My Trails into the Past

    The 1940 census will be available for viewing in just over a month.  I have April 2 marked as a day free of any other activities so I can jump in and search for family in the census.  There will not be an index at the start.  FamilySearch.org is organizing many groups to begin indexing as soon as the census is available on Apr 2.  I am signed up and can't wait to do some indexing in Texas & California.     So since there will not be an index on the 2nd, my first list of family to search for will be those who lived in small towns or counties where I can search page by page for them.  Here is a list of a few I will start: My father, William J Hork , his mother Anne Hork , sisters, Lorene , Virginia , and June .  They were living in  Cucamunga, California, according to a 1940 city directory. My grandfather, William C Hork .  He was living in Ontario, CA, according to a 1940 city directory. Stephenville, Erath Co, Tex...

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing has Saturday Night Genealogy Fun every week and this week he is asking us to focus on one of our ancestors. We start by picking the year our paternal grandfather was born.  My grandfather, William Cyril Hork was born 1899.   Now divide that date by 100 and round up.  So that would make 19.   I now find no. 19 in my pedigree.  That is Susanna Raduntz.   Now I tell three things I know about her. Susanna Raduntz was born around 1832 in Posen, Prussia (which is in present day Poland).  This information is from the marriage record of her daughter, Julia Ann Sievert to Anton Hork at St. John's Catholic Church in Joliet, Ill.  (This record was a gold mine, listing the birth towns of both sets of parents). She married Vincent Sievert on 10 Feb 1950 in Schneidemuhl, Posen, Prussia.  After first son was born, they came to the U.S. and settled in Joliet, Will Co, Illinois  They then had an additional 10 chi...

Beryl Johnston - Athens, Greece 1948  Copyright © 2011 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, My Trails into the Past

Christmas music is my favorite part of the Christmas Season.  I always remember Christmas records being played on the stereo at home as we trimmed the tree and Christmas music played on the radio from Christmas eve through Christmas Day.  At school we sang Christmas songs, though I don't remember any exact titles.  In 7th and 8th grade, I was in Girls & Boys Chorus and we once went to Rossmoor (the local senior community) and sang Christmas songs.  One of the songs I remember singing was "O Come, All Ye Faithful" because we sang a verse or two in Latin.  So I guess we sang both religious and secular songs in those days. I had fond memories of one particular record by Burl Ives that had "The Twelve Days of Christmas" on it.  My work partner found the record for me on eBay and it is very nice to now listen to it again at Christmas.  My daughters took piano lessons and played Christmas songs through the New Year. My favorite Christmas songs are (n...

Lisa with daughters, Elizabeth (age 8) & Margaret (age 6), 1997 When scanning photos for the Christmas Cookies post, I found this photo taken of my daughters and me with matching Holiday dresses.  I'm pretty sure I ordered them from a catalog, though I don't remember which one.  In order to get the most out of the dresses, we wore them everywhere we could: a Christmas party at my friend, Beth; church on Christmas eve, and then to my parents on Christmas Day.  The girls might have worn them to school on the final day before winter break. Copyright © 2011 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, My Trails into the Past

I have fond memories of Christmas Cookies, both baking and eating!  My mother always had us make sugar cookies we rolled out onto the large kitchen table and cut using the many different shapes.  I was very fond of the tree, Santa & sleigh, and star shapes.  Once baked, we then decorated them with colored frosting and sprinkles.  I remember the old silver and gold sprinkles made with traces of real metal! When I had children, we cut cookies at our kitchen table, too.  I collected many different cookie cutters and my daughters enjoyed rolling, cutting, and frosting the cookies.  The photos here show my daughters with friends at a friend's house having a Christmas Cookie party. Elizabeth, Mike, Aaron & Margaret Adam & Margaret As you can see, there was always lots of flour around--on the table, in their clothes, and hair!  But they had such a wonderful time creating their masterpieces--each cookie carefully deco...

Anna Marie Sullivan 1892-1979      My grandmother, Anna Marie Sullivan was born 15 Oct 1892 in Anaconda, Deer Lodge Co, Montana to John H. Sullivan and Anna Marie Gleeson.  She was the last of six children (four girls and one boy).      She was baptized 19 Oct 1892 at St. Paul's Catholic Church in Anaconda.  I have a copy of her baptism certificate but it is not the original.  This certificate is dated 1953.  I don't know why my grandmother obtained a new copy of her baptismal certificate but she must have done so while on a trip to Montana in 1953. Baptismal Certificate for Anna Marie Sullivan dated 1953 The transcription reads: Certificate of Baptism St. Paul's Church Anaconda, Montana This is to Certify The Baptismal Register records the following: That   Anna Marie Sullivan                           Child of      John S...