Mansch On Montana: Titanic mysteries, Part II

On June 28, 1956, former Black Eagle postmaster August Cor died at the age of 72 in Great Falls.

A secret likely died with him.

August was born in Croatia, later called Yugoslavia, and came to Great Falls in 1900. He eventually owned a general store in the area across the Missouri River that was called “Little Chicago.” There were other Cors in the town as well from the old country.

It’s almost certain many were devastated when in April of 1912 word was received that the ocean liner “Titanic” had sunk with significant loss of life. Among the dead were Croatian passengers Bartol Cor, 35, Ivan Cor, 27, and Liudevit Cor, 19.

They had been bound for Great Falls.

WE TOLD YOU last week of a Great Falls woman, Tracie Moats, whose great-grandfather was a survivor from the famous shipwreck. Today we’re exploring a few more area connections to the disaster.

Ken Robison, the prominent local author and historian, provided some heavy lifting last week when asked for help in identifying the doomed Cor threesome. Were they brothers? Were they cousins?

Were they relatives of people already living here, including August Cor?

The mystery is buried at the bottom of the Atlantic.

“I’d say the odds are really great that the Cors coming to Great Falls, Montana, from Croatia were directly related to Cors who were already here,” Ken says. “They were coming here for a purpose: jobs. But somebody had told them there were jobs here.

“So it really, really sounds like they were related. We just don’t know how at this point.”

To folks who love Great Falls, any connection to a famous event – even a disaster – is interesting.

“It really is,” Ken says. “But you know I’ve found that in almost every major event in American history there’s somebody involved who came to Montana. This is just another example: The Titanic sinks, and darned if there weren’t some guys headed to Great Falls very likely to join family who were already here and had told them there were jobs.”

AUGUST COR had two surviving sons, reads his obituary, including Lawrence, a professor at the University of Colorado.

August had a lasting impact on Great Falls and its sister village that is now known as Black Eagle.

When did Little Chicago become Black Eagle?

“I found the answer,” Ken says. “And it involves August Cor. On the 13th of August, 1917, August Cor’s grocery in Little Chicago was named the Black Eagle Post Office. And that’s when the name for the community apparently changed.”

LARRY JOHNSON of Portland is related to the Cor family and has devoted much effort to researching his family tree.

Ken tracked him down last week and passed along some fascinating facts.

Larry says he knows of at least 22 Cors born in the Croatian village of Bribir – including our eventual Black Eagle postmaster August – who died in Montana. He said many ended up in Great Falls, Black Eagle and Lewistown.

THERE ARE OTHER stories to tell.

For instance, the great uncle of Diana Dehne-Killpack of Great Falls was aboard the Titanic that fateful trip 105 years ago. He went down with the ship.

“His name was Dr. Strong,” Diana says. “We were told that he was one of the men who helped with the lifeboats. So we like to think he was responsible for a lot of people surviving.”

Diana was born in Conrad. Her maiden name is Dignin. The great aunt married to the unfortunate doctor on the Titanic was her grandfather’s sister.

“It’s always been interesting,” Diana says, “to know that we had a connection to the Titanic.”

THERE ARE CLOSE CALLS, and then there are close calls. We heard from several folks with relatives who missed out on the Titanic trip for unusual reasons.

Gerry Veis of Havre is from a large Hi-Line family. He grew up in the Scobey area and since 1981 has called Havre home. He estimates the Veis family tree to include up to 100 souls.

The tree very nearly went unplanted.

“Our great-grandfather Soren Veis and great-grandmother Laura Johnann Antonina Veis of Denmark were booked on the Titanic,” Gerry says. “But because it was overbooked they ended up being moved up and sailing on the Lusitania in March of 1912.

“It’s a crazy little thing.”

Barely three years later, the Lusitania was sunk by German forces during World War I. But by that time, Gerry’s great-grandfolks were safely in eastern Montana.

Gerry’s grandfather, Peter Christian, his great uncle Richard and great aunt Ragnhild Mathilda were also originally booked on the Titanic with their parents.

“I know they would have been third-class passengers, and probably would not have survived,” Gerry says. “A tremendous amount of people would not be here today and it would have affected the lives of many, many more.”

DORIS BISHOP of Brady is 91 and still lives on the place east of town where she and her late husband Argyle built a life together. They were married 69 years.

Doris was born on a homestead north of Havre about five miles from the Canadian border. Her folks, including her mother Inga, were from Norway. By the time Doris came along, Inga had already seen fate change her life.

“My mother and her brother were booked on the Titanic,” Doris says, “but a few days before the ship left her brother was chopping wood and had a finger chopped off.”

The chances of being successfully processed through Ellis Island minus a digit, Doris says, were not good.

“He’d of been thrown into the infirmary,” Doris says. “So they were saved from being in the tragedy. You know, the good Lord is in charge in a lot of ways.”

Inga and her husband, Isak, eventually made it to Montana. Doris doesn’t remember her mom mentioning much about the Titanic.

“They didn’t really talk about it,” Doris says. “You know, they were so busy trying to earn a living and keep body and soul together there just wasn’t much time for conversation. The total necessities were what was important.

“There was a lot of talking, of course, but I really don’t think there was a lot of time for those folks to sit and say ‘Remember when?’ “

Doris says her grandson has built a house on her place near Brady and plans to keep it in the family. A century, she says, has gone by quickly.

To consider the Titanic’s sad sinking 105 years ago was such a disaster and nearly consumed her family – well, it’s unthinkable. Right, Doris?

“Oh my goodness,” she says. “I’m very blessed to be here and see all the generations of my family. And to experience life.”

Mansch On Montana, devoted to the personalities and places that making living in Great Falls and the Treasure State so grand, appears Mondays in the Tribune. Scott Mansch can be reached at 791-1481 or smansch@greatfallstribune.com