The Cantankerous Herman Lutter

Herman Lutter (1860-1924), my great great grandfather, was no stranger to lawsuits. He filed for divorce against both his wives. He sued his brother-in-law, Albert Neubauer, but his judgment was reversed on appeal. He was sued for selling a broken car; he prevailed.

I found another legal situation in a newspaper. In 1905, Herman was attacked on the water in a boat. I don't know what became of this case. His attacker was Matthias Johnson, who claimed that he thought he was in New York waters, not New Jersey, and that the motivation was that Herman borrowed and soiled Matthias' coat. 

Trial of Case Here Will Depend upon Location of Fishing Party on Water.

Matthias, known as “Tierce” Johnson, was arrested by City Marshal Peltier on a warrant shortly after 8 o’clock this morning and was at once arraigned before Recorder Piekersgill on a charge of assaulting Herman Lutter, of 70 Elm street, Newark, while in a boat out in the bay.

Johnson acknowledged committing the assault but claimed to be immune from punishment here on the claim that, at the time, the boat was over the line between New Jersey and New York and that he could only be punished in New York. He declared that he would not have struck Lutter but for the knowledge that the boat was in New York waters.

The recorder paroled Johnson and adjourned the case until he could ascertain exactly whether the assault had been committed in New York or New Jersey waters. Of course, were the boat on the farther side of the state line at the time, Johnson would be immune from prosecution in New Jersey.

The assault occurred several days ago, and arose from the taking of Johnson’s coat by Lutter. Johnson declares that Lutter used the coat while handling fish, and that he soiled it.

 

In this map, I have highlighted the relevant areas. Herman lived in Newark. The incident happened in the area of Perth Amboy. The boundary between New Jersey and New York is shown as a dotted line on the map. The boundary would not have been clear when they were offshore. I am not clear why Johnson thought that hitting Herman was permissible in New York waters but not New Jersey.

In 1908, a man named Matthias Johnson was mentioned in an article in the Asbury Park Press. He arrived in a small boat in Long Branch, Monmouth County, unsuited for the freezing weather. He claimed to be searching for a treasure in a sunken ship, The Pliny. (The Pliny sank in 1882.) Police found a bloody axe onboard, but allowed the unequipped man to continue his journey.

To Search Pliny Wreck for Gold

Man Sails from Long Island in Dory in Zero Weather to Probe Sunken Steamer

Belief that in the hulk of the steamer Pliny, wrecked many years ago off the Elberon shore and a part of which is still visible at low ride, there is a treasure that would make him wealthy could he but procure it, carried Matthias Johnson from Stapleton, [Long Island], to Long Branch in a dory while the thermometer hovered around the zero point. The man says he is a resident of Jersey City, from which place his apparatus has been sent.

In his little dory Johnson landed at the foot of North Broadway Thursday afternoon at 5:30 o’clock. Pulling his craft high up on the beach the man, after procuring something the eat, left for Jersey City.

The Long Branch police got wind of the man’s arrival and took an axe and coat from the dory. The axe was a little bloody. This led to an investigation.

Johnson arrived again in Long Branch shortly before 11 o’clock yesterday ready to resume his trip. He was dressed in a business suit, derby hat, and wore no overcoat.