Copies of a Philadelphia Birth Certificate

Among my paternal grandfather's papers was a copy of his birth certificate. Clifford Lutter was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 18, 1915. Below is the paper I found.

Birth certificate of Clifford Lutter born March 18, 1915 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Typed reproduction.
Father- Howard Lutter. Mother- Laura Ethel Winterton.
(They lived in Newark, New Jersey. They stayed in Philadelphia briefly.)

I do not know if this very paper is what Clifford received, or if he received a smaller paper and made this copy.

I already had a copy of the birth certificate that I made from microfilm at a Family History Center. 

Birth certificate of Clifford Lutter born March 18, 1915 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Handwritten and stamped March 19, 1915.
Film 2169638.

This film of Philadelphia births has been digitized but is restricted, meaning you cannot view at home. You have to log in at a Family History Center. The process in the past was to order the microfilm, pay a fee, and then wait. Now the process is free and instant- but as long as you can get to a particular physical location.

Note that the birth certificate copied from microfilm is handwritten, while the copy is typed. On the handwritten version, a date is written on top, "2/?/39." This could indicate that a copy was issued on that date. Sure enough, the official copy date on the typed copy is February 6, 1939.

Ancestry has published birth certificates of Philadelphia. Clifford's birth record appears in this collection, but is not the same as the handwritten birth certificate viewed on microfilm all those years ago. This was not easy to find because it is indexed as Sutter with an S, not Lutter with an L.

Birth certificate of Sutter born March 18, 1915 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Was there more than one set of Philadelphia birth records? When Clifford requested his birth certificate in 1939, did this trigger an unrecorded correction in spelling from Sutter to Lutter?

Letter of Condolence

Among my grandmother's papers was a letter of condolence for the loss of my grandfather, Clifford Lutter (1915-1980). The author was Harry Hazelwood (1921-2007), a judge in Newark, New Jersey.

A brief search produced a page at Rutgers University dedicated to Judge Hazelwood, where he attended for undergraduate studies. Some letters he wrote are pictured on his alumni page, so I decided to post this letter here in case anyone wants to view.

Judge Hazelwood was buried in Fairmount Cemetery in Newark.

Letter of condolence dated January 31, 1980
from Judge Harry Hazelwood, Jr to Mrs Clifford [Beulah] Lutter.
A transcript is below.

January 31, 1980

Mrs Clifford Lutter
c/o Funeral Home of James F Caffrey and Son
809 Lyons Avenue
Irvington, New Jersey 07111

Dear Mrs Lutter:

You and your family have my deepest sympathy upon the passing of your husband. I trust that God will give all of you the strength and courage to carry on during the coming days of stress and strain and will comfort you during the time of your bereavement. For many years I have known of your husband and his work particularly as treasurer of Special Police Local 11. He will long be remembered for his professionalism and for his community concern.

Again, my heartfelt sympathy to you and to all of the family.

Sincerely,

Harry Hazelwood, Jr.
Judge, Superior Court

Forbidden New York State Records

We aren't going to be seeing vital records from the State of New York any time soon.

The New York State Senate and Assembly passed bills (2025-S7782A and 2025-A8314A) to allow digitization and publication of births, marriages, deaths, and dissolutions of marriage. Governor Kathleen Hochul vetoed the bill in October 2025.

There remains no path to obtaining a vital record from the New York Department of Health if it falls under a genealogical time frame: 75 years for births and 50 years for marriages and deaths.

I await fulfillment of four records ordered from the New York State Department of Health. Three were ordered 21 months ago and the other almost four years ago- after the Department failed to find the certificate the first time around.

Although the Department will not copy and mail the documents, it is able to open the envelopes, remove the form of payment, and deposit same into the State's coffers.

The Department's website has not been updated since January 2023 and still falsely promises:
    1- orders of genealogical records will be fulfilled
    2- orders of genealogical records may take eight months or longer

Website of the New York State Department of Health
falsely offering genealogical copies of vital records

In contrast, New York City was able to digitize and place online a self-reported 75% of its vital records. Ancestry has digitized images of older New York City records.

Pending Orders

Below is the list of records not available online that were ordered and not yet fulfilled.

The last published list was September 22, 2025.

Death certificate of James Cummings, 1912

Requested of the New York State Department of Health. Form DOH-4384 mailed February 9, 2024.

$22 check. (Died in Catskill, Greene County, New York March 11, 1912.) Check cleared July 30, 2024.

Death certificate of Jane Cummings, 1899

Requested of the New York State Department of Health. Form DOH-4384 mailed February 9, 2024.
$22 check. (Died in Catskill, Greene County, New York July 7, 1899.) Check cleared July 30, 2024.

Death certificate of John Grant, 1882
Requested of the New York State Department of Health. Form DOH-4384 mailed February 9, 2024.
$22 check. (Died in Catskill, Greene County, New York December 27, 1882.) Check cleared July 30, 2024.

Death certificate of Edward Sheeby [Edmond Sheehy], 1893

Requested of the New York State Department of Health. Form DOH-4384 mailed March 1, 2022.
$22 check cleared April 2, 2022.
Originally requested in 2015.
Town of Amenia provided an obscure ledger entry in 2023.