Family Documents: Clifford Charles Lutter, Mason

Among inherited family documents is now a single paper establishing Clifford Charles Lutter as a 32 degree Mason. He signed December 4, 1971 in Newark, New Jersey.

Document establishing Clifford Lutter (1915-1980)
as a Freemason 32d Degree

Signature of Clifford Lutter December 4, 1971

A few years ago the document surfaced that established Clifford's father, Howard, as a 32d degree Mason. Howard signed exactly 39 years before his son.

Document establishing Howard Lutter (1889-1959)
as a Freemason 32d Degree. 

The flat marker of Howard's burial location
(Glen Haven Memorial Park in Sylmar, Los Angeles, California)
is engraved with the masonic symbol of square and compass with the letter G center.
Photograph courtesy of Bill Burgess.

Surprise Babies of 1916

My great-grandparents, Howard Lutter (1889-1959) and Ethel Laurel Winterton (1891-1962), were married in 1910 in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey. This union produced two children, Clifford Lutter (1915-1980) and Beryl Enid Lutter (1918-1989).

Beryl and Clifford, early 1920s,
at their maternal grandparents' home in Holmdel, Monmouth County, New Jersey.

Howard divorced Ethel Laurel in 1927 for abandoning him and the children. Fiorita Winnie testified against Ethel Laurel. In 1928 Howard and Fiorita married.

In the last article, I wrote about Ernst Lutter, who died in Newark in 1916. A DNA match prompted me to realize that I had not collected the Lutter deaths from the year 1916.

Two Lutters died in New Jersey in 1916. One was Ernst. The other was a newborn baby of Howard Lutter and Margaret Quackenbush. Not the same Margaret as my cousin Margaret Quackenbush (1899-1940).

Death Certificate
Female baby Lutter died May 9, 1916
in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey

As I sat in the Archives looking at this death certificate, I was surprised. Howard had made a baby outside of his marriage. And- this document was out there, waiting for me to find it.

I had to find out more. Howard was still married to Ethel Laurel when this child arrived in 1916. Howard and Ethel Laurel stayed together and produced another child in 1918.

There are some avenues on this death certificate for possible additional information:
-hospital
-cemetery
-undertaker

Newark City Hospital no longer exists. It became Martland Medical Center and then was engulfed by University Hospital, which was then engulfed by Rutgers University. They do have an archival collection. More about this later in this article.

Newark City Cemetery was a burial area for the indigent. Nobody claims to know where the records are.

Holle Funeral Home still exists. Other Lutters were processed through this same funeral home. There is no record of this baby in the records.

I did not find a notice of death in the newspapers the Newark Evening News and the Newark Sunday Call.

As I sat at home, I thought to myself that there was no birth certificate for this baby. I had all the Lutter birth certificates issued through 1923. In earlier times, if a baby was born and quickly died, a death certificate may have been issued without a corresponding birth certificate.

I checked my files anyway.

Ten years ago I had indeed copied a birth certificate for a baby born in 1916 to Howard Lutter. I had tucked it away, planning to investigate this other Howard Lutter. This was a disorganized approach and the certificate became quickly forgotten as the ancestors and current life piled in.

Birth certificate of Baby Lutter #2 born May 9, 1916 in Newark.
This had been in my collection since 2014.

Howard Lutter had created a baby outside his marriage. I had been sitting on this information for over ten years.

I noticed a faint "#2" written after the surname. This baby was a twin. I did not have a birth certificate for the other twin at home in my files.

The birth index is now available from home. No such index was available in 2014.

Index of Births in New Jersey 1915-1919
H & M had twins on May 9, 1916 in Newark.
Database online Ancestry

For whatever reason, I copied certificate 357 but not the 356- the first born twin.

Back to the Archives I went.

Birth certificate of baby number 1, a male.
This baby has no corresponding death certificate.

Birth certificate of baby number 2, a female.
This baby died the same day.

Howard Lutter had a son on May 9, 1916 who lived. What happened to him? I do not know. If he survived into adulthood and had descendants, they have not tested their DNA.

I tracked down Margaret Quackenbush. She married, had children, and died. I corresponded with a grandchild of hers. The family had no knowledge of these twins.

The children raised by Margaret's siblings were reviewed in light of this new information. Nobody in the Quackenbush family raised a baby boy with this birthdate. He is not buried in any family plots.

If adopted, he does not appear on the Surrogate's Docket in Essex County, New Jersey. I requested a search of the files, but I do not expect cooperation from the Surrogate's staff.

Doctor D L Golan signed the birth certificates. This was Daniel Leonard Golan (1892-1969). He briefly appeared in the Newark city directory of 1917. He served in World War I, then moved to back to New York, where he married and practiced medicine.

Golann D Leonard physician
1917 Newark City Directory

Dr Daniel Leonard Golann's record of military service World War I
U.S., World War I Jewish Servicemen Questionnaires, 1918-1921
Collection at Ancestry

Dr Daniel Leonard Golann's summary of career before World War I

Dr Golann's questionnaire about his wartime service lists him as an intern at Newark City Hospital from 1915-1916. This comports with the birth certificates.

I visited the George F Smith Library of the Health Sciences at Rutgers University (University of Medicine and Dentistry) in Newark. Thank you to the staff there for meeting with me and showing me historical documents and pictures.

Dr Golann was listed in a chronological recording of interns, but none of his records survive in this repository. The library's archives offered an image of Newark City Hospital as it appeared in 1915.

Newark City Hospital, 1915
Special Collections, George F Smith Library of the Health Sciences

Howard and Ethel Laurel were living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1915. This is where baby Clifford was born. In the divorce papers, Howard explained their moves to New York City, Philadelphia, then back to Newark. Was he travelling for work or to escape personal problems he created?

In 1915, Howard resided in Philadelphia then in Newark.
Does his use of the pronoun "I" indicate that he was not relocating with his wife?

Howard had nerve calling Ethel Laurel a bad wife in the divorce complaint.

We are left with a missing male baby born May 9, 1916 in Newark, New Jersey.

Takeaway research method:

My current method is to log all information into a family tree in Family Tree Maker. Had I done this ten years ago, I probably would not have lost track of the birth certificate from 1916 and two men named Howard Lutter.

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).

Connecting the Lutters of Newark, New Jersey

A DNA match caused me to revisit the Other Lutters of Newark, New Jersey. This is what I call the people using the surname Lutter or Luther who lived in Newark in the 1800s and early 1900s. They may or may not have been related to my direct immigrant ancestor, Herman Lutter (1860-1924).

Herman arrived in 1881 after most of the Other Lutters had already arrived, bought homes, and created more Lutters. Herman did not associate with them, at least not on paper. 

Shared DNA between Jody's aunt and the descendant of Ernst.
AncestryDNA
One segment. As of this writing, Ancestry offers no chromosome browser.

At AncestryDNA, my paternal aunt showed a 24 centimorgen match to a great grandson of Ernst Lutter (1841-1916).

The question: Is Ernst Lutter related to my Lutter line?

We are looking at autosomal DNA. We know that there is a connection somewhere between one of my aunt's ancestral lines and one of this DNA cousin's lines. We cannot tell at Ancestry if Lutter DNA is the source of this shared segment.

We must turn to paper documentation.

Ernst Lutter left Prussia and arrived in New York in 1867 and settled in Newark, New Jersey. He travelled with his wife, Charlotte Fischer, their baby, Carl, Ernst's mother, Wilhelmine, and Charlotte's sister, Louise. Note that the relationships are not detailed on this record. I am filling them in based on review of other records.

1867 ship passenger record:
Ernst Luther, Charlotte, Wilhelmine, Carl, and Louise Fischer

I have no ship record for Herman. Having this robust record for Ernst is wonderful.

In the 1870 federal census in Newark, Ernst and Charlotte are listed with two more children, Bertha and Florence.

1870 Newark, New Jersey
Household of Ernst Lutter

Where was Wilhelmine, Ernst's mother, in 1870?

She was residing with Charles Luther in Newark. Next to them was the household of Robert Luther.

1870 Newark, New Jersey
Households of Charles Luther and Robert Luther

Note that in these entries for 1870, Ernst's place of birth was Turingen, while Charles and Robert were born in Schwarzburg Rudolstadt. This is why I did not link the three together in the early stages of research.

Charles and Louise married in New York City in 1870. This was after the 1870 census was taken and after the birth of their first child.

This marriage record is full of details. The full names of bride and groom were written. Charles August John Lutter married Louise Wilhelmine Johanne Fischer. He was born in Scheibe, Schwarzburg Rudolstadt, Germany. His parents were Florence Lutter and Wilhelmine Lutz.

Scheibe is where my Herman Lutter was born- but in Türingen, not Schwarzburg Rudolstadt. I think what may have happened was that the Lutters who left Scheibe in the 1860s knew the area as Schwarzburg Rudolstadt. By 1880, when Herman was preparing to leave, Türingen took over control of a broader area, including Scheibe.

Map circa 1870 showing the German areas from which Lutters and Fischers hail.
(The map is written in Italian.)

Charlotte and Louise Fischer were from nearby Meiningen.

Wilhelmina Luther died October 17, 1872 in Newark. The names of her parents and place of burial are not provided on her entry in the death ledger book.

Wilhelmina Luther died October 17, 1872 in Newark.
Deaths New Jersey. Book AU.

After finding this DNA match, I realized that I did not have the death certificate of Ernst Lutter from 1916. This document could provide the names of parents. I had skipped the year 1916 entirely as I collected Lutter death certificates. (I mention this because one other Lutter died in 1916 and requires her own future article.)

Death certificate of Ernst Lutter, died August 14, 1916 in Newark.
His parents are written on this record.

Ernst's parents were Floyd Lutter and Wilhelmine Lutz- according to the death certificate.

Robert Lutter died in 1886. His death certificate did not give names of his parents.

Charles Lutter died in 1920. His parents were listed as Florian Lutter and Amelia.

We have another sibling who links to this group as evidenced by her own documents. Johanetta died in 1904. Her parents were listed as Florenz and Wilhelmina Ludder. On her second marriage record in 1898 to Ludwig Lichtenfels (1826-1904), her parents were Florenz Lutter and Wilhelmine Lutz.

Plus, my aunt shares DNA with a descendant of Johanetta.

Ernst and Charles were buried in Fairmount Cemetery in Newark. Robert and Johanetta were buried in Woodland Cemetery in Newark.

Family Tree
Children of Florenz Lutter and Wilhelmine Lutz
born 1830s and 1840s in Scheibe, Schwarzburg Rudolstadt.
(Created at Canva.com)

There is another Lutter in Newark during this time period: Emilie Lutter, born about 1839. In 1866 in Newark she married Franz Jaeger. Is she another child of Florenz Lutter and Wilhelmine Lutz? She died in 1892 and was buried in Woodland Cemetery. No parents were listed on her death certificate.

My uncle shares DNA with a descendant of Emilie. 

In 1873 Franz Jäger was a godparent at the baptism of Emma Franziska Anna Lutter at First German Presbyterian Church in Newark. Emma was a daughter of Ernst Lutter and Charlotte Fischer. She died in 1884 and was buried in Woodland Cemetery.

Baptism of Emma Lutter, 1873 in Newark.
Frank Jäger was a godparent.
Collection at Ancestry

So how do these Lutters connect to mine? Not sure. My great great grandfather, Herman Lutter, had an uncle named Johann Georg Florentin Lutter, born September 25, 1799. Maybe he was "Florenz," husband of Wilhelmine Lutz and father of Johanetta, Ernst, Robert, and Charles; and perhaps Emilie.

Current map showing location of Scheibe (now Neuhaus am Rennweg) in Germany

In an upcoming article I will discuss the other Lutter death from 1916.