Indirect Date of Birth

An announcement of a wedding date provided an indirect date of birth of a grandparent.

Shirley Adele Hofacker and William John Geerke announced the date of their upcoming wedding in The Newark Sunday Call. "June Bridal On Birthday" explained that June 24, 1939 was the 72nd birthday of Shirley's grandfather, Charles Lutter.

Newspaper article providing the date of Shirley Hofacker's wedding in 1939.
The Newark Sunday Call. April 23, 1939. Page 4.

Shirley and William were indeed married on June 24, 1939 in at Saint Leo's Catholic Church in Irvington, Essex County, New Jersey.

Shirley's mother was Florence Lutter (1892-1983). Florence's parents were Karl Lutter Anna Lau (1869-1914). Karl was anglized to Charles. He was likely a cousin of mine as discussed in an earlier article , "Connecting the Lutters of Newark, New Jersey." Charles was born in a German area, likely in or near the town of Scheibe, where my Lutter line originates. I do not have his record of birth; however, his death certificate provides this date as June 24, 1868. That would make him 71, not 72, on the day that his granddaughter married.

Death certificate of Charles K Lutter,
died September 26, 1952 in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey.
Father- Karl Lutter. Mother- "Unknown."
His parents were Robert Lutter and Nathalia Zitzman.

Shirley's date of birth is given on her marriage record: October 11, 1918. Again, a record of birth made at the time of the event would be better evidence of when she was born. Shirley's birth certificate is accessible from the New Jersey State Archives. (Births through 1924 are public in the Archives as of this writing.) On this document, Shirley was born on the 12th of October- not the 11th as stated on her marriage record.

Birth certificate of Shirley Adelle Hofacker
October 12, 1918 in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey.
Father- Adam Hofacker. Mother- Florence Lutter.
Record available through the New Jersey State Archives mail or in-person.

A note about researching in online newspapers:

Not all text will turn up in a search feature. On the page of The Newark Sunday Call where Shirley's article was found, there are several blank spots. Any print that was there did not carry over to the electronic scan and will not turn up in a search. If the date of an event is known, you may have to check newspapers published on and around this date to locate possible articles.

The Newark Sunday Call newspaper
April 23, 1939. Page 4.
Digitized version found at OldNews.com.
Shirley's wedding announcement is in the upper left.