1940 High School Graduation

An admission ticket to a graduation ceremony was among family pictures I received recently.

The small red stub was for entrance to the commencement exercises of Central Commercial and Technical High School on June 19, 1940. The event was held at South Side High School. Both these schools were in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey.

Whose graduation was this?

My first guess was my paternal grandmother, Beulah Bernice Cook (1921-1940). She was the right age and her family lived in Newark in the 1940 census.

Yearbooks for Newark are online at Archive.org.

Cog 'N' Pen, the yearbook of the graduating class of 1940, features Beulah!

Photograph of graduating senior Beulah Cook
Central Commercial and Technical High School

The school as it appeared in 1940

The building that housed this high school still stands, though it is now part of the campus of the New Jersey Institute of Technology. It sits on Summit Street and Dr Martin Luther King, Jr Boulevard (formerly High Street) between Warren Street and New Street.

Modern day aerial view of campus buildings
New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey
Google Maps

Central High School was constructed around 1910 and 1911. These pictures are also available on Archive.org. Eberhardt Hall is visible in the background with its eyebrow dormers. Eberhardt Hall still stands today. It was constructed in the 1850s to house the Newark Orphan Asylum.

Construction of Central High School on Summit Street

In Newark today there is a school called Central High School that credits its descent from the Central High School founded in 1911. 

Pending Orders

Below is the list of records not available online that were ordered and not yet fulfilled.

The last published list was May 5, 2025.

Death Certificate Peter Vanderhoof, 1931

Requested of Wisconsin State Vital Records Office. Form F-05280 mailed September 15, 2025.

$20 check. 

Death Certificate Mary Catherine Vanderhoof (née Atkins), 1922

Requested of Wisconsin State Vital Records Office. Form F-05280 mailed September 15, 2025.

$20 check.

Naturalization Records William Schoenberg, 1907-1925

Requested of the Office of the Clerk of Hudson County, New Jersey. Form Naturalization Search Request mailed September 15, 2025.

$3 check.

Death certificate of James Cummings, 1912

Requested of the New York State Department of Health. Form DOH-4384 mailed February 9, 2024.

$22 check. (Died in Catskill, Greene County, New York March 11, 1912.) Check cleared July 30, 2024.

Death certificate of Jane Cummings, 1899

Requested of the New York State Department of Health. Form DOH-4384 mailed February 9, 2024.
$22 check. (Died in Catskill, Greene County, New York July 7, 1899.) Check cleared July 30, 2024.

Death certificate of John Grant, 1882
Requested of the New York State Department of Health. Form DOH-4384 mailed February 9, 2024.
$22 check. (Died in Catskill, Greene County, New York December 27, 1882.) Check cleared July 30, 2024.

Death certificate of Edward Sheeby [Edmond Sheehy], 1893

Requested of the New York State Department of Health. Form DOH-4384 mailed March 1, 2022.
$22 check cleared April 2, 2022.
Originally requested in 2015.
Town of Amenia provided an obscure ledger entry in 2023.

Murder of a Vanderhoof Cousin

While researching Vanderhoofs who relocated from New Jersey to Wisconsin, I encountered a sad case.

Sheri Lee Keller was murdered in 1980 when she was 17 years old. She was kidnapped while hitchhiking and then run over when she escaped. She died six weeks after this assault.

Newspaper article announcing the death of Sheri Keller, 1980 in Wisconsin

Thomas Glander was arrested for killing Sheri. He stood trial and was found not guilty in 1981.

Newspaper article announcing the not guilty verdict in the murder trial

In the 1850s some of the Morris County, New Jersey families relocated to Wisconsin. A few years earlier, in 1848, Wisconsin had become the 30th state.

Map of the United States of America early 1850s
Designated places: Morris County, New Jersey and
Sheboygan County, Wisconsin

At this time, I do not know why some Vanderhoofs made this trek. Modern-day roads offer this route at about one thousand miles. Traveling from New Jersey to Wisconsin in the 1850s must have been treacherous.

Twisted Lines

Sheri was a 5th cousin and a 6th cousin to my father. The common ancestors were Jacob Vanderhoof (1772-1847) and Ann Hopler (1772-1841), as well as Ann's parents, Conrad Hopler (1730-1815) and Elizabeth DeMouth (1735-1812).

Sheri's great great grandparents were second cousins to each other. Conrad and Elizabeth had two daughters, Ann and Susan (1783-1863). Ann's grandson Peter (1827-1910) married Susan's granddaughter Susannah Shauger (1836-1913).

These relationships are confusing to spell out. Below is a diagram that should demonstrate the marriages and children.

Family tree
Ancestors of Sheri and writer's father: Hopler, DeMouth, Vanderhoof