My Trails into the Past

Joseph Heinrich Horoch, my second great-grandfather, was born in Altenhundem, Westfalen on 3 February 1804 to Johann Horoch and Anna Gertrud Sommer. [1] He was the middle child of five. As was typical of Catholics in Germany at this time, he was baptized the next day, February 3, at the church in Kirchhundem. His godparents were Joseph Sommer of Kirchhundem and Anna Margarete Horoch of Meggen. [2] Kirchhundem and Altenhundem are located in the current state of  North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. These communities are still very small. They are situated in narrow valleys with steep hillsides. The nearest large city is Cologne, some hundred miles to the west. Altenhunden is in the top image and Kirchhundem the bottom, they were very close to each other, along with Meggen Joseph’s father was a tailor (“Schneider” in German), as was Joseph, and later, his son. Johan Anton Hork (our great-grandfather, who came to America). It was common to learn the trade of your fat...

This is week 15 of the “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge” by Amy Crow from  No Story Too Small .  I am a bit behind but intend to catch up. Today I am writing about the oldest Hork ancestor I have found, Röttger Horoch. Notice the spelling of Hork in the earlier times? I found the spelling in a variety of ways: Horrock, Horroch, Horock, and later in the 19th Century, it was spelled Hork. These were all from German church records. I have two records found in church books about Röttger: the marriage record to Dorothea Voss and his death/burial record. From the death record, he died on the 13th day of February in 1816. [1] He was approximately 87 years old. This would make him born about 1729 plus or minus a few years. There are church records going back that far in Kirchhundem. When I get better at reading the old handwriting, I will search for his birth/baptism record. Here is the death record. Don’t you love that old German handwriting? From the wee...

My great-grandfather, John Anton Hork had at least 10 brothers and sisters.  Several of them died before they reached adulthood.  Two of his siblings, Albert Hork and Clementina Hork, came to the United States.  One brother, Frederick Wilhelm Casper Hork, remained in Germany and married Elizabeth Dollberg on 5 May 1872.  They had a least two children: Anna Bernadine and Friedrich Hork.  The baptismal records microfilmed by the LDS Church stops at 1876.  So there may be more children that I don’t know about yet.  Friedrich Hork was born on 16 September 1874 in Elpse, in Kreis Olpe, Westfalia, Germany.  I have the baptismal record showing his parents as Friedrich Hork and Elisabeth Dollberg. I do not know any more about the lives of the Horks that remained in Germany.  Hopefully, I can find some information soon. Happy 138 th Birthday to Friedrich Hork! Copyright © 2012 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, My Trails into the P...