My Trails into the Past

On March 4, 1918, a newspaper article was published in the Los Angeles Times about the formation of baseball teams consisting of enlisted men at the Naval Training Station in San Diego. It was Ensign J.S. Conover’s plan. He was the adjutant and athletic officer of the camp. He hoped to form six teams and they would play twice a week. Prominent baseball men were to be coaches. Art Shafer, who was a former New York Giants infielder, would instruct the infielders. The pitches would be coached by Louis Sepulveda and Bill Billings. The former captain of the University of California team would coach the outfielders. These experienced men would be great assets to the team and sure to find the best players. Many enlisted men signed up including C.W. Hork, who I believe is Cyril William Hork. [1] Checking the Statement of Service card for Cyril W. Hork, he enlisted at the recruiting station in Salt Lake City, Utah and the first training camp he was stationed at was Naval Training Camp at San ...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:  It's Saturday Night again - time for some more Genealogy Fun !! Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing has our assignment for this week: 1)  To celebrate Veterans Day, pick one of your ancestors or relatives with a military record and a gravestone.   2)  Tell us about your ancestor's military service. 3)  Tell us about your ancestor's gravestone - where is it, what is the inscription, when were you last there?  Show us a picture of it if you have one available. 4)  Write your own blog post about this ancestor and his gravestone, or share it in a Comment to this blog post, or in a  Facebook post . Here is mine: I have written about my grandfather, William C. Hork, who served in the Navy during World War I on a submarine tender. Check it out here . Today, I’d like to focus on my grandmother’s brother, John Cyril Sullivan, or as we knew him, Uncle Jack. I wrote about his early life in this post ...

This post was originally posted on  October 17, 2011 but thought it was appropriate to repost today on Veteran's Day. Seaman Cyril W. Hork My grandfather, William Cyril Hork (1899-1967) served in the United States Navy.   His active service in the Navy was between January 5, 1918, where he enlisted at Salt Lake City, Utah, and June 14, 1919 where he was discharged, again at Salt Lake City.[1] I have his Service Record and learned he used another variation of his name: Cyril Willis Hork.  You can see his signature here: I also learned where he trained and served.  His training took place in San Diego and at Mare Island, California.  He then was stationed at the U.S. Sub Base in San Pedro, California.  From March 31, 1919 to Jun 12, 1919 he served on the U.S.S. Alert. So what was this  USS Alert ?  I found information on the website  California Center for Military History  and there was a photo of the  USS Alert . ...

This is John Cyril Sullivan, my grandmother's brother.  We called him "Uncle Jack." He was born 9 Feb 1887 in Mitchell, Davison Co, Dakota Territory [1] .  The family later moved to Anaconda, Montana sometime in the 1890's.  He served during World War I.  His niece, Margaret Patterson, told me he was injured in France when hit by scrapnal in his leg and was in and out of Veteran's Hospitals most of his life because of the injury [2] . Jack lived in Los Angeles and later married Effa LaVerne Wilson.  He died 9 Aug 1978 in Claremont, Los Angeles Co, California, and is buried at the Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles next to his wife [3] . Thank you, Uncle Jack, for serving our country! [1] Baptism of John Cyril Sullivan, Holy Family Catholic Church, 321 E 3rd, Mitchell, SD 57301. [2] Letter from Margaret Patterson, dated 27 Feb 1998. [3] Calvary Cemetery, 4201 Whittier Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90023-2017; Section R, L634, grave 8. Copyright ...

Seaman Cyril W. Hork My grandfather, William Cyril Hork (1899-1967) served in the United States Navy.   His active service in the Navy was between January 5, 1918, where he enlisted at Salt Lake City, Utah, and June 14, 1919 where he was discharged, again at Salt Lake City.[1] I have his Service Record and learned he used another variation of his name: Cyril Willis Hork.  You can see his signature here: I also learned where he trained and served.  His training took place in San Diego and at Mare Island, California.  He then was stationed at the U.S. Sub Base in San Pedro, California.  From March 31, 1919 to Jun 12, 1919 he served on the U.S.S. Alert. So what was this USS Alert ?  I found information on the website California Center for Military History and there was a photo of the USS Alert . It was a submarine tender, used to refuel and supply submarines. USS Alert with four submarines in San Pedro, California [1] National Personnel R...