The prompt this week is ‘Surprise’. I’m sure every genealogist has had her share of surprises along the way. I certainly have! This week I am going to tell you about one of those surprises.
Harry Holton Kolk was my grandfather’s older brother, the son of Henry J Kolk and Emma Weiss. He was born in 1895 and died in 1949, having never married. I’d seen a couple of pictures of Uncle Harry when he was a child, but I knew very little about him, except that he was my father’s uncle and that he’d never married.
I continued my family history research, I was able to learn a bit more.
- Harry Holton Kolk was my grandfather’s older brother, the son of Henry J Kolk and Emma Weiss. He was born in 1895 and died in 1949, having never married. I’d seen a couple of pictures of Uncle Harry when he was a child, but I knew very little about him, except that he was my father’s uncle and that he’d never married.When he registered for the WWII draft, he was 5 foot 4 inches and weighed 135 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.
- He was a laborer, working first at the glass works and later at the flour mill.
Imagine my surprise when I was searching NewspaperArchives.com one day, and came across an obituary for Mrs. Lillian Smith that say, in part:
"Mrs. Smith was married here Dec. 24, 1931. In a previous marriage she had been the wife of Harry H. Kolk and will be remembered by many friends here by that name."
Things get a little confusing from there. My asumption was that I would find a marriage reference for Liilian Twyman and Harry Kolk, find a divorce reference, and then find a marriage reference for Lillian Kolk and Mr. Smith. Instead, I found an article in the 29 Dec 1931 Edwardsville (IL) Intelligencer listing marriage licenses issued. A license was issued to Harry H. Kolk of Alton and Lillian E. Smith of Chicago.
Found on Newspaperarchive.com
A notice of a divorce for Lillian E. Smith from Fred K. Smith appeard in the 25 Oct 1924 Alton (IL) Evening Telegraph.
Lillian was married to Mr. Smith BEFORE she married Harry Kolk! So I am truly confused. Did Lillian divorce Harry and then remarry; to another Mr. Smith? Or is the newspaper mistaken. She died less than five years after she married Harry.
I’ve searched before for a death record for Lillian Smith, and for Lillian Kolk, and came up empty. However, I did some creative searching this week. Let me tell you about it.
- I started by searching both Family Search and the Illinois State Archives death index for Lillian Smith in Madison County Illinois — nothing!
- I searched both sites for Lillian Kolk — nothing!
- I searched Family Search for Lillians (no last name) who died in 1936 in Madison County — BINGO! I found Lillian E. Koek who died 12 Oct 1936 in Alton, Madison County, Illinois. Her spouse is listed as Harry H. Koek. Images are available only in a Family HIstory library or affiliate. I hope to stop by tomorrow evening to download the image and check out the handwriting for myself.
- I searched the Illinois State Archives death index for Lillian Koek and came up empty. So I tried again, this tiime using the minimum two letters required and searched for Lillian KO. The index returned a listing for Lillian E. Kock. If I can’t download and image from Family Search, I will request a copy from Molly Kennedy. (
If you do research in Illinois, she is a good person to know. She can retrieve death certificates for much less than the fees charged by most court houses in Illinois!) UPDATE: Molly's website is down. I don't know if she still is available for this.
So why did we all think that Harry never married? I don’t really know. His marriage was short-lived, less than five years, whether it ended by divorce or by the death of Lillian. They had no children together (that I know of!!!) But Harry did have four nieces and nephews who would have ranged in age from 5 to 10 years old when he married, and ages 10 to 15 when Lillian died. But they were all convinced he’d never married and passed that information along. The only explanation I can think of is that perhaps, though they may not have divorced, Harry and Lillian separated very early in the marriage, and the nieces and nephews just didn’t remember her existence. I need to explore city directories and other records to see if I can learn more about this marriage. And maybe I will find another surprise!
To learn more about 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow, visit her website here.
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