Happy Birthday, Betty Leyndyke

Author: Brenda Leyndyke / Labels: ,

Happy Birthday, Betty

I am very lucky to have a great mother-in-law, Betty.  In addition to being a great mother-in-law, she is a wonderful grandmother and great grandmother.  Today is Betty's birthday and I hope she has a very happy day.  I hope she will celebrate lots of birthdays in the future.

L-R Siblings-Richard, Helen, Elizabeth 'Betty' Corcoran

L-R Sisters- Helen and Elizabeth 'Betty' Corcoran


Elizabeth 'Betty' Corcoran- Just as beautiful today as then.

Enjoy your day!


Helen Corcoran Nelson: Sunday's Obituary

Author: Brenda Leyndyke / Labels: ,


NELSON (CORCORAN), Helen E. of Portage

Helen was called home to be with the Lord, Friday, January 13, 2012, after an extended battle with cancer.  Born in Grand Rapids to Bertrand and Leona Corcoran on September 20, 1929, she was married to Jack Nelson from August of 1951, until his death in 2007.  The mother of Scot, Kim, Mark, Todd, and Krystin (Scholten).  Helen had 13 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren.  She was a graduate of St. Mary's Nursing School in Grand Rapids, and subsequently had successful careers in nursing, real estate and as part of the family business in Kalamazoo.  A funeral mass was held at 1:30 PM, Wednesday, at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church, 1150 W. Centre Ave. with a luncheon immediately following at Helen's home, 1423 Schuring Rd.  The family requests that memorials in her name be made to St. Catherine of Sienna, 1150 W. Centre, Portage, MI 49024.  Arrangements by Langeland Family Funeral Homes, Westside Chapel, 3926 South 9th Street.  www.langelands.com


Helen Corcoran Nelson is Kirk's aunt and godmother.


Where in the World is Bertrand Corcoran?

Author: Brenda Leyndyke / Labels: ,

Bertrand F. Corcoran Census Data


Kirk's grandfather, Bertrand F. Corcoran can be found in the following Census places:

FACT
DATE
PLACE OF RESIDENCE
ENUMERATION DISTRICT/PAGE ID./DWELLING
Birth
1903
Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States

Census
1910
Monroe, Newaygo, Michigan, United States
113/2B/22
Census
1920
Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan, United States
82/3B/63
Census
1930
Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan, United States
79/7A/81
Census
1940
Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan, United States
86-105/7A/124
Death
1959
Elk Rapids, Antrim, Michigan, United States



Willis G. and Francis Dollaway: Tombstone Tuesday

Author: Brenda Leyndyke / Labels: , ,

WILLIS G. DOLLAWAY
1863-1940


FRANCIS DOLLAWAY
1866-1955

Burial Oakwood Cemetery, Lowell, Kent, Michigan


Willis G and Francis (Denny) Dollaway are Kirk's maternal great-grandparents.  Willis G. was born 29 October 1863 in Havana, Schuyler, New York, the son of Andrew and Arvella (Mathews)  Dollaway.  He died in  Lowell, Kent, Michigan on 28 June 1940.

Francis (Denny) Dollaway was born 13 April 1866 in Lowell, Kent, Michigan, the daughter of Joseph W. and Adelia (DeGan) Denny.  She died 22 February 1955 in Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan. 





Maasdam: Surname Saturday

Author: Brenda Leyndyke / Labels: , , ,

The Maasdam surname can be traced back to the middle of the 17th century in the Netherlands.  Maasdam means the dam in the river Maas.  It comes from the village of Maasdam in the Hoekse Waard(island formed by polders) polder (part of land below sea level that is surrounded by dykes) in the Province of South Holland.


Some of the Maasdam family settled in Owasco, Cayuga, New York, immigrating in the mid 1800's.  Jaapje Maasdam, who married Pieter Luijendijk, immigrated in 1849 to Owasco.  From here Pieter and Jaapje moved to the Grand Rapids, Michigan area.  Jaapje's brother, Johannes, stayed in the Owasco area and many Maasdam/Marsden live there today.

Kirk's Maasdam ancestry is:
  • Kirk
  • His Dad
  • Peter Leyn Dyke (1894-1991)
  • Cornelius Luyendyk (1859-1900)
  • Jaapje Maasdam Luijendijk (1823-1900)
  • Bastiaan Maasdam (1786-1843)
  • Cornelis Maasdam (1755-1794)
  • Gerrit Maasdam (1708-1764)
  • Hendrik Gerrits Maasdam (1675-1736)
  • Gerrit Pieters Maasdam (1624-1683)
  • Pieter Aryens Maasdam (1600-)
  • Arien Lenertszn Maasdam (1565-1644)
  • Lenert Janszoon (1530-1600)
  • Jan
For more information on the Maasdam family check out Tom deMeijer's website, The Maasdam Family.

Andrew Dollaway Revolutionary War Soldier from New York

Author: Brenda Leyndyke / Labels: , ,



Today the United States is celebrating Independence Day and I thought it would be fitting to showcase a revolutionary war soldier:  Andrew Dollaway.

Kirk's 4x great grandfather, Andrew Dollaway, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War.  Kirk has always enjoyed the history of that time period so I decided to dig a little deeper and see what I could find. 

I found Andrew Dollaway on the New York in the Revolution-New York Line, Fourth Regiment List, online.  Next, I went to my favorite local library-Helen Warner Branch of Willard Library and found "Abstract of Revolutionary War Pension Files, Volume 1: A-E.  Andrew Dollaway was found on page 996.


It stated:

DOLLAWAY, Andrew, Hannah, W16238, NY Line, sol appl 1 Mar 1819 Dutchess Cty Ny a res of Fishkill NY, in 1820 sol was aged 58 with a wife aged 55 and a daughter aged 13 and a son aged 9, sol d 27 May 1826, wid appl 31 Oct 1839 Dutchess Cty Ny age 71 on 4 Dec 1838, sol had m Hannah Van Amburgh 4 Nov 1783, wid was b  in Amsterdam Holland, children shown were:  William b 8 Nov 1785, Elisabeth b 20 mar 1788, Maryan b 15 Apr 1790, Sary b 11 Aug 1790 and d in Oct 1793, 3 or 4 births were illegible, Carlain b 14 Jan 1807 and Isaac b 29 Nov 1810

This application was a wealth of information.  It gave me Andrew's death date.  It provided his wife's maiden name, birthdate and birthplace.  It shows the names of their children with birth dates.  I was happy because it gave me enough information to research the family further.  Kirk's 3x great grandfather is the Isaac mentioned above.

The last thing I did was to check Heritage Quest, which I was able to access from my home with my library card number.  I found his pension file there.  I transcribed the 12 page document to make it easier to read.  Some of the information provided had to do with his service record and pay.  I will be sharing more in future posts. 

I found that Andrew did not own property and had to list his personal estate.  Imagine having to do this today.  It would take me quite awhile to count the things in my kitchen let alone the whole house.  This was the inventory provided:


6 chairs                                                                 6 pint bowls                                      1 pair and irons

1 dresser                                                             1 pail                                                    1 shovel and tongs

6 tablespoons                                                    6 knives and forks                              1 trammel

6 teaspoons                                                       2 iron pots                                           1 chest/wash tub

6 tea cups and saucers                                   1 griddle                                                1 meat cask

9 plates                                                              1 frying pan                                         1 bread tray

1 ½ gallon jug                                                     1 Iron tea kettle                                1 ax

1 earthen pot                                                    1 sugar dish                                        1 tin pail

1 tea pot                                                              1 linen wheel

I am proud that my children have a Revolutionary War Hero in their ancestry.  Happy 4th of July, everyone.

Peter LeynDyke: Sunday's Obituary

Author: Brenda Leyndyke / Labels: ,



Peter Leyn Dyke
   Peter Leyn Dyke, 96, Bradenton, died July 25, 1991.
   He was born Oct. 4, 1894 in Grand Rapids, Mich., and came to this area 30 years ago from Flint, Mich.  He was a pressman and a member of the Bayshore Community Church.
   Survivors include his wife, Nellie; a daughter, Betty M. Clark of Sarasota; two sons, John E. of San Diego and James M. of Hernando; 14 grandchildren; 24 great-grandchildren, and 13 great-great-grandchildren.
   Services will be at 11 a.m. Monday at Manasota Memorial Funeral Home with burial at Manasota Memorial Park in Bradenton.


Peter Leyn Dyke is Kirk's grandfather.  Our children, Kirsten and Travis, got to meet Grandpa Pete, their great grandfather.  They remember the grapefruit tree in his backyard.  Can you imagine having 51 grandchildren?  This includes grandchildren, great and great-great grandchildren.  The family never had a family reunion, but that might have been fun.  I am sure more have been born in the 11 years since he died.  He lived a long life, having died at the age of 96.