This DNA match descends from Charles Lutter, born about 1862 in Germany. Charles may have been a brother to my great great grandfather, Herman Lutter (1860-1924). If not brothers, they were close cousins. The amount of shared DNA skews beyond the parent-child relationship, so the amount of shared DNA alone will not tell us how current descendants are precisely related.
The family tree below illustrates the possible relationship.
Explanation of the Relations
- The father of Otto and Herman Lutter is given as William or Wilhelm on their records; their mother's name differed every time.
- Ottillia's age is unknown; Otto was born in the 1840s. Herman and the other possible siblings were born in the 1860s. They might not share the same mother.
- Herman Lutter's will named Otto as his brother and Ottillia as his deceased sister. No other siblings were mentioned.
- Ottillia had three children according to Herman's will. They were Paul, Edeline, and Anna Michel and they lived in Neuhaus, Theuringen, Germany. I do not know what became of them.
- Otto had children, but only one, Augusta, lived to adulthood. She had one child, James Michael Kittson (1919-2003), who had no known issue.
Explanation of the DNA
The amount of shared DNA is from Ancestry.com. One of the matches would have to share results with my account in order for me to see how much DNA they share with each other. Ideally, they would both upload to GedMatch.com so that I could see the shared segments on my father's genome and attribute those areas to Lutter inheritance.
Charles' descendant and my father are second cousins, once removed if they above diagram is correct. They share 150 cM of DNA, which is on the high end, but still within range, of the expected amount of DNA shared between people of this relation.
Alexander's descendant and my father are third cousins, once removed. They share only 23 cM of DNA. Once we reach the third cousin level, we might see no shared DNA. So this amount is within the range of expected DNA.
The Paper Trail
The only clue that Herman was related to a Charles Lutter is in the Newark, New Jersey city directory for 1884. Herman, a wheelwright, and Carl Luther, a cabinet maker, both resided at 40 Rankin.
The other DNA match at Ancestry.com is descended from Alexander Lutter (1864-1897), the same Alexander Lutter who I tracked in Chicago because someone by this name was a witness to Herman Lutter's marriage to Clara Uhl in Newark, New Jersey in 1888. The DNA match showed that I picked the correct Alexander Lutter. But how was Alexander Lutter related?
In Chicago, Charles and Alexander Lutter lived together for several years. This shows a relationship between them.
In 1887 in Chicago, Charles Lutter married Theresa Doanow (spelled many ways, even with a T). I ordered this record, but do not expect to see the names of parents because Alexander's marriage record from 1890 did not ask the names of parents.
Charles and Theresa had four children in Chicago. Charles' last entry in the Chicago city directories was 1897, when Alexander died. The 1898 directory listed Ottelia as Alexander's widow.
Charles had moved to Wisconsin sometime between the birth of Martha in August of 1895 and Emma in February of 1900.
Charles and family remained in Wisconsin for the 1905 state census.
Charles' last child was Otto Herman Lutter, born in Wisconsin in 1907. The index is online; Charles' birthplace is given as Saxony. I ordered the record to see if a town is provided.
Charles moved again, this time to Brooklyn, New York. He and his family appeared in Brooklyn in the federal 1910 census and the 1915 state census.
In 1917, Charles' wife, Theresa, remarried to Fredrick Brink in Brooklyn. They eventually moved to Connecticut.
I don't see an entry in the New York City death index that matches Charles Lutter. His death certificate might provide the names of his parents.
Questions and Further Research
So what became of Charles Lutter? He probably died between 1915 and 1917, but where?
Alexander Lutter's wife, Ottilia Dalke, died in 1904, orphaning their three children, who went to the custody of Gustav and Herman Schwabe. Were these men related? Why didn't Charles take in Alexander's children?
Alexander's children kept accounts of their spending. I purchased these records years ago through eBay. One of the children, Emma, listed names and addresses, but no Lutter was among the entries. Why?
Why didn't Herman Lutter mention Alexander and Charles in his will? They predeceased him, but they had living children. Were they cousins and not brothers?
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