My Trails into the Past

Many years ago, when I first started genealogy research, I wrote a letter to St. John the Baptist Church in Joliet asking if they had a marriage record for my great-grandfather, John (Johan) Hork to Julia Sievert in 1872. I knew that my grandfather, William Cyril Hork, was Catholic and hoped they were married in the church. What I had for the marriage date and place was from an Illinois marriage index. Images of records weren’t online yet. I also asked about any baptisms held there for any of their children. What I got back was a taped-together page of a two-page spread from the church book. They married in 1872 and were listed on line number 9. [1] Because this was a German Catholic Church, I got more than the groom and bride’s names and the date of the marriage. I also got their parent's names and the places they came from. But I did not get the column headings and had to guess what they were. Fortunately, the priest did not write in the Fractur script, so I was able to read i...

This is week 12 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. I am writing about my great-great grandfather, Vincent Sievert. I have no photo of Vincent, so do not know what he looked like, but I have photos of his daughter, Julia, who was my great-grandmother. Vincent was one of my German immigrant ancestors. He was born in Schneidemühl, Kolmar county in the Provence of Posen, which is now in Poland, to Christoph Siewert and Anna Marianna Ewald. [1]   It is thought that Vincent was born on 23 Jan 1823 because his obituary stated he died on his 67th birthday. [2] He married Susanna Raduntz in Posen and they came together to America, arriving on 23 Jun 1852 aboard the Johanna Elise with one child, a 6 month old boy, named August. [3]   Vincent Sievert, wife, susanna, and son, August aboard the Johanna Elise , arriving in NY, 23 Jun 1852 Vincent wasn’t the only one in hi...

Julia Ann Sievert was born 31 Oct 1854 in Joliet, Will Co, Illinois [1] , the second child of eleven known children of Vincent Sievert and Susana Raduntz.  Her parents came from Schneidemühl, Posen, Prussia [2] which today is in Poland. Riverview Cemetery, Hamilton, MT Julia married Johan Anton Hork in Joliet on 6 June 1872 [3] .  They had ten children, the youngest, William Cyril Hork, my grandfather. John was a tailor and the family moved often when he searched for work.  Finally the family settled in Hamilton, Ravalli County, Montana. [4]  John and Julia were separated and John died in Sheraton, Wyoming in 1906. Julia Ann (Sievert) Hork with granddaughter & daughter -in-law, Anne (Sullivan) Hork Julia continued living in Hamilton until her death 4 Aug 1928. [5]  I know she did some traveling as I have a photo of Julia holding my grandfather's first child in California.   Julia was buried in Riverview Cemetery in ...