Week 32 is brought to you by the word ‘YOUNGEST’! Anna Colk was the youngest child and only known daughter of Jacob and Mary Colk (later spelled Kolk). Very little is known about Anna. In fact, the only mention I’ve found of her is in the 1870 census, when she was found living with her parents and four brothers in Madison County, Illinois. Her age is stated as 2 years old at the time of the census, which was taken in July of that year. That indicates that her birth occurred 1867-1868. I’ve been able to find all four brothers in later censuses, but have been unable to locate Anna.
I can think of two possible reasons for my inability to find her. The first, and most obvious possibility, is that Anna may have died before the 1880 census was taken. A young child dying in the 1800s was, sadly, not an unusual occurrence. I’ve not been able to locate a death record yet, but because death records were kept only sporadically in Illinois before about 1877, it’s possible I never will.
The other possibility I’ve thought of is that she was not living with her father’s household in 1880. Anna’s mother, Mary, died in 1878, when Anna would have been only about 10 years old. It’s possilbe that with only four young boys and himself in the household, Jacob sent his daughter to live with friends or relatives when her mother died. She may be living in another household, even using a different surname. I’ll need to spend some time looking at census records to see if I can find an Anna who was about 12 years old in 1880 census that could might Anna Colk. With Anna being a relatively common name, I don’t hold out much hope for success.
Beyond that, I’m out of ideas. If you’ve got suggestions, please leave them in the comments!
To learn more about my 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks project, read my introductory blog post.
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