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Saturday, May 17, 2025

Children of John Lutter and Rhoda Gant

John F. E. Luther (1854-1915) and Rhoda A Gant (1858-1923) married March 1, 1876 in Newark, Essex County New Jersey. He was 22 years old. She was 18. His occupation was carpenter.

John F E Luther and Rhoda A Gant
married March 1, 1876 in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey.
Volume BP, Marriages, Atlantic through Hudson Counties, 1875-1876, viewable at Ancestry



John's parents were Ernst Lutter and Margaret Alfke. They married in 1851 in Newark. Ernst was likely the earliest Lutter to arrive in Newark.
Johann Christian Ernss Lutter and Anna Margaretha Alfken married March 23, 1851
in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey.
This marriage was recorded at the county level, not state.
New Jersey, County Marriages, 1682-1956, viewable at FamilySearch.org.


John died May 30, 1915 in Secaucus, Hudson County New Jersey at the Hudson County Hospital for the Insane. Cause of death was cerebral apoplexy. Parents "unknown." Burial was at New York Bay Cemetery in Jersey City.

Rhoda died December 16, 1923 in Bayonne, Hudson County. Cause of death was chronic endocarditis. Burial was also at New York Bay Cemetery.

John and Rhoda had at least nine children. Five lived into adulthood.

NAME

DATE OF BIRTH

DATE OF DEATH

Lucy

Feb 15, 1877

June 11, 1939

Rhoda Ann

Feb 1879

Sep 10, 1941

Catherine Perkins

Mar 3, 1880

Nov 23, 1880

Antoinette

Sep 1881

Mar 10, 1886

John Ernest

Apr 1884

Dec 6, 1944

Margaret

May 1885

Jan 20, 1959

Charlotte Nathanie

1888

Dec 23, 1934

Ruth

Nov 24, 1890

Aug 24, 1894

Winefred

Sep 8, 1893

Sep 8, 1893

The links are to their pages on Find A Grave.

I located birth records for three of these nine children. Only Ruth was named at birth.


Child Number 1

Lucy was the first child of John and Rhoda. She was born February 15, 1877 in Newark. Births at this time were recorded in ledger books. Lucy's entry does not name her and mislabeled her as male.

Male child born to John and Rose Luther
February 15, 18777 in Newark.
Volume CM, Births Atlantic through Hudson Counties, 1866-1877, viewable at Ancestry

In 1912, Lucy married Martin Lang (1848-1933), widower of Anna Petrany. His children were from this earlier marriage and not from Lucy. Lucy died in 1939 and was buried in Woodland Cemetery in Newark.


Child Number 2

Rhoda Ann was born in February of 1879. No record of birth was found.

She was married twice. In 1899 she married Frank Clarkson in Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey. After Frank's death, Rhoda remarried to Alexander J Cross in 1909 in Bayonne. Her children were delineated in a previous article.


Child Number 3

Catherine Perkins was born March 3, 1880 in Newark at 65 Fairview Avenue. She has a birth certificate, but was not named on this document. The midwife was Mary Staehle of 20 Belmont Avenue. She was the third child according to this birth certificate. 

Female Lutter born to John Lutter and Rodi Gerndt
March 3, 1880 in Newark.
Copied from microfilm at New Jersey State Archives.

We know Catherine's full name from her death certificate. On November 23, 1880 Catherine Perkins Lutter died from croup at 63 Fairview Avenue. She was buried in Woodland Cemetery, Newark.

Catherine Perkins Lutter
died November 23, 1880 in Newark.
Death certificate copied from microfilm at New Jersey State Archives.

When Catherine died, John and Rhoda were left with two children.


Child Number 4

Antoinette was born around September of 1881. No birth certificate was located.

She died March 10, 1886 in Newark at the age of four years and six months from acute bronchial pulmonary edema. She was buried in Woodland Cemetery, Newark.

Antoinette Lutter died March 10, 1886 in Newark.
Age four years, six months.
Copied from microfilm at New Jersey State Archives.

Child Number 5

John Ernest was born around April 1884. No birth certificate was located.

In 1905 in Bayonne John married Annie Mary Emma Otto (1885-1964). They had four children.

John died in 1944 in Staten Island, Richmond County, New York.


Child Number 6

Margaret was born around May 1885. No birth certificate was located.

In 1911 in Bayonne Margaret married Frank Schreiner. They had one son, Raymond.

Margaret died in 1959 in Jersey City.


Child Number 7

Charlotte Nathanie was born around 1888. No birth certificate was located.

In 1907 in Bayonne Charlotte married William Gerhard Kontje. They had at least six children.

Charlotte died in 1934 in Bayonne. 


Child Number 8

Ruth was born November 24, 1890 in Newark at 664 South 12th Street. She received a birth certificate. On this document, she was child number 8 with 6 still living. This tracks with what I found up to 1890. The midwife was Wilhelmine Belz of 122 Morton Street.

Ruth Lutter born November 24, 1890 in Newark.
Copied from microfilm at New Jersey State Archives.

Ruth died August 24, 1894 at 454 Bergen Street in Newark. She was aged three years, nine months, and 26 days. The cause of death was convulsions. She was buried in Woodland Cemetery.

Ruth Lutter died August 24, 1894 in Newark.
Age three years, zero months, and 26 days.
Copied from microfilm at New Jersey State Archives.


Child Number 9

Winefred was the final child found for John and Rhoda. She has no birth certificate; instead, she received only a death certificate for September 8, 1893- age fourteen hours. The cause of death was atelectasis pulm; probably premature birth with insufficient lung functioning. She was buried at Woodland Cemetery.

Winefred Lutter died September 8, 1893 in Newark.
Age fourteen hours.
Copied from microfilm at New Jersey State Archives.





How does one find these birth records in New Jersey?

There are indexes.

Where are these indexes? They are in the Archives and online at FamilySearch and Ancestry. (Currently not on the website of the New Jersey State Archives.)

Physically there are books in the Archives in Trenton, New Jersey.

Books of indexes at New Jersey State Archives

There are three sets of books to cover three different periods:
1848-1878
1878-1890
1890-1900

(There are additional indexes for 1901, 1902, 1903, and 1901-1929. These Lutter children were born before that time, so I will not delve in to those years here.)

These bound books are copies of typed indexes. I do not know who created them, when, or how. Maybe someone could chime in with a helpful comment.

Copy of paper index of births 1848-1878
available at the New Jersey State Archives.
This entry is actually for a female child who became known as Lucy.

Entries in the index for 1848-1878 refer to ledger books. No individual certificates exist. The first child, Lucy, a female, was born February 15, 1877 in Newark. An official record of her birth was made with the City of Newark. This record eventually made its way into a ledger book stored at the state level.


Entry at FamilySearch for male child born to John Luther and Rose Luther
in Newark on February 15, 1877

This same entry at FamilySearch lists the full date of birth and names of parents, but the image is not viewable at home. I had to travel to a Family History Center to look at the image. It was the image that I copied from the book in the Archives. Again, this is not the birth ledger, but rather the index.

Underlying image linked to the index at FamilySearch for male child born to John Luther and Rose Luther in 1877 in Newark

Note that this index lists the father's first initial, J, and does not list the mother. Yet the entry at FamilySearch spells out John's full first name and gives the first name of the mother.

Ancestry's entry is a bit different. The full date is missing; however, the image is viewable. The image is not the index, as on FamilySearch, but rather the actual birth ledger.

Search result at Ancestry for male child born to John Luther and Rose Luther in 1877 in Newark.



The underlying image is viewable.
This is the actual birth ledger book, same as the microfilm in the New Jersey State Archives.


Microfilm at the New Jersey State Archives




In 1878, New Jersey shifted from entries in a ledger book to individual certificates. Below is the entry in the index for Catherine Lutter, not named at birth, born March 3, 1880.

Copy of paper index of births 1878-1890
available at the New Jersey State Archives


The index at Ancestry has issues. I suspect that this index was not derived from the books in the Archives nor from the actual certificates. A film number is provided.

Entry at Ancestry for Lutter birth 1880 in Newark.
A film number is provided. FamilySearch describes this film as births 1879-1880.

This film is not viewable at home, but is viewable through the FamilySearch website at a Family History Center. This film does NOT contain birth certificates; rather, it is a handwritten index of births.

Image linked to index at Ancestry for Lutter birth March 3, 1879

At the top of this page is "Index Register of Births in Newark, Essex County, 1879-1880." Pages must be flipped to find the start of births in the middle of 1879. Thus the dates on this page are for the year 1880, not 1879.

FamilySearch indexed the correct year.

Entry for Lutter birth March 3, 1880 at FamilySearch. This is the correct year.


Users can request a correction to the date of birth in Ancestry's index, but please do not do this until the date is confirmed on the actual record (not another index).





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