SAMUEL HORROCKS: Samuel
was born in New Church, Lancashire England 13
December,
1843, and was the son of Betty Law and Lawrence
Horrocks. Samuel Horrocks was married the first time in England and had two
children. In the early 1870's Samuel left England under some kind of scandal &
came to the United States. He liked to race dogs and brought his racing dogs with
him. Samuel married Orelia Michaud in St. Louis,
Missouri in 1876.
Samuel Horrocks' nickname was "Red Sam" because he had red
hair. He was a weaver and worked for the Bemis Bag Factory in St. Louis for 50
years. He invented the unraveling thread technique for opening the tops of feed
sacks. Every time I open a feed sack this way I am proudly reminded that my great
grandfather invented that technique! He turned the patent over to Bemis and in return was
promised a life time job and a pension for when he decided to retire.
In the 1920 census for St. Louis, Missouri Samuel's immigration date is listed as 1870
& he was naturalized in 1884. His occupation is given as watchman at a bag
factory. His son, Lawrence, is living with him.
In 1924 Samuel decided he wanted to go back to England to die.
His wife, Orelia, and many of his children had already prededed him in death. He
booked passage on the RMS Scythia and sailed for Liverpool. He asked his grandson
(my father) Gus Ziock to go with him but Gus declined. I
have a post card with a picture of the ship on it that he sent to my father which
indicates that Samuel chewed tobacco as he comments that on the ship there were no
spitoons and spitting on the deck was not allowed.
While on board the ship Samuel, who was nearly blind, was robbed of all
of his money so when he arrived in England the authorities were going to send him back to
the U.S. because he had no money. However, Samuel was able to contact his son John,
whom he had probably not seen in 50 years, and John came and took Samuel home with him.
Samuel died in 1926 and is buried with his parents & several siblings.
I have a letter written by Samuel (to my father & his sister) where
Samuel tells of going to the cemetery to visit his parents' graves. It is because
of this letter that I was able to locate where Samuel came from in Lancashire.
Children of Samuel Horrocks & first wife in England:
1. BERTHA - born 1870 married Bennett Parkinson in 1888. I have not yet traced their children.
2. JOHN - born 21/8/1870 Married: 1. Margaret Pickup in 1893 2. Emma Adeline Maslen in 6/1903 and they had 6 children. Richard born 8/12/1903 married but no children, William Horrocks (my father) born 20/12/1904 married Nancy Hamer and had 2 children, John born and died in 1955 and Richard (me) born 29/7/1952 married Eileen Tromans 4/10/1975 and I have 2 children Rachel Louise born 1/9/1977 married 20/5/2000 and Laura Jane born 15/10/1980. I was born in Haslingden and still live here.Harry born 6/9/1907 married Emily and had ! child Sheila. I cant remember her husbands but she has a daughter Claire. Millicent born 12/1/1909 married and had 1 child Melvyn who is married to Margaret Flanagan, has 2 children Susan and Carol and still lives in Haslingden. Edith I do not know anything about. Alan born 21/3/1914 married Nora but he died in the 2nd world war in France 7/8/1944. 3. Jane last name unknown. John died 20 February 1955 & is buried Longholme Cemetery, Rawtenstall, Lancashire, England.
Children of Orelia Michaud & Samuel Horrocks born in St. Louis, Missouri, USA:
ANN- born 1877 & married 1. Albert J. Webers 28 June 1894. Albert was under 21 years of age so his mother, Mrs. Minnie Weber, had to give consent for the marriage. They had one son, Alexander Weber born 1895.. Albert divorced Ann in April, 1897 (I have a certified document attesting to this.) ( According to what I was told by a relative Alex grew up & had a turkey farm somewhere out of state. He came to visit my parents once when they lived on Exeter Ave., Shrewsbury (St. Louis). This would have been between 1945 to 1954.) 2. Ann's second husband was George Casper Meek. They had three children: George Oliver, born in 1898 & died 1922, Walter L. & Stanley R. In the 1900 census for St. Louis Annie & George Meek & their 3 children, Alexander (Weber), George & Walter, are living next door to Samuel Horrocks & Orelia. The children ages are 5, 2, & 1 respectively. Ann died 13 May 1902. An obituary in the St. Louis Globe Democrat gives Ann's age as 25 & lists her death as an accident. However my aunt Lilian Ziock Palmer told me that Ann commited suicide by pouring gasoline all over herself & setting herself on fire. For newspaper article about the incident click here. Ann is buried in St. Mathews Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri. In the 1910 census Alex is living with his grandparents Samuel & Orelia. George C. Meek of House Springs, St. Louis County, died 3 June 1945.
LAWRENCE - born 1878. He never married. In the St. Louis City Directory in 1897 he is listed as a packer. In 1899 he is listed as a cutter. 1900 he is a presser. 1901 laborer. 1902 iron. 1903 tailer. 1905, 1906 & 1907 laborer. 1908 mach. 1909 & 1917 laborer. He had stroke while still young & resided in the City Sanitarium. Lawrence died there 4 November 1937. His body was donated to science & then interred in New St. Marcus Cemetery, St. Louis. His death certificate gives his address as 631 S. Broadway. It gives the principal & related causes of deatha as: Cellulitis of leg, Chronic Choleystitis, chronic cholelithiasis, encephalomalacia, nephroaclerosis. He died November 4th & was buried November 6th.
ESTHER - my grandmother was born 27 July 1879 in St. Louis, Missouri. She was the daughter of Orelia
Michaud & Samuel Horrocks. She married August Ziock,Jr., on 27 July 1901 & they became the parents of two children: a daughter, Lillian Cecille, & a son, August Theodore (my father). Esther liked to play classical music on the piano. Esther died of pneumonia 26 August 1913 at St. Vincents Institute(a mental hospital) in St. Louis. I was told that she had been hospitalized there for one or two years. I don't know what happened that she had to be sent to a mental hospital but I was told that one night she was taken away in an ambulance & my father never saw her again until he went to her funeral. The night that she was taken away she made my father promise to finish his religious training in the Lutheran Church & get confirmed. He kept his promise to his mother but after his confirmation he never wanted to set foot in any church ever again. He felt that if there really was a god why did he let his mother suffer & die that way she did. Esther Horrocks Ziock is buried in New St. Marcus Cemetery. At right is her picture when she was a teenager. There is another picture of her as an adult on the Ziock page.
LILY - born 1884. Died 13 May 1888 of inflamation of the brain. Residence at time of death - 2413 DeKalb Street, St. Louis.
FANNY - born 1887. Died 5 June 1888 of inflamation of the brain. Residence at time of death - 2413 DeKalb Street, St. Louis.
JOSEPH - was born 7 May 1889 in St. Louis, Missouri. My aunt Lillian Ziock Palmer told me many years ago that he married a woman named Nora who had a daughter by a previous marriage & Joseph was in Detroit, Michigan when last heard of. On a draft registration card for WWI he is listed a residing in Detroit, Michigan. His marital status is single & his occupation is laborer. The date of the registration is 5 June 1917. In the 1920 census Joseph is listed as Joseph Horrock & wife Elnor in Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio. They are lodgers in a boarding home. No children listed. His occupation is given as guard at an airplane field & Elnora's is a sales lady in a department store. The 1930 census list Joseph in Detroit, Michigan. His occupation is given as service man at an auto plant. Birthplace Missouri, birthplace of father England & birthplace of mother Mississippi. I am wondering about the Mississippi birthplace as his mother was born in Illinois. The Social Security Death Index lists his death date as December, 1963 in California & his social security number was issued in Michigan prior to 1951.
RICHARD "DICK" - On Dick's draft registration card (1917) for WWI his birth date is listed as 3 July 1894. He is single & his occupation is elevator man for the Bemis Bag Co. He had blue eyes & brown hair. I remember my father telling me one time when I was a teenager that Richard was a gangster & was killed in a gang fight during prohibition. I wish I would have asked him more about it as I have not as yet been able to find any information on the incident. I know it would be VERY interesting! He is listed in the St. Louis City Directory in 1919. He is in the 1920 census living in a boarding house. No occupation is given. After this I can find no more information on him. I have found no record of him buried in any St. Louis cemeteries where other family members are buried so it is possible that his death occured somewhere other than St. Louis.
Believe picture may have been taken at Horrocks residence on Gravois Rd. My father told me once that when he was a child he used to roller skate down Gravois Rd. when it was just one lane.
LETTER THAT SAMUEL HORROCKS WROTE TO LILIAN ZIOCK PALMER & GUS ZIOCK:
1813
in Haslingden, King Street Wesleyan Methodist, & was the son of Richard
Horrocks. On 25 April 1840 Lawrence married Betty LAW who
was born 1819 New Church, Lancashire. She was christened 17 May 1819 at Bacup,
Lancashire & was the daughter of Samuel LAW (occupation
weaver). Betty & Lawrence were married in the Parochial Chapel at New Church,
Lancashire & their marriage license gives their place of residence at that time as
Heald. Lawrence's occupation was power loom overlooker & Betty's occupation was
weaver. In the 1851 census Betty & Lawrence & the four oldest children were
living in the township of New Church, Ecclesiastical District of St. Nicholas.
Lawrence died in 1876 & is buried in Longholme Methodist Cemetery, Rawtenstall,
Lancashire, England. Betty died in 1895 & is buried by her husband. Thanks
to Rev. Wedgewood for copying (by hand)the Longholme Church records (four pages)
pertaining to my Horrocks family. At right is a picture of the tombstone in
Longholme Methodist Cemetery, Rawtenstall, Lancashire, England. Thanks to a
Longholme church member for photographing this for me in the 1980's.