Welcome to part 3 of the history of 753 Atwood!
This post will explore the lives of the third family - Edward & Cornelia Harvey, that lived in the home.
1st family: Henry & Bessie Melis
(1919-1921)
2nd family: Ernest & Jennie Armstrong
(1922-1923;1933-1935)
1924-1932: HARVEY, Edward & Cornelia (Vander Veen) and their sons - Edward Jr and Louis
Edward John Harvey was born on February 26, 1893 in Grand Rapids, Michigan to Anthony and Maggie Zicterman or Zigterman. Edward was the second eldest of his eight siblings - who were also all born in Grand Rapids.
His father, Anthony, was born in Canada and Anthony's parents immigrated from England (Edward's grandparents). Edward's father immigrated to the US from Canada around 1866-1868 when he was a very young child.
Edward's mother, Maggie, was born in Garsthuizen, Stedum, Groningen, Netherlands and immigrated to the US in 1880 when she was about 9 years old with her parents and siblings.
When Edward was born in 1893, the Harvey family lived at 12 Holland Ave as his father, Anthony (A.J.) operated his own furniture moving company.
Holland Ave was the border street of a sub-neighborhood called the The Brickyard (or 'Brikyaat' to the Dutch who lived there). This area consisted of about four blocks, and in the late 19th century, it was the home to the largest Dutch population of the city. More about the history of the brickyard neighborhood can be read here.
The first picture below is the Sanborn Insurance map of a section of the brickyard neighborhood from 1895; The second picture is an image of Google maps of that same area today. Back in 1895, there was a school where Houseman Field is today, called Diamond School. Also, Hazel Ave no longer exists and many of the alley ways are now connected.
By 1909, at 16 years old, Edward was already working and no longer in school. The first few jobs he had were working as a press feeder for various printing companies. A few years later, he became a bookkeeper for Kindel Bed & Co and Brown & Sehler Co.
By 1916, at 23 years old, he was an executive at Conservative Realty Co working as its secretary. The year, 1916 was also two years after his father unexpectedly died of pneumonia, which caused his mother, Maggie, and his younger siblings to depend on Edward for monetary support. (per his WWI registration card below)
I don't have any records from Edward's military career, but according to many newspaper articles and other documents, he served in the Navy in World War I. Also, the following record from the 1918 Grand Rapids City Directory shows an American Flag next to his name meaning he is away in the military.
The same year, 1918, while Edward was home during a furlough period, he married Cornelia Vander Veen.
Cornelia Vander Veen was born in February 1893 in Grand Rapids, Michigan to Pieter (Peter) and Pieterdina (Dena) Medendorp. Cornelia was the third oldest (out of 12) child for Peter and Dena who both immigrated from the Netherlands.
Cornelia's father, Peter, immigrated in the early 1870's from Westereden, Netherlands as a young child with his parents and siblings. Peter's father (Cornelia's grandfather) worked as a grocery store clerk with his other relatives who also immigrated, while supporting his wife and eight children. Peter grew up on Charles St, which is in the same neighborhood of Midtown (the street also borders the "Brickyard" as mentioned above).
Cornelia's mother, Dena, immigrated to Michigan in 1888 from Warffum, Eemsmond, Groningen, Netherlands when she was 20 years old with her parents. Her family lived on Logan St while her father (Cornelia's grandfather) worked as a peddler.
Cornelia grew up at 259 Diamond St SE while her father worked as a contractor for street pavements and installed sewers. Her brothers would eventually follow in their father's footsteps as working in the road improvement industry.
As mentioned above, Edward and Cornelia married in July of 1918 in Grand Rapids - they were both 25 years old.
Their first house together was a rental at 810 Fulton St and Edward was selling home and fire insurance for Kinsey & Buys. A couple years later, in 1922, Edward partnered with William Schonwald and they opened their own real estate company - Schonwald & Harvey. Their office was in the Houseman Building in downtown Grand Rapids on the corner of Ottawa and Pearl - it was later demolished to build a parking lot.
The family picture above is of the Vander Veen family. Edward and Cornelia are standing in the middle back. Cornelia's parents, Peter and Dena, are seated in the first row center. I'm assuming the date is sometime between 1930-1940. (source: Ancestry.com)
Edward and Cornelia continued to rent the house at 810 Fulton until 1924 when they bought the home at 753 Atwood St which was only 0.2 miles north. That same year, their first child, Edward Jr, was born.
In the early 1920's Edward joined the Furniture City American Legion Post #258 - serving as Commander in the late 1920's and then Secretary in the early 1930's.
Because of his elite positions at Post #258, Edward was in charge of many social committee groups and organized volunteer opportunities. Newspaper clippings of his involvement can be read here.
Below are two photos I found on the Grand Rapids Public Library Archives of Edward and other members of the Furniture City Post #258 from 1927 and 1930 respectively. I don't know which person in the photos is Edward, but he would be 34 and 37 years old so he would definitely be one of the younger men in the photos. (Photos are hyperlinked to original source with descriptions)
Around the same time of the first photo above, two events - one a tragedy and the other a celebration - affected Edward and Cornelia. In 1926, Cornelia's 31 year old younger brother, Louis, who worked in the family business of street contracting, was tragically killed on a job site. (Click here to read the full newspaper article about the accident)
Then the next year in 1927, Edward and Cornelia celebrated the birth of their second child, Louis, who was named in honor of Cornelia's late brother.
A few years later, in 1932, while still living at 753 Atwood St and operating his own realty business, Edward decided to run for public office for Police Court Clerk. Unfortunately, he lost the election, but it was called one of the cleanest races that year. Below are various newspaper clippings from the election - more can be found here.
After nine years living at 753 Atwood St. - the only home Edward Jr and Louis knew of, the Harvey family decided to move to 46 Carlton SE. After Edward lost the Police Court Clerk election, he put into works the creation of a new company which was part of a Chicago based franchise - Automatic Canteen Co of Western Michigan.
Yes, it's that same Canteen company that still today provides vending machine snacks for office buildings, schools, and hospitals. The companies I worked for in Grand Rapids both used Canteen and I double checked to confirm and it is the that same company!
By 1933, the company was operable and Edward started The Canteen Co with one employee: Fred Tiggleman. Their original office was downtown at 449 Ottawa NW. Five years later, Canteen had more than 60 employees. More articles can be read here.
At the age of 47 years old, less than 1o years after starting a very successful business, Edward Harvey passed away in 1941. The cause was tuberculosis of the lungs and he had spent 10 months prior in the hospital after living with the condition for more than three years.
His sons, Edward Jr and Louis were 17 and 14 respectively.
After her husband's death, Cornelia Harvey became a partner of Canteen Services along with the existing partner, Fred Tiggleman (the first employee of the company as mentioned above). Cornelia and her sons continued to live at 1424 Bryon St which had just been bought by the family before Edward became ill.
Cornelia Harvey passed away in May of 1962 in Grand Rapids.
Edward Jr continued his father's legacy while working for his entire career at Canteen Services in Grand Rapids and Flint. He eventually bought the franchise in Oklahoma City where he was a prominent businessman and resident. Edward Jr passed away in 2010.
Louis Harvey was a veteran of WWII serving in the Navy, just like his father. However, he took a different life path as he became a Reverend - serving communities throughout Ontario and Michigan. He passed away in 2014.
*Edward Harvey Sr was a very successful and prominent businessman in Grand Rapids. His influence is still present today through his company, Canteen Services. He raised his two sons for the first 10 years of their life at the home of 753 Atwood St, and I'm sure that house had very significant meaning in their life.