealogy Fun!! O ur assignment from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings is to: 1)  Family stories are often about "Turning Points" and "Major Decisions."   2)  This week, please describe a "Turning Point" in the life of one of your parents (or for both of them, or for grandparents).  Describe the decision, and discuss the outcome of it. Here's mine: A turning point in my father, and his sisters’ lives was when his mother and father separated sometime in the 1930s. They were living in Southern California. He was probably five or six, maybe even seven. I don’t know what year the split was. The 1937 Pomona city directory lists his dad, William Cyril Hork along with wife, Anna, at 215 ½ N. Euclid Avenue in Ontario. [1] By the 1940 census, they were listed apart. She lived at 236 East Foothill Road in Cucamonga, [2] while he lived at 215 ½ N ...

Mom made many of our clothes: dresses, jumpers, shorts, and pajamas. The only clothes she did not make were jeans, coats, uniforms, and items for the boys, though she once made matching outfits for the four oldest children.  She barely used patterns to make our clothes. Yes, she cut out the pattern pieces. She placed them carefully on the fabric and pinned them down before cutting. But I doubt she really read the instructions. She said she had her way of putting the pieces together.  One thing she did as a short cut was to forgo facings and linings. She rolled the seams at the armhole and collars. She made simple hems she could sew on the sewing machine. She had four daughters and made lots of clothes for them. One special time for sewing was those hours between when Dad left for work at 5 a.m. and we got up at 7. She hid the clothes away if they were to be gifts for birthdays or Christmas. She also made doll clothes for Barbies, baby dolls, and trolls, though the clot...