Finally…. conclusive proof as to the parents of George Oakley Yerks arrived today via US Mail.  George Oakley Yerks is the great, great grandfather of Colleen Hayes, my wife.  Since acquiring George’s Brooklyn Death Certificate several years ago, there has been a lingering doubt in my mind as to who his parents really were.  This is because the Death Certificate indicated that his parents were George Yerks and Elsie Donlap.  I have spend countless hours researching all George Yerks’ and Elsie Donlap’s, but could find nothing that made any sense.  With nothing to go on, I resorted to Census records and an obituary as my only proof of lineage.  I was able to determine that George was living with William and Lucinda Yerks in the mid 1800’s and that he had a sister name Emeline.

So when George and Annie Yerks’  New York State Marriage Certificate arrived today, I couldn’t have been more excited. George Oakley Yerks, born in Bedford, NY married Annie Dora Cutler, who was born in Mount Kisco, NY.  They were married July 1, 1888 in Chappaqua, New York (where I was born, baptized and raised).  He was twenty-two (22) and she was nineteen(19).   The Marriage Certificate clearly states that George’s parents were William Yerks and Lucinda Hadden. The marriage was witnessed by Benjamin A Schenck and Horace B Holby. Benjamin A Schenck eventually went on to marry George’s sister, Emeline.