Gravestone Weathering

In October I visited Sleepy Hollow Cemetery for a Walking Tour. This ninety acre burial ground is the final resting place of my paternal grandmother and many of her ancestors.

I noticed that the stones of the family have become increasingly difficult to read.

October 29, 2023
Stone of Rene Brewer and George Duryea

Pictured here is the shared stone of a couple. The stone now barely reads:

Rene Duryea
Born November 27, 1824
Died August 7, 1904

George W Duryea
Born February 12, 1823
Died May 16, 1864

In the 1960s, my paternal grandfather took pictures of stones.

1960s
Stone of Rene Brewer and George Duryea

I myself took pictures thirteen years ago. The stone was quite legible.

July 30, 2010
Stone of Rene Brewer and George Duryea

Rene Brewer married her first husband, John Evenshirer, in New York City in 1842. (I descend from this marriage.) In 1847, Rene remarried to George Duryea.

All four of Rene Brewer's grandparents are buried in the adjacent Old Dutch Burial Ground:

Solomon Brewer (1746-1824)

Rene Benton (1764-1841)

Abraham Lent (1772-1851)

Margaret Mann (1773-1844)

What Became of Edgar Duryea's Marriages?

Jacob H Duryea (1850-1928) is related to my father through both of Jacob's parents, George W Duryea (1823-1864) and Rene Brewer (1824-1904).

In Jersey City, New Jersey, Jacob married twice, first to Harriet Dunham in 1873 and then to Marietta Dunham in 1874. I don't know if this was a recording error or if these marriages really happened. The women were listed with different parents. Harriet was the daughter of Henry and Jane. Marietta was the daughter of Lewis and Sarah.


Marietta Dunham (1852-1922) and Jacob Duryea had three children:

1. Charles Duryea (1874-1876), buried in the Brewer plot in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in New York.

2. Edgar Henry Duryea (1876-1926), buried in the Eyre/Duryea plot in Hoboken Cemetery in New Jersey.

3. John D Duryea (1880-1891), buried in the Eyre/Duryea plot in Hoboken Cemetery in New Jersey.


About the Eyre/Duryea plot in Hoboken Cemetery:

Jacob Duryea's sister, Letty Jane Duryea (1848-1889), was originally buried in Hoboken Cemetery. She died in Jersey City from complications of pregnancy. Letty's husband, Alfred DeCiplet Eyre (1848-1912), was buried in nearby Fairview Cemetery in Bergen County. At some point, Letty was reinterred at Fairview.

Henrietta Elizabeth Funtman (1815-1887), the mother of Alfred DeCiplet Eyre, was buried in this Hoboken plot and not moved.


While reviewing Duryea marriages in New Jersey, I was surprised to find a record for Edgar H Duryea, the only son of Marietta and Jacob to reach adulthood.

On May 7, 1897 in Hoboken, Edgar Duryea married Lillian Hagan. Lillian's father's name was John Hagan; her mother's first name was Mary, but the last name is hard to read. Maybe Bulley? They were from Germany.

Three years after this marriage, in the 1900 census in Jersey City, Edgar was single and living with his parents. I did not suspect an earlier marriage.

Rene Duryea was Rene Brewer (1824-1904), mother of Jacob Duryea.
Janette Lent was Jennet Conklin (1814-1902), the widow of Rene's maternal uncle, David Mann Lent (1811-1892).

Seven months after Edgar's wedding, he was in a wagon accident.

I have not found Edgar in the 1910 census. He was not with his parents. He registered for the draft for World War I. He was living at 213 East 49th Street in New York City. His nearest relative was his father, Jacob H Duryea, in Jersey City.

In the 1920 federal census, Edgar was still at this address in New York City as a boarder. With him was Elizabeth Duryea, age 39. Was she another wife?

Edgar died on August 29, 1926 at Fairmount Hospital in Jersey City from pneumonia.

His death certificate states that he was married, but the wife's name was "Can not learn." Informant was Edgar's father, Jacob.

Edgar's obituary gave no indication of a wife.

Edgar's gravestone in Hoboken Cemetery leaves room for inscription, but no wife joined him in the ground.

Sarah B LeBarron (1811-1886) was the maternal grandmother of Edgar Duryea.

What became of Edgar's wife or wives? Did he have any children?

When a DNA match appears with ties to Jersey City, but no surnames in common, the connection could be cousins such as Edgar. Although Edgar was a few generations back, he was a double relation. If Edgar had descendants, they could share Duryea and Brewer DNA with my father, his siblings, and their cousins in this branch.

Ancestry DNA Circle for the Wrong Ancestor

Finally I am placed in an Ancestry.com DNA Circle.

The common ancestor surprised me:  Mary Evenshirer.  Nobody else has this surname, except maybe Mary's father, John Evenshirer, who likely died in New York City in the 1840s.


Ancestry offered this explanation of a DNA Circle.  I crossed out the part where the evidence went astray:  Mary Evenshirer had no children with Alfred Eyre.

Mary Evenshirer was my 3rd great grandmother.  Mary was born around 1842 in New York City and was probably the only surviving child of Rene Brewer (1824-1904) from Rene's marriage to John Evenshirer.  Rene remarried to George W Duryea (1823-1864) and in 1848 their first child was born, Letty Jane (died 1889).

From there, more chances for a mis-step.  Mary Evenshirer married Stephen C Duryea (1814-1887), a brother of George Duryea, and 28 years her senior.  He was a step-uncle, if such a relation exists.

Letty Jane Duryea, the half-sister of Mary Evenshirer, married Alfred DeCiplet Eyre (1848-1912) in New York City in 1868.  Letty died in Jersey City in 1889.  In 1890, Mary Evenshirer, then widowed, remarried to Alfred Eyre, her half-sister's widower.

Previously a cousin was found via DNA testing on Ancesty.  She is in the DNA Circle.

The DNA Circle links Fanny Duryea's descendant, "C J," to me.

She descends from Stephen Duryea and Mary Evenshirer's daughter, Fanny Duryea (1875-1943), who married Judson Cooke Drake (1877-1938).  My line descends from Stephen and Mary's son, Abraham Brewer Duryea (1878-1944), who married Nellie Cummins (1879-1965).  [Disposition of Nellie's ashes is unknown.]



Another cousin was also located via AncestryDNA.  He descends from Stephen and Mary's daughter, Jeanette Lent Duryea (1868-1939), who married Charles Hughes Quackenbush (1862-1947).  The family tree of this cousin is only three generations, with no mention of any of the surnames I discuss here; predictably, he was missed from this Ancestry DNA Circle.



The DNA Circle formed because a  cluster of three people surfaced at Ancestry with Mary Eyre or Mary Duryea in their trees.  Their trees did not extend back into the Brewer and Duryea lines, hence no shaky leaf designation that we share a common ancestor.  But somehow the threshold was met for a DNA Circle.

The common ancestor with this group of three people would not be Mary Evenshirer.  They descend from Mary's half-sister, Letty Jane Duryea, wife of Alfred DeCiplet Eyre.  The common ancestors would be Mary and Letty's mother, Rene Brewer AND from the other line, Garrett S Duryea (1777-1834) and Ann Cornell (1789-1871), the parents of Stephen C Duryea and George W Duryea.

Ancestry picked up on a common relation among the five of us, but chose the wrong common ancestor.  The actual family tree is tricky, as I outlined above.  Ancestry DNA Circles does not replace researching the family tree.

Digitized New York Newspapers Database

Thanks to Barbara over at Barb's Family Stories for alerting us to a great (and free) searchable resource for New York State newspapers, HRVH Historical Newspapers.  You can also edit the transcribed text, if you wish.

I found another mention of the deaths of Abraham Lent Brewer and Fannie Duryea, husband and wife, who died within hours of each other in 1901 in Ramapo, Rockland County, New York.

Abraham (1826-1901) was the brother of my 4th great grandmother, Rene Brewer (1824-1904).

Fannie (1830-1901) was the sister of my third great grandfather, Stephen C Duryea (1814-1887).

The Brewer Fire Engine Company in Monsey is named after Abraham.

Abraham and Fannie died without living descendants.  Abraham's estate passed to Fannie and then to Fannie's family a few hours later when she died.  Fannie's full sister and the children of Fannie's deceased full siblings inherited Abraham and Fannie's estate.  Abraham's side was cut off from any inheritance.  Fannie's nieces and nephews by her half-brothers also inherited nothing because whole-bloods inherited to the exclusion of half-bloods under New York law in 1901.  (That took years to figure out.)

Revisiting Graves

My aunt gave me some pictures taken in a cemetery, probably in the late 1960s.  I recognized the setting as Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, Westchester County, New York.  My grandmother, Beulah, was buried in this cemetery in 2003.  The Brewer lot (504 and 505) is the subject of the older pictures, particularly George W Duryea (1823-1864) and Rene Brewer (1824-1904).  Beulah descends from Rene's first marriage to John Evenshirer; and from George's brother, Stephen C Duryea.  George Duryea was a policeman killed in New York City.

Brewer lot (504 and 505) at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.
The rails and chains connecting the posts are disappearing.
Years from now, visitors may not be able to see that all of these stones were once in the same lot.

I tried to capture the scenes in new pictures.  The sun cast deep shadows on the stones, making them even more unreadable.  Most of the trees and bushes have been removed.

The large stone on the left is for David Mann Lent (1811-1892) and Jennet Conklin (1814-1902).

My grandmother has several ancestors buried at Sleepy Hollow, making this a great stop for exploring this branch of my family's history.

Mother:  Rene Marion Duryea (1900-1943)

Maternal grandfather:  Abraham Brewer Duryea (1878-1944)

Great grandfather:  Stephen C Duryea (1814-1887)

Great great grandparents:  Ann S Cornell (1784-1871)
Rene Brewer (1824-1904)

Great great great grandparents:  James Brewer (1798-1849)
Mary Ann Lent (1796-1875)

4X great grandparents:  Solomon Brewer (1746-1824)
Rene Benton (1764-1841)
Abraham Lent (1772-1851)
Margaret Mann (1773-1844)

Excluded, not Forgotten

When researching your family's history, each new discovery answers some questions and raises new ones.  Such was the case with the Estate of Fannie Brewer.

Fannie Duryea (1830-1901) married Abraham Lent Brewer (1826-1901) about 1848 in New York City.  They died within hours of each other in April of 1901 in Spring Valley, Rockland County, New York.  Abraham died first.  Fannie's will left everything to Abraham, but since he died before she had a chance (a few hours) to write a new will, Fannie was deemed to have died intestate.  The couple had no surviving children, so Fannie's estate was divided among her living relatives.

This was a great find.  Fannie's siblings were listed, along with their children.  But this was an incomplete list.  I was confused by the omission of one sibling, John Duryea.  John died in 1836 in New York City.  I theorized that maybe the family had forgotten about him, since he died so long ago.  Yet one of John's children, Catherine Jane Duryea (1834-1906), was a witness at family wedding in 1890 in Jersey City, signing "Kate Lockwood."  So Fannie's long-gone sibling, John Duryea, was not forgotten, but rather omitted from the distribution of the estate.

Later, I discovered another older and long-deceased brother, Rulief S Duryea.  In the 1830s, Rulief moved to Illinois and established Yorkville in Kendall County with James S Cornell (related to Ann Cornell?).  Rulief died in 1846.  His wife, Susan Montrose (1812-1897), and children later moved to California.  Was Rulief forgotten or omitted on purpose?

Now I think I have a better theory why Fannie's oldest brothers, Rulief and John, were omitted from her estate.  They were half-siblings.  Fannie shared a father, Garret S Duryea, with them, but not a mother.  Rulief and John's mother was Charity Horton.  Fannie and the siblings mentioned in the court papers were children of Ann Cornell (1784-1871).  Ann outlived Garret some 37 years.

In 1901, when Fannie's estate was probated, New York law provided that full siblings inherited to the exclusion of half siblings if the inheritance came through the non-shared parent.

This is my explanation for now as to why the descendants of Rulief and John did not inherit anything from Fannie's estate.  Half-siblings could be excluded in certain circumstances.  I thought that Fannie's money came to her by her husband's death-- this would not be a reason to exclude Fannie's half-siblings.  The only explanation to exclude the half-siblings would be that Fannie's money came to her through her mother, Ann, who was not the mother of the half-siblings.  But Ann died 30 years before Fannie.  Surely any money was long disbursed and used.

At least one of Rulief's children was alive when Fannie died in 1901.  Sarah Eliza Duryea (1843-1903).  She was born in Illinois and died in California.  Her husband was Edward L Hathaway (1841-1914).

Discovering Ancestors in Names of Cousins

When researching family lines, it is vital that you research siblings of your direct ancestors, as well as their children and grandchildren, because they will yield additional information on your shared ancestors.  Also, when possible, obtain certificates of births, marriages, and deaths, even if you *think* that the record would contain nothing new.  The record would at least confirm other evidence and may provide new clues.

John Duryea (1861-1919) was a first cousin of my great great grandfather, Abraham Brewer Duryea (1878-1944).  Abraham's middle name, Brewer, is from the family of his maternal grandmother, Rene Brewer (1824-1904).

John and Abraham's grandfather was Garrett Duryea (1777-1834).  I am seeking documentation that Garrett's first wife was Charity Horton.  John and Abraham descend from Garrett's second wife, Ann Cornell (1784-1871).

On my most recent trip to the New Jersey State Archives in Trenton, I copied John Duryea's marriage certificate to Katherine Dwyer (1858-1929).  They were married in Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey on February 11, 1889.  To my surprise and delight, John's middle name was included on the certificate.  HORTON.  I wonder if the family knew of the origin of this name when John was named, as he is the grandson of Ann Cornell, not Charity Horton.

Add caption

Marriage Announcement from 1859

I finally found a marriage record for my 3x great grandparents, Stephen C Duryea (1814-1887) and Mary Ann Evanshirer (1842-1916)!  The record is in the form of a marriage announcement from a newspaper, New York Evening Express, which I found by doing a Google search of FultonHistory.com.

The possible years of searching for this marriage were narrow.  Mary was born in 1842.  Her first child, Garrit Duryea, was born in February of 1860.  She would have married as late as the year 1859, and not much earlier.

Mary was about 16 years old when she married on February 2, 1859.  Her husband, Stephen C Duryea, was 44 years old- a 28 year difference.  By age 18, Mary had already given birth to a baby and seven months later, buried him.  Mary and Stephen had twelve children from 1860-1881.

A marriage announcement in the newspaper is also the only record I found so far for Mary's parents, John Evenshirer and Rene Brewer (1824-1904).  Note the spelling this surname:
1842- Evenshirer
1859- Evanshearer
John Evenshirer remains a tail in my family tree.  He must have died before 1847, when Rene Brewer remarried to George W Duryea (1823-1864).  Spelling variants are normal (look at Duryea and Duryee above), but I still cannot find any solid leads on this surname.

Elusive Surname: Evenshirer

Mary Evenshirer was my 3x great grandmother.  She was born in New York City around 1842.  She died in Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey in 1916.  Her surname and her father are a tail end in my family tree.

Mary's mother was Rene Brewer, a daughter of James Brewer and Mary Ann Lent from Westchester County, New York.  From the newspaper The New York Sun, we have the marriage announcement in 1842 in New York City of Miss Rene Brewer to John Evenshirer, "both of this city."

By 1848, John Evenshirer was dead or otherwise out of the picture when Rene had another daughter, Letty Jane, with George W Duryea.

The 1850 United States Federal Census as well as the 1855 New York State Census list Mary Evenshirer with the surname of Rene's husband, George W Duryea.

Ancestry.com

Note the servants in your households!!!
Mary Walpole married Jacob Duryea, a brother of George.

Mary married Stephen C Duryea, a brother of George W Duryea, so she retained the surname Duryea for future records.  The age difference must have been confusing to some.  In the 1880 census, Mary's mother, Rene, was residing with Mary and Stephen in Pound Ridge.  Stephen's age was 65, Mary was 38, and "mother" Rene was 64- no, make that 84 to try to make sense of this.

Mary's half-sister, Letty Jane Duryea, married Alfred Deciplet Eyre in 1868.  Letty died in 1889 from complications of a pregnancy.  (She was originally buried in Hoboken Cemetery in North Bergen, Hudson County, New Jersey, but was relocated to Fairview Cemetery.)  Mary had been widowed in 1887.  Mary and Alfred married in 1890, combining their children into an Eyre/Duryea household.  They were not just step-siblings; they were related by blood.

Ancestry.com

When Mary died in 1916, the informant, "Mr Eyre (son)," knew of her surname at birth and attempted to include it on the death certificate.

Your author at Fairview Cemetery (Fairview, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States)
Picture by Rob Berner

Double enumeration in the census, part four: New York City 1870

Your biggest and most obvious hint to check for a double enumeration in the census is when the census was repeated.  This happened in New York City for the 1870 census.

I found a family listed twice in New York City in 1870, but not in the first and second enumeration.  They appeared in the second enumeration as well as their new homes outside of New York City.

This is a household located on Spring Street in New York City, 1870.  First listed is Stephen Duryea, his wife Mary, and some of their children.  Living in this household is also Abraham Brewer (uncle of Mary), Anna [Frances Duryea], Abraham Brewer [nephew of Abraham Brewer], and Anna Flynn.

Both groups are in New York City in 1860, but not in 1880.  1870 seems to be the time this family moved out of New York City, though not together.  Stephen moved to Westchester County.

I typed out the words for easier reading.

Abraham moved to Rockland County and founded the Brewer Engine Fire Company in Monsey.

Killed by Death

Abraham Lent Brewer was born in 1826 in Greenburgh, Westchester County, New York, to James Brewer and Mary Lent.  His sister, Rene Brewer, was my 4X great grandmother.  Abraham married Fannie Duryea.  She was a sister of Stephen Duryea, my 3X great grandfather.  (We'll save that story for another day.)

Because Abraham predeceased his wife, Fannie, their entire estate passed to her family, which helped me immensely in identifying her siblings and their children.  [This is why you need to follow siblings and not just your direct line!]  In researching this couple, I discovered that Abraham Brewer was the source of the naming of the Brewer Fire Engine Company of the Monsey Fire Department.

Yet the exact dates of death for Abraham and Fannie eluded me.

They died within hours of each other in April of 1901, according to newspaper articles.

Their gravestone at Brick Church Cemetery in Spring Valley, Rockland County, New York, listed the year of death, 1901, without a month and day.  Only the International Genealogical Index ("IGI") gave a month and day:  April 28.  Below are copies of the actual paper submissions that the IGI is based upon.  Sources are not provided!

Family Group Sheet submitted for IGI
Abraham Lent Brewer- "died 28 Apr 1901"

Family Group Record for Abraham Lent Brewer, his parents, and some siblings

Today's online version of the IGI
FamilySearch.org

I ordered the death certificate for Abraham Brewer from the New York State Department of Health.  In return I received the death certificate for Fannie Brewer, his wife, with a date of death April 28, 1901 at 3 am.  This is the same date in the IGI for Abraham's death.  If the date in the IGI were correct, Abraham would have died between midnight and 3 am on April 28th in order for Fannie to have survived him, enabling her family to collect the entire estate.

New York State death certificate for Fanny M Brewer, died April 28, 1901 in Ramapo, Rockland County.

When I was in Albany, New York last year, I checked the index of deaths myself and took another shot at ordering Abraham Brewer's death certificate.  (Unlike neighboring New Jersey records, you cannot search yourself for the certificates.)  After several months, the death certificate arrived.  His date of death as per the death certificate is April 27, 1901 at 3 pm.

New York State death certificate for Abram L Brewer, died April 27, 1901 in Ramapo, Rockland County.

Now that we have Abraham Brewer's death certificate, we can form a picture of what happened, using the newspaper articles.  Abraham died in the afternoon of April 27th.  After caring for him for at least a week, his wife, Fanny, retired to her bed and died.  Her 3 am time of death is probably an estimate after neighbors checked on her the following morning and found her dead, but reflects that the deaths were within hours of each other.  Their deaths were not on the same day/date, but rather within the same 24 hour timeframe.

The date in the IGI is incorrect by one day and further illustrates why you should be leery of certain databases as well as all unsourced information.