One Source of Error Rectified

Find A Grave is a great resource for genealogical information, but be cautious about the linked relations.

Yesterday I highlighted the memorial page for Emaline B Cook (1836-1891), wife of Joseph S Prosser (1832-1910). They were buried at Saint John's United Methodist Church Cemetery in Turnersville, Gloucester County, New Jersey.

Emaline was incorrectly linked as a daughter of my fourth great grandparents, Stephen H Cook (1797-1853) and Elizabeth Vanderhoof (1799-1878), who lived in Morris County, New Jersey. One of their sons, Henry or William Henry (1828-1902), married Emeline Young (1834-1906), likely the source of this mix-up.

I requested that this connection be removed. Overnight the memorial manager did just that.

Updated memorial page
Emeline B Cook
without parents

Ancestry links memorials of Find A Grave in its search results. Multiple trees incorrectly attribute Emeline as a daughter of Stephen Cook and Elizabeth Vanderhoof. The initial evidence would be the (incorrect) link on Find A Grave and 16-year old Emeline Cook in Stephen's household in 1850 in Rockaway Township.

Sampling of trees at Ancestry
that incorrectly attribute Emeline Cook, wife of Joseph Prosser,
as a daughter of Stephen Cook and Elizabeth Vanderhoof

Please use caution when copying from Find A Grave and Ancestry.

I will copy Emeline's death certificate from 1891 on my next trip to the New Jersey State Archives.

False Daughter

While researching Elizabeth Vanderhoof (1799-1878) and her husband, Stephen H Cook (1797-1853), of Morris County, New Jersey, I found that someone made an error at Find A Grave.

Find A Grave is a great resource for viewing gravestones. The inscriptions can contain full names, relationships, dates, and places. The bonus, as well as the problem, is that memorial pages can be linked in relationships. Ancestry.com links hints directly to Find A Grave, making it very easy to align these relationships into family trees.

An extra daughter, Emeline, was attributed to Stephen and Elizabeth at Find A Grave.

Memorial page at Find A Grave
for Stephen H Cook (1797-1853)
showing daughter Emeline

Emeline Cook (1836-1891) was the wife of Joseph S Prosser (1832-1910). They married in Camden County, New Jersey in 1855. They lived in Camden and Gloucester Counties, which is another clue that Emeline may not have been of the Cooks of Morris County.

Memorial page at Find A Grave
for Emeline Cook (1836-1891), wife of Joseph Prosser

New Jersey death certificates are not online. I can pick up a copy of Emeline's record on my next trip to the Archives. The names of her parents might be provided on this document.

This error may have happened because of the 1850 census. Emeline Cook, age 16, was listed in the household of Stephen Cook in Rockaway, Morris County, New Jersey.

1850 United States Federal Census
Rockaway Township, Morris County, New Jersey
Household of Stephen Cook
Next household is Richard Vanderhoof (1814-1892)
and his second wife Elizabeth Cook (1810-1875)

This Emeline was not a daughter of Stephen, but rather a daughter-in-law. She was Emeline Young (1834-1906), wife of William Henry Cook (1828-1902). A clue is that the household members are listed out of order of age: Henry Cook age 21; Emeline, age 16; Charles age 17. (Lots of information on Charles will be in a future article.)

We have a picture of Emeline Youngs. Her family photo album is preserved at the Denville Museum.

To address the error at Find A Grave, I submitted suggested edits to the memorial manager. 

Two Death Certificates for a Soldier

I found another death certificate filed in two states. The difference from the prior finding is that the death occurred in North Carolina instead of Pennsylvania and that the deceased was an active member of the military when he died.

Carl Bagley Duryee (1918-1942) resided in Long Branch, Monmouth County, New Jersey with his parents, Stanley Loveman Duryee (1893-1978) and Elsie Lee Waite (1893-1971). Around July of 1941, he enlisted in the United States Army to serve in World War II. He was sent for training to Camp Davis in Onslow County, North Carolina. While stationed there, he married Selma Helen ONeil (1916-2012) on December 21, 1941.

Within three weeks of his marriage, Carl was admitted to the military hospital at Camp Davis with a brain bleed followed by clotting and pneumonia. He lingered for four weeks, dying on February 4, 1942.

A death certificate was filed in North Carolina. These death certificates are available online in a database on Ancestry (North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909-1976).

Death certificate filed in North Carolina
Carl Bagley Duryee
died February 4, 1942 in North Carolina
while a soldier in the United States Army

A death certificate was also filed in New Jersey. These are not online, but rather on microfilm in the New Jersey State Archives in Trenton.

Death certificate filed in New Jersey
Carl Bagley Duryee
died February 4, 1942 in North Carolina
while a soldier in the United States Army

These death certificates do not indicate that Carl's condition was caused by external trauma. Maybe this was a natural stroke, in spite of his youth. His obituary did not mention the causes or circumstances of his death.

Carl's widow, Selma, remarried in 1945 to Aubrey B Howland (1914-2004). Carl's father "gave the bride away" at this ceremony in Long Branch, New Jersey.

Thank you, Carl Bagley Duryee, for your service.