Error on Marriage Certificate

Samuel Schwartz and Hani "Annie" Perlstein settled in Jersey City, New Jersey after their arrival from Hungary in the 1880s. I wanted to know the names of their parents and their hometown. A marriage record is a great place to possibly find this information.

No match was found in the indexes of New Jersey, New York state, and New York City. However- there was an entry for Samuel Schwartz and Amelia Friedman in 1889 in New York City. Samuel and Annie's first child, Edward, was born in 1890 in Jersey City. In general, to find a marriage record, begin with the birth of the first child and work backwards.

Index of New York City marriages at Ancestry

New York City vital records are being digitized and are available for free on the website of the New York City Department of Records and Information Services.

The Certificate of Marriage is two pages. The first page lists the groom as Samuel Schwartz and the bride as Amalia Friedman. This is consistent with the index at Ancestry.

Certificate of Marriage, New York City
Samuel Schwartz and Hani Perstein married January 20, 1889.
In error was written "Amalia Friedman" as the bride's name.

The second page reveals that there is an error on the first page. The bride was Hani Perlstein, not Amalia Friedman. The author wrote the name of the groom's mother instead of the name of the bride. The document is written with two different colors of ink- blue and black. This could reveal that the document was completed at a later time, resulting in confusion.

Certificate of Marriage, New York City
Samuel Schwartz and Hani Perstein married January 20, 1889.
Groom's parents- Pincus Schwartz and Amalia Friedman.
Bride's parents- Adolph Perlstein and Lina Perlstein.

I will also note that the difference in the color of the ink would not have been known if this document was not digitized in color!

To solidify that we have the correct couple, the death certificates were obtained from the New Jersey State Archives. Samuel Schwartz died in 1958 in Jersey City at the Hebrew Home for Aged. On this document his father was Pincus Schwartz and his mother was Miriam Friedman. This is a good match for the marriage record from 1889.

Death Certificate, New Jersey
Samuel Schwartz died April 17, 1958 in Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey

Annie Schwartz died in Atlantic City in 1940 from a stroke. Her residence was in Jersey City. Atlantic City is a popular vacation spot in New Jersey, so perhaps she was on a trip when suddenly struck. Her parents were listed as Abraham Perlstein and Unknown. (My least favorite name.)

Death Certificate, New Jersey
Annie Schwartz died January 23, 1940 in Atlantic City, Atlantic County, New Jersey

After collecting the death certificates to confirm that the entry in the index was for this target couple, I submitted a correction to the erroneous entry for Amelia Friedman in the index at Ancestry. The correct name of the bride, Hani Perlstein, was added. Amelia is not really wrong- it is the bride's name on the first page. Now, if someone searches for Hani, she can be found.

Corrected entry for Hani Perlstein in the 
index of New York City marriages at Ancestry

No hometown in Hungary was given in any of these records.

Kip's Castle and Another Bishop

Kip's Castle is a large mansion lying in Verona and Montclair in Essex County, New Jersey. It is remarkable because it was built in the style of a Norman castle, atop First Mountain, with spectacular views of the New York City skyline. The mansion is 9,000 square feet and sits atop eleven acres of land.

I visited in December of 2024. My pictures will not do this marvel justice, so here is a video from YouTube.

Before the castle became part of the Essex County Park System, various people and businesses occupied the structure.

The original occupants were Frederic Ellsworth Kip (1862-1938) and his wife, Charlotte Bishop Williams (1864-1926). They were married in New York City in 1884. They had one son, Ruloff Frederic Kip (1887-1953). 

Marriage record page 1
Frederick Ellsworth Kip and Charlotte Bishop Williams
married October 15, 1884 in Manhattan, New York

Marriage record page 2
Frederick Ellsworth Kip and Charlotte Bishop Williams
married October 15, 1884 in Manhattan, New York

Historic vital records for New York City are available online.

By 1910, the family had moved into their new castle, as reflected in the 1910 census, at Crestmount Road in Montclair (now Crestmont Road in Verona). With Frederic and Charlotte was their son, Ruloff, age 22, and Charlotte's maternal aunt, Julia Bishop Ford (1837-1921). Four servants also were listed in this household.

In the 1915 state census, this home was listed at a different address, 66 Highland Avenue. This is still the same structure. Entrances are on Crestmont Road and Highland Avenue.

The property of Kip's Castle touches two streets-
Crestmont Road in Verona and Highland Avenue in Montclair.
This is a modern-day map.

Charlotte's middle name, Bishop, caught my attention. I figured this could be a surname, and since I have Bishop ancestors, I delved into Charlotte's ancestry.

The parents of Charlotte Bishop Williams were Charlotte Louisa Ford (1841-1897) and William White Williams (1838-1893). Charlotte and her parents are buried in Cedar Lawn Cemetery in Paterson, Passaic County, New Jersey.

Charlotte's maternal grandmother was a Bishop- Mary Polly (1807-1867), married to Alfred Ford (1805-1866). They were buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Morristown.

In August 2024 I visited Evergreen Cemetery to visit the resting place of my fourth great grandfather, Reuben Bishop (1805-1856). Transcriptions of stones are available at the Morristown and Morris Township Library. The cemetery, however, will not provide information.

Mary Polly Bishop was a daughter of Susannah Scofield (1773-1852) and William Bishop (1768-1844). This couple and some of their children were buried at First Presbyterian Churchyard, Morristown. They were from Stamford, Fairfield County, Connecticut and moved to Morristown, New Jersey probably in the 1820s.

Bishop family plot
First Presbyterian Churchyard
Morristown, Morris County, New Jersey
Photographed October 20, 2016 by J Lutter

Am I related to William Bishop and Susan Scofield? I do not know yet. I have not found a connection, other than residence in Morristown. 

Nurse Julia Flanagan 1857-1935

Cabinet card of a young woman by Sterry

This cabinet card is a picture of a woman, standing, dressed in clothing typically worn by nurses in the late 1800s. The photographer was Sterry and Company of 520 and 522 Broadway in Albany, New York. In blue ink is written "Julia C Flanagan 1888."

Backside of cabinet card of young woman by Sterry, Albany, New York

This card resides in New Jersey, not Albany, so the search for Julia had to span both places.

The Newark Sunday Call, a newspaper in New Jersey, detailed "The First Graduates of the Training School at the Asylum" in an article dated June 17, 1888. By this time, formal training of nurses as well as changes in the treatment of the mentally ill were creating educational and vocational opportunities. Julia and Agnes Flanagan were mentioned.

Newspaper article about graduates of the nursing school
of the Essex County Asylum, 1888

The training program at the Essex County Asylum lasted two years. Students were paid. Men earned $20 per month and women earned $14 per month. To earn $20, a woman had to complete the entire two year course successfully.

Note: The Essex County Asylum still exists, but is now called Essex County Hospital and is located in Cedar Grove, not Newark.

The Journal of Insanity
Volume 45
View here

The Journal of Insanity also reported on these graduates in October of 1888, though the author was not pleased with nurses receiving training and accolades. "By all means let nurses be trained, but let us not forget the wholesome maxim, Ne sutor ultra credpidam." Julia and Agnes Flanagan were noted for demonstrating their knowledge.

Note: The American Journal of Insanity began publication in 1844. It is still in publication, but under the name American Journal of Psychiatry, which changed in 1921.

1870 United States federal census
Bloomfield, Essex County, New Jersey
Julia Flanigan, age 11. At school.

Julia Flanagan and Margaret Agnes Flanagan were daughters of John Flanagan (1829-1889) and Ann Cahill (1829-1896). In the 1870 census, the family resided in Bloomfield, Essex County, New Jersey.

1900 United States federal census
Albany, Albany County, New York
Julia C Flannigan, age 37, nurse. Boarder.

Julia relocated to Albany, where she worked as a nurse.

Obituary of Julia C Flanagan, died January 7, 1935.

Julia has two memorial pages on Find A Grave. She is mentioned on the family stone in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Bloomfield, New Jersey.

Find A Grave memorial page for Julia C Flanagan
at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Bloomfield, Essex County, New Jersey.

Julia was buried in Saint Agnes Cemetery in Menands, New York. 

Find A Grave memorial page for Julia C Flanagan
at Saint Agnes Cemetery in Menands, Albany County, New York.

Julia's birthdate is engraved on both stones- September 25, 1858. The memorial in Bloomfield has a note: "born 9/24/1858 on tombstone (incorrect year)".

Neither is correct, according to the birth ledger filed with the state, which is a primary source. On September 24, 1857 an unnamed baby girl was born to John and Ann Flanagan in Bloomfield, New Jersey.

Register of births in New Jersey. Book I 1848-1867

Margaret Agnes married Frederick Van Houten  (1864-1922). She may have spent her years working for her family in the home, rather than being employed outside the home as a nurse.

The memorial page for Margaret Agnes Flanagan (1861-1934) originally linked to the wrong husband. Frederick VanHouten (1864-1922), buried in Woodland Cemetery in Newark, is the correct husband for Margaret. Frederick VanHouten (1866-1943), buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Newark, was not Margaret's husband.

Julia, a daughter of Margaret and Frederick, died in 1928 in Saranac Lake, Franklin County, New York. A copy of this death certificate was filed in New Jersey. This is unusual but sometimes happens. If someone resided in New Jersey but died in another state, it is possible that a record exists in New Jersey as well as the location of the death. This is worth a try, especially with the State of New York, since genealogy requests for records have stopped being filled.

New York death certificate filed in New Jersey.
Julia VanHouten died June 4, 1928 in Saranac Lake, Franklin County, New York.

New York Ignores Record Requests

The State of New York is years behind in fulfilling orders for genealogical copies of vital records.

Years.

This is a problem because the only way to obtain vital records is from the New York State Department of Health, Office of Vital Records in Albany.

According to their website, the wait is eight months or longer. "Longer" is more correct.

The records are not online. They cannot even be ordered online- you have to submit the fee and a paper form via postal mail, then wait. And wait. And wait. You cannot send someone to Albany and you cannot go yourself.

They are not free. The cost is $22 per record- if you know the year of the event.

CBS News of Albany, New York ran a short video about this issue on December 10, 2024. The current link is here. The site is slow with a lot of ads and pop ups.

Short video clip CBS6 Albany

The reporter interviewed New York State Assemblyman Scott Bendett (R,C-Sand Lake), who said he would look into the issue.

CBS News followed up with another video featuring a response from Health Commissioner Dr James McDonald. Dr McDonald explained that they have staffing issues and are looking at technological solutions. He added that local jurisdictions may have the same information.

In my opinion, if historical and genealogical requests are unimportant to the Department of Health, it is time to turn over custody of the records to the Archives. Even better, scan them and put them online for free, like New York City is doing. New York will have to change some laws and procedural rules, but it is time.

WHAT IS IN THE COLLECTIONS AND HOW TO SEARCH

Recording of births, marriages, and deaths in the modern individual certificate format began around 1881 at the state level. There is a short index of deaths for the year 1880. Compliance was not 100% in the early years.

The cities of Albany and Buffalo have separate record-keeping systems. The City of New York is also separate.

New York State Archives has indexes, but not the actual certificates. (For comparison, the New Jersey Department of Health has a schedule to turn over certificates to the Archives. Do they comply with this schedule? No. But there is access in New Jersey.) The indexes were available for in-person use at the Archives.

New York was so vehemently opposed to genealogical access to records that legal action was needed to make the indexes public. Thank you Reclaim the Records.

The indexes are available for free on Archive.org and New York Family History. Ancestry has its own search feature through a pay wall.

Again- these are the indexes, not the records.

CURRENT LINKS TO FREE INDEXES

Births

Marriages

Deaths

LINKS AT ANCESTRY.COM

These are searchable, but check the actual images for correct spelling, certificate numbers, dates.

If you do not see a particular name, check the images line by line.

New York Birth Index 1881-1942

New York Marriage Index 1881-1967

New York Death Index 1852-1956

New York Death Index 1957-1972

MY EXPERIENCES

Both sides of my family lived in New York in prior generations.

This year, I requested three death certificates for Cummings/Grant branch. The envelopes were mailed to Albany on February 9, 2024. Someone received these requests as evidenced by the checks being cashed on July 30, 2024.

In 2022, almost three years ago, I ordered the death certificate of Edmond Sheehy. The envelope was mailed to Albany on March 1, 2022. The check was cashed April 2, 2022. This record was originally requested in 2015, but the State did not locate the record because the name was misspelled in the index. When the index was published on the internet, I found the correct entry and resubmitted the request.

There are many more birth, marriage, and death certificates that would greatly aid genealogical pursuits. Under the current scheme, the price and process are prohibitive.

As Dr McDonald stated, a duplicate record may have been filed with the local registrar. Their fulfillment time may be shorter than the State. I did this for Edward Sheehy, who died in 1893 in Amenia, Dutchess County. The Town clerk sent me a copy of the obscured ledger book. Missing was the date and the names of his parents. The entire page is necessary for proper evaluation of the record. 

The localities will not provide copies of the certificates.

So no, Dr McDonald, identical information is not available from the local towns. The State will need to release the certificates.

MY OPINION

In light of the release of records by other states, in addition to technological advances beyond microfilm, plus New York's refusal to comply with its own practice of orders for a fee, New York should make its records available for digitization and public access.

New Jersey should also do this.

Pictures on Gravestones

Gravestone of Di Agostino family:
Anna, Constandino, and their daughter Mary

Ceramic pictures occasionally appear on gravestones. Photographing them helps preserve these images.

These images of Anna Picone (1875-1958) and Constandino Di Agostino (1877-1936) are affixed to their gravestone in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in East Orange, Essex County, New Jersey. As time passes, these pictures will become worn. They might fall from the stone or go missing.

(Holy Sepulchre lies in East Orange and Newark. This gravestone is in Newark.)

Some poking around at Ancestry revealed that someone else took pictures of these photographs, but now they are preserved in additional locations online.

Obituary of Anna Di Agostino, born Picone.
May 8, 1958. Newark Star Ledger newspaper.

Anna's obituary references a tunnel leading to parking area. Anyone know what or where this is? Is it South Orange Avenue (County Route 510) as it passes under the Parkway? Section V, where this gravestone resides, is close to the Garden State Parkway. It is visible from the northbound lanes. The Parkway was nearing completion in 1958, when Anna died.

Picture taken standing in Section V and the Parkway
Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Newark, New Jersey

The southbound lanes border another side of the cemetery. Below is an undated earlier aerial picture of the Parkway and the cemetery on both sides of the road, followed by the modern-day Google aerial map.

Historical photograph of the Garden State Parkway.
This section lies in Newark, New Jersey.
The Parkway does not run through West Orange.

Same view of the Parkway and Holy Sepulchre Cemetery modern-day

Two Sisters, One Husband

While researching my Duryea roots, this family popped up.

John Duryea, born about 1842 in New York (Manhattan), and his wife, Lizzie White. Only one child, Agnes, was found in records, born about 1871 in Manhattan.

1880 census. New York City.
Household of Albert White, including married daughter Lizzie
with her husband, John Duryea, and their baby, Agnes.

I don't think that this John Duryea is descended from the original Duryea immigrant, Joost. Joost arrived in the United States one hundred years before it became the United States. He lived in what is now called Brooklyn or Kings County, New York by the 1670s.

In contrast, John Duryea's parents, according to the 1880 census, were born in Germany. His wife's parents were from Baden and Prussia. They may have adopted the Duryea surname or shared an ancestor before Joost. I have not located the death certificate of John Duryea. The names of his parents could be on his death certificate.

Agnes Duryea married John Joseph Lee (1864-1938) and had eleven children from 1892 through 1908 in Jersey City. (I have not located a marriage record.)

1910 census in Jersey City
John Lee and household
Deceased children were Mary (1892-1893) and Annie Ida (1900-1900)

This branch is notable because two of the daughters married the same man. This was not unusual, but can be a bit tricky to figure out.

Loretta (also spelled Lauretta in records) Lee married Henry Treichel (also spelled Trieckel) in Jersey City in 1916.

1916 marriage certificate
Henry Treichel and Loretta Lee married January 26, 1916
in Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey

Their first child, Ruth Elizabeth, arrived the same year.

1920 census. Jersey City.
Loretta died two months after this census was recorded.

The next child, Loretta, arrived March 27, 1920. Mother Loretta died two days later from pneumonia, with pregnancy contributing.

1920 death certificate
Loretta Trieckel died March 29, 1920 in Jersey City

The following year, 1921, Henry remarried to Irene Lee- a sister of his deceased wife.

1921 marriage certificate
Henry Trieckel and Irene Lee married February 8, 1921
in Jersey City

Henry and Irene had two children, Anna Marie born in 1926, and Henry William, born 1932.

Henry died in 1956 and was buried with his first wife, Loretta, in Holy Name Cemetery in Jersey City. The name was spelled Trieckel by this time. Loretta's parents, John Joseph Lee and Agnes Duryea, are also in this plot, but are not on the gravestone.

Family tree
Duryee, Lee, Trieckel

The Elusive Parents of Jane Bell

 As I seek possible records for Reuben Bishop (1804-1855), finding his marriage record to Susan C Bell (1817-1888) would possibly help. Locating young Susan and her parents could help identify Reuben's place of origin. Marriages were between local people.

Family tree of Susan C Bell (1817-1888)
showing parents, spouses, and children

The name's of Susan's parents are from the record filed with the State of New Jersey for her third marriage in 1888 to Edward Prime DeGroot (1819-1884). Her father was listed as John Bell and her mother as Jane Bockover. Edward and Susan were married in the city in which she resided, Newark, Essex County. He resided in Morristown, Morris County, which is where Susan had raised her children.

Marriage record filed with State of New Jersey
Edward P Degroot married Susan C Bell, widow of Whitehead,
February 14, 1881 in Newark.
(Enos Littell Whitehead died February 2, 1880 in Newark.)

In the Morristown and Morris Township Library, while reviewing records for Evergreen Cemetery in Morristown, I checked out the family history books. There is a Bockoven family genealogy book compiled by Mrs R Vanderhoff of Bernardsville, New Jersey. This family lived in Somerset and Morris Counties, New Jersey.

Cover page
Bockoven book by Mrs R Vanderhoff

The Bockoven book lists the original immigrant as George Bockoven (1734-1814) of Alsace. George first married Mary Whitenack (1740-1806). Their children were born from 1759 through 1786.

After Mary Whitenack died, George Bockoven remarried to Jane Bell or Ball- a widow.

George Bockoven and his first wife, Mary, were buried in the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Basking Ridge, Somerset County.

Bockoven  Bell of Somerset County, relocated to Morris County, sound like Susan C Bell should fit in with this familial group. But she is not mentioned in the book.

1812 map northern New Jersey
Baskenridge in Somerset County is less than
ten miles south of Morris in Morris county.
(Rutgers Map Collection)

A copy of this bible is also available at the New Jersey State Archives in Trenton via the bible collection of the New Jersey Genealogy Society.

Bockoven bible printed in the Bockoven Book by Vanderhoff

Bockoven bible printed in the Bockoven Book by Vanderhoff

More research is needed, this time in Somerset County.