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.

The Children of Rhoda Lutter

Finding all children born to a couple is useful for several reasons:
---Build a more complete family tree
---Identify possible DNA matches
---Recognize naming patterns to better identify ancestors
---Track movements via addresses on the birth records

Rhoda Ann Lutter (1879-1941) was the daughter of John Lutter (1854 - after 1904) and Rhoda Ann Gant (1858-1923). She married twice and had eight children, as far as I could find. She lived in New Jersey in Bayonne, Hudson County and Newark, Essex County. I do not know if she is related to me.

The birth certificates of her children are below, along with a discussion of the children and some of their other documents.

In the State of New Jersey, the life events of births, marriages, and deaths were supposed to be recorded at the state level beginning in 1848. Until 1878, these records are in the format of a ledger, with one or two lines per event. Images of these ledger books are available online. In 1878, individual certificates were created for births, marriages, and deaths. Indexes exist online for a lot of these events and years; however, the actual certificates are not online- they are housed on microfilm at the New Jersey State Archives in Trenton. The certificates concerning Rhoda's life were copied from the Archives by me.

I see this a lot in genealogy groups, so I will explain here: the index is not an absolute. Names were spelled differently, handwriting was interpreted incorrectly, and not all years are indexed! Also, New York City was a very popular destination for marriages of New Jersey residents. Such events are potentially in the indexes for New York City, which is separate from indexes for New York State.

Microfilm cases of births records
New Jersey State Archives

Indexes at FamilySearch or Ancestry are used to find births 1878-1900, as they were filed by county and large city. The geographic index can be used for births 1901-1929, though 1923 remains the latest year available at the Archives.

You can search the geographic birth index for free at
www.familysearch.org/search/collection/4461588

or

archive.org/details/njgeographicbirthindex?&sort=titleSorter

On April 18, 1899 in Bayonne, Rhoda Ann Lutter married Frank Clarkson. The following month, on May 25, 1899, their first child, Ruth, was born. But the baby's name was not Ruth on the record, but rather Marie Antoinette. Rhoda's name was given as Annie Farrell Lutter. I have no idea why these names were different.

Marriage certificate of Frank Clarkson and Rhoda Ann Lutter,
married April 18, 1899 in Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey. 

Birth certificate of Marie Antoinette Clarkson,
later called Ruth,
born May 25, 1899 in Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey. 

Research note: to locate this birth certificate from 1899, you can look in the index at Family Search. At the Archives, I look in the index books for the volume number. This certificate was tricky because I was looking for a baby named Ruth, not Marie, with a mother named Rhoda, not Annie. I've seen stranger things and it was easy enough for me to retrieve this certificate on a trip to the Archives, but if you cannot visit the Archives, you take a $10 gamble by ordering it.

FamilySearch

Index of births, New Jersey, 1890-1900
Available at the Archives in Trenton.
The father's first initial, location, and date help narrow down
which certificate you need.

In the 1900 census, Rhoda was living in Bayonne with her parents and her daughter, "Ruth," age one. The 1900 federal census asked about the number of children of (married) women. Rhoda's answers were one child born, one still living. Rhoda's husband, Frank, was not listed in this household.

1900 United States Federal Census
95 West 21st Street, Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey

In 1904, Rhoda lost her husband and child. Frank died on November 12. Two weeks later, on November 26, Ruth Caroline, formerly known as Marie Antoinette, died. New York Bay Cemetery was the final resting place of father and daughter. The Evening Journal of Jersey City published a short article about these close deaths.

DIED TWO WEEKS AFTER HER FATHER
Ruth Clarkson, 6 years old, of 483 Avenue D, Bayonne, died last Saturday.
Two weeks ago her father was buried. The little girl's funeral will take place
this afternoon. Rev. Mr. Troy of the People's Baptist Church officiating.

Rhoda remarried to Alexander Cross in Bayonne on February 16, 1909.

Marriage certificate of Alexander Cross and Rhoda Ann Lutter,
married February 16, 1909 in Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey.

The first child of Alexander and Rhoda was born later that year. Rhoda Ann Cross was born November 29, 1909 in Newark. Note the information requested on the birth certificate: "Number of children in all by this marriage." The number "1" was written. Rhoda Junior was the first child of this marriage, but she was the second child born to her mother.

Birth certificate of Rhoda Ann Cross,
born November 29, 1909
at 25 Merchant Street, Newark, Essex County, New Jersey.

In the 1910 census, Rhoda and Rhoda Junior were living in Newark with Alexander Cross and Rhoda's mother, also named Rhoda. The number of children was a question for the 1910 census also. Rhoda was listed as having one child, one still living. The correct response would have been that she had two children, one still living. Her mother was listed with ten children, five still living. I have not found all these children, but that can be for another article. Spoiler alert: I did not find a birth certificate for Rhoda circa 1879.

Alfred Cross and family, living in the same house, is probably the brother of Alexander. Alfred relocated to Morris County, New Jersey.

1910 United States Federal Census
25 Merchant Street, Newark, Essex County, New Jersey

Another observation about the 1910 census: two houses away was the household of Martin Lang, widower. In 1912, Rhoda's sister, Lucie Lutter, married Martin.

Rhoda and Alexander's next child was Letitia Cross, probably born in March of 1911. I cannot find a birth certificate for her. She died August 7, 1985 in Newark. Her parents were not mentioned, but her two surviving sisters, Doris and Lucille, were mentioned, linking her to this family.

The geographic birth index does not have a baby with the surname Cross born in March of 1911 in Newark.

New Jersey Geographic Birth Index 1910-1914, Reel 30
Archive dot org

Obituary of Letitia V Cross from the Newark Star Ledger newspaper,
August 8, 1985.

The New Jersey Death Index (not her actual death certificate) gives Letitia's birthdate as March 4, 1911.

Index of death certificates, New Jersey
Letitia Cross died August 7, 1985 in Newark.
Date of birth March 4, 1911.

In contrast, the Social Security Death Index gives her birthdate as March 7 (not 4), 1911.

Social Security Death Index from Ancestry dot com.
Letitia Cross, born March 7, 1911; died August 1985.
Last residence Newark.

On May 2, 1912, baby Rhoda died from pneumonia. She was buried at Woodland Cemetery in Newark.

Death certificate of Rhoda A Cross,
died May 2, 1912 at 23 Merchant Street, Newark, Essex County, New Jersey.
Age 2 years.

At this point, Rhoda had given birth to three children. Two had died. She was pregnant with her fourth child. On January 19, 1913, Lucy Nomi Cross was born in Newark. Her birth certificate listed her as the fourth child of the marriage; actually she was the third.

Birth certificate of Lucy Nomi Cross,
born January 19, 1913
at 23 Merchant Street, Newark, Essex County, New Jersey.

Alexander Hamilton Cross was born May 11, 1914 at Newark City Hospital. He was listed as the fifth child of the marriage; he was the fourth. Three children were still living. He was not named at birth.

Birth certificate of Baby Cross, later named Alexander Hamilton Cross,
born May 11, 1914
at Newark City Hospital in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey.
(Original copy on microfilm is blurry.)

Supplemental Report of Birth
naming Baby Cross as Alexander Hamilton Cross
(original is blurry)

Marjorie Morton Cross was born February 24, 1916 at Newark City Hospital. She was listed as the fifth child of the marriage, with four still living. This is accurate for the marriage. I do not know where the middle name "Morton" comes from.

Birth certificate of Marjorie Morton Cross,
born February 24, 1916
at Newark City Hospital.

Marjorie died July 12, 1917 from whooping cough. She was buried at Woodland Cemetery.

Death certificate of Marjorie R Cross,
died July 12, 1917 in Newark.

Edith Cavell Cross was born July 28, 1918 in Newark City Hospital. She was listed as child seven of the marriage with four still living. She was actually the sixth of the marriage. She was not named at birth. I do not know where the middle name "Cavell" is from.

Birth certificate of Baby Cross, later named Edith Cavell Cross,
born July 28, 1918
at Newark City Hospital.

Supplemental Report of Birth
naming Baby Cross to Edith Cavell Cross

Edith died July 5, 1923 from gastroenteritis caused by meningitis. She was buried at Woodland Cemetery.

Death certificate of Edith Cross,
died July 5, 1923 at Newark City Hospital.
The year of birth is listed incorrectly as 1923.
She was born in 1918.
She was a few weeks shy of her sixth birthday.

Rhoda's final child was Doris, born May 9, 1921 at Newark City Hospital. The requested information on this birth certificate was not for the number of children of the marriage, but rather "No. of children born to this mother, including present birth." Doris was listed as child number eight, with five still living. I think this is an accurate count.

Birth certificate of Doris Cross,
born May 9, 1921
in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey.

Rhoda died September 10, 1941 in Newark. She was buried at Woodland Cemetery with her three young children by Alexander Cross. Only Rhoda has a marker.

Death certificate of Rhoda Ann Cross,
died September 10, 1941 in Newark.

Flat stone marker in Woodland Cemetery in Newark
for Rhoda Ann Cross (1879-1941).
Block A, Lot 17.

Alexander Cross, the husband of Rhoda Lutter, died April 21, 1958 at Martland Medical Center in Newark. He was buried at Rosemount in Newark. The informant was Letitia Cross.

Death certificate of Alexander Cross,
died April 21, 1958 in Newark.

Four of Rhoda's children survived to adulthood. I found no marriage record for Letitia.

"Lucille" Cross married Robert Hunt in Newark on September 21, 1941. Letitia was a witness. Lucille had two sons. She died February 5, 2000.

Marriage certificate of Robert Hunt and Lucille Cross,
married September 21, 1941 in Newark.

Alexander married Dorothy Ellis. They lived in Massachusetts. He died in April 28, 1975.

Doris married Samuel Burger in Manhattan on May 28, 1942. They lived in Queens, New York and had four children. Doris died in 1987.

Uncovering the arrival of the children in Rhoda's life paints a picture of her early adulthood. She lost four of her eight children when they were young. She lost her first husband when she was only about 25 years old. The middle names of the children could provide additional clues about family origins.

Written in Stone

Find A Grave is a wonderful and free site of burials.  You can look up a person of interest and you can create and contribute death and burial information and pictures to a person's memorial page.  Contributing information and pictures on the go is easy with the Find A Grave app for the phone introduced last year.

I have been creating memorials for over eleven years.  Most memorials I create are not for my family; instead, they are random selections from a cemetery I was in, with the hope that someone could use the information.

A few times each week, I am contacted by someone regarding a memorial I created.  The correspondence centers around a few themes:

• The inquirer is unable to visit the grave of a loved one in person.  By creating an online memorial, especially with a picture of the grave, the inquirer is able to virtually visit the grave.
• The memorial provided the missing link in someone's family history research.
• The inquirer requests that the memorial be amended with different and/or additional information.

I take issue with requests to amend information in the memorial.  I'm a stickler for proof and crediting the correct source.  Find A Grave serves a dual purpose:  providing an online memorial for deceased loved ones AND recording gravestones.

If you personally knew someone, you have knowledge of many facts that will not appear on the gravestone but can appear on the memorial page.  For example, the memorial for my grandmother, Beulah Cook Lutter (1921-2003), created by my aunt, contains many details that are personally known to her, but will not appear on the gravestone.  She doesn't even have a gravestone yet.

An online memorial page of someone's life serves a beautiful purpose and will naturally include sentiments and goes beyond a simple recording of the stone.

This is different from the other purpose of Find A Grave:  recording information found on gravestones.  If you are documenting a cemetery, you don't personally know the people for whom you are creating memorial pages.  You are limited to the information contained on the stone.

If you research the person who has a memorial on Find A Grave, differentiate between the information that is and isn't on the stone.  The stone itself is a tertiary source.  Think of the gravestone as a stepping stone to help you locate additional records, such as full dates of birth and death, locations, other names used.  This information may contradict or enhance the information on the stone.

A gravestone is the only source I have for the death of Mary Neal (1830-1898), widow of Calvin Cook.  I have not found a death certificate, obituary, or will for her.  She appeared in the 1895 New Jersey census, but not in the 1900 federal census.  Finding the gravestone was great, but we need to question its reliability when we don't find supporting documentation.

When viewing a memorial page, you need to compare the information entered by the contributor to the information on the stone.  Additional or different information must have arisen from a source other than the gravestone.  The contributor should be able to tell you, either in a note on the memorial page or in correspondence, the source of the information not on the stone.

Sourcing is why I handle requests to edit in three ways:

• I check the stone and any notes I may have to ascertain if I made a transcription error and then edit if indicated.
• I offer to transfer the memorial to the inquirer and they may add whatever they wish because their name will appear as the person managing the page.  But don't edit the page and then transfer it back to me.  We will have a problem with the source of your additional information that I cannot explain to future inquirers.
• I add a note to the page with the additional information and the source, like a disclaimer.

Find A Grave allows you to link parents and spouses, if you are the manager of the page.  The links enable people to easily visit the pages of multiple family members and are great for researchers- if the links are accurate.

Someone attached an incorrect spouse to a page I created for a marker at Woodland Cemetery in Newark, New Jersey.  The stone is indecipherable except for a first name- Elizabeth.  I became aware of this problem when someone questioned why I did not provide a surname for Elizabeth when her spouse and child were known.

The asterisks next to the linked spouse and child indicate that the connection was not made through this memorial page.

I requested a search of records at Woodland Cemetery to determine whose stone this is.  The stone is likely for Elizabeth Guenther, widow of Charles Vill.  She died in 1894 at the age of 24.

Let's hope the contributor who linked the wrong spouse and child to Elizabeth heeds my request to unlink them.

When you use Find A Grave, be mindful of what information is on the stone and what information appeared from nowhere.

Two wives named Anna

In your research you may get snagged by the Two Wives, Same Name situation.  One wife dies and the husband remarries to a woman of the same first name.  You may not realize that you are dealing with more than one wife or you may mix up records of one for the other.

Let me use Charles Lutter as an example.  Charles, also known as Carl or Karl, was born in the 1860s in a German area of Europe and settled in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey as a child.  To add confusion, there appears to be two contemporaneous men of this name and age in Newark, plus other men in later generations with this same name.  I am still sorting these lines.

Charles had a son named Elwood Lutter (1905-1989).  This is a rather unique name among the Lutters and easier to trace.  I especially remembered this name because many years ago, someone from Salt Lake City called my home, seeking information on Elwood and the Lau family.  (I think my father is one of the few remaining people in Essex County using the surname Lutter.)

In the past, applications for Social Security numbers were cheap and easy to obtain.  Elwood's application cost $7 and provided me with the names of his parents, Charles K Lutter and Anna Lau.

This family is seemingly easy to identify in the federal census from 1900 through 1930 by searching for Elwood or his siblings, Elizabeth, Florence, Charles, and Robert.

1900 United States Federal Census
Parents Charles and Anna of Germany; children Lizzie, Florence, and Charles.

1910 United States Federal Census
Parents Charles and Anna of Germany; children Elizabeth, Florence, Charles, Elwood, and Robert.

The 1920 census is quirky.  First, the family is in no longer in Newark, but rather in Keansburg, which is in Monmouth County, New Jersey.  Also, Anna's birthplace has changed from Germany to New Jersey.  This is accurately carried over to the children's rows- mother born in New Jersey.  In addition, Anna's mother, Minnie or Wilhelmina, is living with them, with a last name of FREY.  Not quite LAU, but this is okay.  I've seen wackier entries in the census.

1920 United States Federal Census
Lutter Charles with wife Anna; children Elwood and Robert; mother-in-law Minnie Frey.

In the 1930 census, the family is back in Newark, minus the mother-in-law.  Anna's birthplace is still New Jersey.  There is a discrepancy with the marriage information.  Charles is 7 years older than Anna; but he was first married (does not mean to the listed spouse!) at age 20, while Anna was 30 years old at her first marriage.  With these numbers, their first marriages were not to each other.  But I've seen far greater discrepancies that were simple attributable to errors in the census.

1930 United States Federal Census
Lutter Charles, wife Anna, son Robert.

So I was proceeding with this branch when I was contacted by the Frey family, inquiring of Charles Lutter and his family history.  There are online family trees naming the wife of Charles Lutter and the mother of the five children as Anna FREY.

Great to hear from the Frey family.  My question:  Why did Elwood Lutter list his mother as Anna Lau and not Anna Frey?  Answer:  Don't know.

More research required.  I looked for the birth certificates of the five children born to Charles Lutter and wife Anna.  I found four of them.  All listed the mother as Anna Lau, not Frey.

My first thought was that I had mixed up the two men named Charles Lutter.  I thought that the other Charles Lutter had died in 1912 and was buried at Fairmount Cemetery in Newark.

The other possibility was that the first wife died and Charles remarried to another woman also named Anna.  This would have occurred between the 1910 and 1920 census recordings, when Anna's birthplace "changed" from Germany to New Jersey.

These Lutter branches are not lacking in women named Anna.  I had plenty of women to reconsider if Anna Lau/Frey had not lived to see the 1920 census.  In a grave at Woodland Cemetery in Newark, marked only with a blank white stone and one marked stone, I had a good candidate:  Anna Lutter, died 1914.  Only her stone, fallen flat on the ground, remained in this Lutter plot at Woodland Cemetery.

Woodland Cemetery, Newark, New Jersey
photo taken June 2, 2007 by J Lutter

Anna Lutter
Mar. 14, 1869 - Oct. 21, 1914
Woodland Cemetery, Newark, New Jersey
photo taken June 2, 2007 by J Lutter

Next I located the 1914 death certificate for this Anna Lutter.  She was indeed Anna Lau.

1914 death certificate for Anna Lutter, nee Lau
Very poor copy.

I have not found a marriage record for Charles Lutter to either wife.  Charles would have married Anna Frey after the death of Anna Lau in 1914 and before the 1920 census.

Anna Frey with her family of origin in the 1880 federal census.
24 Action Street, Newark, Essex County, New Jersey

When someone's wife changes her information, but not her name, from census to census, you may want to consider a remarriage to another woman with the same given name.