Journey to His Past

Ask and it will be given to you.  I had written on my blog how I would like to have a wedding picture of Kirk's grandparents, Bertrand and Leona Corcoran.  My mother-in-law emailed me and said her sister, Helen, had their wedding picture at one time and maybe Helen's daughter had a copy of it.

I contacted one of Helen's sons and he contacted his sister and within a few days I had a copy of the picture.  I love this picture.  I love the veil, the dress and the flowers.  I think it is a true depiction of the 1920's fashion.

Leona Dollaway, the daughter of Willis G. Dollaway and Francis Denny Dollaway, married Bertrand Francis Corcoran, the son of Timothy Corcoran and Helen Schmitt Corcoran on 3 June 1925 at St. Andrew's Cathedral, Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan.  Leona was 20 years old and Bert was 22 years old.

The marriage record of Bert and Leona Corcoran states that Frances Freel and Louise Margold were witnesses.  My mother-in-law believes that is who is in the picture with them.

Once I discovered the name of Kirk's great grandfather, Cornelius Luyendyk, I wanted to find as much information as I could about him.  Cornelius' son, Peter LeynDyke, didn't remember much about his father. Peter was five at the time of his father's death.

The first place I looked was in the U.S. Federal Census records for Cornelius Luyendyk.  Not as easy of a task as you might imagine, the spelling of Luyendyk was all over the place.  Once I discovered he was living in Kent County from 1880 until his death in 1900, Kirk and I planned a trip to the county clerk's office in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  One of the records I found was the marriage record of Cornelius Linedyk and Nellie Bush.  Below is the transcription of that record.

Kirk's paternal grandparents, Peter LeynDyke and Nellie VanOeveren were married New Year's Day, 1917 in Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan.  They were married an amazing 74 years.