Just Found: Marriage Record For My Flanagan And Kennedy Great-Grandparents

I am so excited! Yesterday afternoon, I found a copy of the wedding record for my great-grandparents — Patrick Thomas Flanagan, Jr. (c. 1897-1928), and Sarah Kennedy (c. 1898-1930) — who were married on April 10, 1925, in Steubenville (Jefferson), Ohio.

I just learned of their wedding date last week, from a distant Flanagan cousin (we’ve never actually met) that I’ve been corresponding with on Facebook for about a year.  During an hour long phone call with her yesterday, this cousin informed me that she’d found the record listing on FamilySearch.org. So, I hopped online right after we hung up the phone, and was thrilled to discover that FamilySearch doesn’t just have the record index listing, they provide a free copy of the digitized record.

This record gives me new clues about their respective families and a first look at their actual signatures! It is also the first record I’ve come across that tells me the names of Sarah’s parents…my great-great-grand parents!

Marriage record courtesy of FamilySearch.org. Click on the image to view a larger copy.

This lead from my cousin Linda is a really big deal in my research. If you’ve been following my posts about my grandfather Michael John Flanagan (1927-1997), you know that he was orphaned as a toddler and grew up knowing almost nothing about his parents and his family history. Which has left me with very few clues to pursue. Other than their children’s orphan records, and the birth record for Grandpa’s older brother Patrick Joseph Flanagan (1925-1981), I’ve had no real documentation for Patrick and Sarah. Until now.

My initial analysis of this record raises one big question, though. Based on clues that Cousin Linda and I are coming cross in our research, Patrick, and quite possibly Sarah, was married at least once before this union. Yet, both noted “none” for number of times previously married. So, I guess that’s one more mystery to solve.