My Trails into the Past

Last week, Michael John Neill wrote about German maps found on Ancestry.com.  I decided to give it a try and find the home town of my Horks:  Oberhundem.  I followed the same instructions Michael gave and found it in no time.  Oberhundem in part of Westfalia, which today is the German state of North Rhein-Westphalia.  According to Wikepedia, it is "the most populous state with 4 of the countries' 10 largest cities." Here is the map from Wikepedia: Oberhundem is a small town and is near Arnsberg at the edge of Sauerland.  The maps on Ancestry are historical maps.  I made the map large and then cropped it so I could see just the three towns where I found church records for the Hork, Trosster, and Soemmer families. Germany, Topographic Maps, 1860-1965, 1898 Attendorn map, Ancestry.com I found church records in Oberhundem, Kirchhundem and Altenhundem.  If you look close enough, you can imagine one of the little squares was their house...

Ancestry.com just released some New York state census records.  I have not been able to find my great grandfather's sister, Clementine Hork since a 1902 Brooklyn city directory and a 1910 census in Brooklyn, Kings Co, NY.  She arrived in America in 1891 with her brother, Albert M. Hork. In Brooklyn in 1900 and 1902, Clementine was listed as a seamstress.  My great grandfather was a tailor.  When I find her in 1925 in Brooklyn, she is living in The Little Sister of the Poor Home for the Aged. 1925 New York State Census, Kings Co, Brooklyn, block 4, ED 8, p 42, line 24, Clementine Hork Now to find her between 1910 and 1925.  I will look in the 1920 census again and in more Brooklyn city directories. I also want to find when she died.  I should research this Poor Home for the Aged.  It probably was run by Catholic nuns. Copyright © 2012 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, My Trails into the Past

I have recently found the marriage banns (the announcement of the intent to marry) and marriage record for my husband's 2nd great-grandparents, Thomas Davey & Mary Nicholas at FamilySearch.org.  I knew the location of their marriage from the transcription of the Davey Family bible. [1]  The bible was dated 1859, published in Cincinnati, Ohio, so was purchased and filled out after they arrived in the United States.  Besides the marriage date, this bible lists the birth dates of the children.  Their son, Thomas N. Davey added notes on 28 Nov 1902 about the births and deaths of Thomas & Mary. Thomas Davey and Mary Nicholas were married in St. Agnes Parish in Cornwall County, England.  The bible stated the date as 23 Feb 1832.  However, I did not find the marriage on that date.  First let's look at the marriage banns: "E ngland, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-2010," www.familysearch.org : accessed 16 May 2012, citing Marriage Banns 1788-1...

Loretto M. Sullivan 1885-1972 My great-aunt, Loretto.  I visited her in the summer of 1969.  She had such a great sense of humor and we loved hearing her stories every night at dinner.  Too bad I don't remember any of them now. Copyright © 2012 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, My Trails into the Past

In the early days of searching the 1940 census, California was one of the states available on Ancestry.  My husband and I searched through several Sacramento enumeration districts (EDs) for his father, thinking that he was already living in California on April 1, 1940.  He worked at McClellan Airfield before World War II as an aircraft mechanic.  However, we did not find him living with Mrs Hansen at her boarding house. Next we searched the home of his parents, and there we found him. 1940 Federal Census, Jasper Co, Missouri, ED 49-33, sht 11a George is on the right George's father, Joseph N Gorrell can be found on line 10.  The family lived at 502 South Pennsylvania Street in Webb City.   Joseph owned his home, worked as a shopman for the utility company, was married and attended 8 years of school. We found George, age 25, completed 4 years of high school, working at a floorman at garage.  We have a photo of George in front of the service st...

It took a while to find, first waiting for Ancestry to put San Bernardino Co, CA online, but after searching through 35 pages of Cucamonga (ED 36-36), I found my father! Cucamonga, San Bernardino Co, California, ED 36-36, p 472 They were not at the address I expected (278 San Bernardino Ave) but rather at 236 East Foothill Blvd.  Luckily for me, they were still in the same Enumeration District. What did I learn from this census?  My grandmother was working in a cafe as a waitress.  She finished 4 years of college.  The family lived in Ontario, San Bernardino Co, CA in 1935.  She worked 46 hours in the week, worked 52 weeks during the year, and made $650.  Monthly rent was $20.  There is one error:  Anna was not born in California, but rather Montana. My father, William, was 9 years old, and completed grade 4.  I suspect that was the grade he was in at the time of the census.  All of the children were listed as attending school...

It's Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun!! My mission is to: 1) Pick one of the persons from your ancestry who should be in the 1940 United States Census. 2) Using the column headings below (from 1940 United States Census Questions ), predict what the entries will be in each column. 3) Share your predictions on your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook status or a Google Plus post. I chose my father, William J Hork, who might be living in Rancho Cucamonga, California. this will be my father's first census. He was born Apr 23, 1930, so his mother was very pregnant in the 1930 census. I just missed seeing him by days. * State: California * Populated Place: Rancho Cucamonga * Ward of City: ??? * County: San Bernardino * Township or other division of county: ??? * Block Nos.: ??? * Enumeration District: 36-36 (I hope) 1. Location - street, avenue or road: San Bernardino Ave 2. Location - house num...