Cornelius Finally Finds a Wife!

March 20, 1930  Our wedding day.  For the noon meal the preachers, uncles and aunts, and siblings were here.  In the afternoon we went to church where many guests were present.  The wedding was at 2 o’clock.  Many people came to Mother’s house for faspa.  Guests from a distance were Martin Barkmans, Peter Loepps, Uncle C. L. Plett, and Bernhard Doerksens.

March was the month of engagements and weddings for the Siemens family.  In case you are not keeping score at home here is the list.  In March 1930, father Cornelius and mother Margaret were engaged and married.  In March 1936, first son Jake and Anna Friesen were engaged and married.  And in March 1936, one more engagement and wedding were yet to come.

Finally Cornelius had completed his decade-long quest to find a wife, after many misadventures (see the diary entry for March 7, 1930 for the details).  And Margaret had finally found a husband after many years of being single and living at home.  On this day the Siemens family history took a decisive turn that would move its focus from Canada to Meade.

The notable guests were Martin Barkmans (Margaret’s uncle), Cornelius L. Plett (widowed uncle of Cornelius Siemens’ first wife Katie), and Bernhard D. and Helena (Plett) Doerksens.  Helena was a daughter of Cornelius L. Plett and cousin to Cornelius’ first wife.

Wedding license of Cornelius and Margaret with the bottom portion filled out by Elder Jacob F. Isaac, showing that he had performed the ceremony.  The license was then returned to the county probate judge who filled out this copy and sent it to the Kansas State Division of Vital Statistics.

Marriage record in the Meade KG church book for Cornelius Siemens and Margaret Reimer from the KG archive in Steinbach, Manitoba.