Picture of Clarence E Winterton, Produce Merchant

I snagged a great picture from eBay. It's a sepia tone photograph of eleven men standing in front of a structure labeled "Clarence E Winterton" with a sign "Philadelphia Poultry." "Papa" and an arrow are drawn underneath one of the men. The number "95" is on two of the posts. This was probably 95 Park Place in New York City.

The picture (not including mat) measures 4 1/4 " by 5 1/2 "

On the reverse is written, "First place he worked" and the photographer's information, J Watson.

"First place he worked"
J Watson, photographer. ?05 Bowery, NY

Clarence E Winterton (1860-1921) was was an older brother of my great great grandfather, William Walling Winterton (1863-1932). They were raised in Matawan and Keyport in Monmouth County, New Jersey.

I inherited many photos from this branch of my family, though most of the people in these photos remain unidentified. I'm not sure which of the photos, if any, that I have in my possession feature Clarence E Winterton. I tentatively identified William Winterton in some of these photos. 

Probably William Walling Winterton (1863-1932)
Brother of Clarence E Winterton

At MyHeritage, the picture was sharpened.

Image sharpened by MyHeritage

MyHeritage also colorized the photo. This is amazing. Life is breathed into sepia when colorized. The numbers on the pillars are more prominent. Light from above is visible within the structure on the right behind the men.

Image colorized by MyHeritage

MyHeritage can also recognize faces and enhance them. This picture was not crisp to begin with. Only one figure was recognized as a face, the man labeled "Papa."

Face of "Papa" reimagined by MyHeritage

The colorized picture of William Winterton revealed lush greens and a stored firewood.

 

Colorized photograph of William Walling Winterton

The New York City city directories list Clarence and his helpers at 95 Park Place.

City directory for the City of New York
1889-1890
William Winterton, trucks, was my great great grandfather.

In 1881 Clarence Winterton married Elizabeth R Lufburrow (1862-1940). They had three children:

-Clyde Ellsworth Winterton (1883-1936), married Blanche Johnson (1883-1966) and Marilena Drake (1887-1966).

-Vera Adele Winterton (1886-1964), married Frank Pierson Sproul (1884-1936).

-Roy Lufburrow Winterton (1889-1960), married Lillie Pedee (1894-1965).

 

Clarence relocated to New York City in the late 1880s- the youngest child was born there in 1889. (Though his name at birth was Orlie Vincent and not Roy.) By 1900, Clarence had relocated to Brooklyn.

1900 federal census 594 Monroe Street, Brooklyn, Kings County, New York.
Clarence Winterton, produce merchant.
Lizzie R, wife.
(Children on next page.)

 

 

 

 

By 1910, Clarence had relocated back to Keyport.

How did Clarence commute? By boat or train, I would imagine. 

Current map of showing locations of Keyport, New Jersey
and 95 Park Place, New York City

 

I visited Keyport Harbor for July 4th. You can see Freedom Tower in lower Manhattan from the water in Keyport. This building stands a few hundred feet from 95 Park Place.  

Me at Keyport on July 4, 2025.
The buildings of lower Manhattan can be seen by the rim of my hat.
This is where Clarence and William Winterton commuted
in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Who is the business partner, Frank Wardell?

I have not seen him in any records so far related to Wintertons. He might be the Franklin Wardell buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1945. In 1886 in Clintondale, Ulster County, New York Frank married Evva Carpenter (1865-1955). He must have commuted south to the produce store.

School Picture 1910s

Picture of three adult women and 36 children.
The picture measures 4 3/4 by 6 3/4 inches.

 

I inherited this picture from my paternal aunt. This appears to be a class picture of children below the age of ten. Three women are poised in the rear row.

The back of the picture is stamped "Heron & Co. Photographers, P. O. Box 958, Orange, N. J." This was located in Essex County, New Jersey.

Based on the hairstyles, I estimated that this picture was taken in the 1910s. The girls' hair was short with big floppy bows. The women's hair was long and piled atop their heads. Their blouses were not form-fitting.

Colorizing the photo at MyHeritage brought the people to life.

MyHeritage estimated that the photo was taken around 1915. That is amazing!

I don't know who these people are. My paternal grandparents were born in 1915 and 1921, so they (and their younger siblings) are not in this picture.

Jay Te Winburn, Photographer (1889-1965)

A mural in a bank in Montclair, New Jersey caught my eye. It depicts a parade on Bloomfield Avenue in Montclair.

From a storefront hung a sign for Jay Te Winburn, Portrait Photographer.

Fourteen years ago I researched this person. I inherited a photo taken by him.

Imprint of photographer Jay Te Winburn

I do not know the subject of the portrait. She appears to be a young woman with short, waved hair, wearing pearls. Perhaps the time period was the 1920s.

Current view of area depicted in mural

Based on addresses used by National Grocery Company and Winburn's studio, I would place this view from Bloomfield Avenue looking west at Maple Place.

Since writing the original article, the burial place of Jay Te Winburn was entered on Find A Grave. He died in 1965 and was buried in Flushing Cemetery in Queens, New York.

What became of Sarah Scherer?

Sarah Scherer, her first husband, William Schoenberg, and their seven children were all together in the 1925 New York State Census in Brooklyn. Sarah was 44 years old, or born about 1881. William was 43 years old, or born about 1882. The children ranged in age from twelve to 22.

1925 New York State Census
178 Throop Avenue, Brooklyn, Kings County, New York

By 1930, Sarah was a "widow," though the disposition of William has not been determined as of this writing. What became of her after the 1930 census was a mystery until the estate papers of Regina Phillips popped up on FamilySearch thanks to their full text search.

The names of Sarah's children appeared in accountings. Sarah's name was misspelled.

Estate of Regina Phillips, 1932, late of Queens County, New York

Sarah was described as Regina's niece. I guess that the connection is through Sarah's mother, Rosa Rubenstein (1853-1924), but the specific relationship is not clear as of this writing.

Parents and spouse of Regina Rubinsons (1870-1932)

Parents and maternal grandparents of Sarah Scherer (1881-19xx)

In 1890 in Manhattan, New York, Regina Rubinsons married Samuel Phillips (1870-1929). Her parents were Elias Rubinsons and Fany Goldberger.

Marriage certificate of Samuel Phillips and Regina Rubinsons
July 8, 1890 in Manhattan, New York.
Groom's parents- Israel Phillips and Amali Hönig.
Bride's parents- Elias Rubinsons and Fany Goldberger.

Samuel Phillips predeceased his wife in 1929. They had no surviving issue when Regina died in 1932.

Death certificate of Regina Phillips
died May 27, 1932 in Manhattan, New York.
Father- Edward Robinson. Mother- Dora Chonowksy.

The names of Regina's parents had morphed from Elias Rubinsons to Edward Robinson and from Fany Goldberger to Dora Chonowsky.

Regina's estate documents mention a change in Sarah's surname from Schoenberg to Koppel, along with the address 518 Bushwick Avenue in Brooklyn, New York. Koppel was the married name of Sarah's youngest daughter, Beatrice.

No marriage record for Sarah Scherer or Schoenberg to Mr Koppel was found in New York City, New York State, or New Jersey.

Using FamilySearch's search text function, Sarah's application for naturalization popped up. She filed twice- once under the name Sarah Koppel in 1942 and again under the name Sarah Mendlinger in 1946.

Declaration of Intention of Sarah Koppel
signed February 4, 1942 in Brooklyn, New York.

Declaration of Intention of Sarah Mendlinger
signed November 21, 1946 in Brooklyn, New York.

These documents are great because she provides a birthdate and place (April 15, 1881 in Sobolj, Megye, Hungary), date of immigration, marriages, and children. These are not necessarily accurate.

Plus we get a picture of Sarah!

Picture of Sarah Scherer attached to her 1942 Declaration of Intention

On the 1942 petition, she wrote that she married Jacob Koppel on June 15, 1931 in Brooklyn. I don't see this in the index of marriages.

On October 10, 1931, Sarah's youngest daughter, Bertha (called Beatrice in the naturalization document), married Bernard E Koppel, the son of Jacob Koppel and Lizzie Friedman.

Marriage certificate of Bernard E Koppel and Bertha Schoenberg
October 10, 1931 in Brooklyn, New York.
Groom's parents- Jacob Koppel and Lizzie Friedman.
Bride's parents- W [Aaron?] and Sarah Scherer.

Bertha, later called Beatrice, was born August 25, 1913 in Jersey City. The surname was misspelled "Schomberg" on the birth certificate.

Birth certificate of Bertha Schomberg
August 25, 1913 in West New York, Hudson County, New Jersey.
Father- William Schomberg. Mother- Sara Scherer.

On October 28, 1931, a correction was submitted to change the surname from Schomberg to Schoenberg. Four months earlier, mother Sarah had supposedly married Jacob Koppel. Yet she signed "Sarah Schoenberg" and not "Sarah Koppel" on the request for the correction.

Correction to birth certificate of Bertha Schomberg to Schoenberg
signed October 28, 1931.

A record does exist for Sarah's marriage in 1943 to Kopel Mendlinger. (Not the same person as Jacob Koppel.)

Marriage license of Kopel Mendlinger and Sarah Koppel
married January 10, 1943 in Brooklyn, New York.

Although marriages for Brooklyn in 1943 are supposedly all scanned and available online, this one was not. I ordered it through the mail. Cost was $18 and turn-around time was two months.

Available marriage records supposedly online at
New York City Department of Records and Information Services

Sarah's place of birth was Tisa Dop, Hungary. This is Tiszadob, Szabolcs, Hungary.

Map of Tiszadob, Szabolcs, Hungary on map of Europe 2025.

Sarah listed one prior marriage to Jacob Koppel. She omitted her first marriage to William Schoenberg. How did that marriage end? Did William die? Disappear? Divorce?

Sarah's marriage history as reported on her license to marry 1943

What became of Sarah Scherer? I do not know. I did not find a death record for her in New York City. 

Notes about the birth records of the children as listed on Sarah's petitions for naturalization:

Sarah had seven children that I discovered. The first, Dora (1903-1934), was deceased by the time of Sarah's petitions, which only asked about living children.

The second child was born February 2, 1905 in Manhattan. "Lena" was originally the name, but "Sadie" was written in read above the crossed out Lena. This is probably for Sadie, but where is Lena's birth certificate? Lena was child number 3.

Birth certificate of Lena [crossed out] Sadie Schönberg
born February 2, 1905 in Manhattan, New York.
Father- William Schönberg. Mother- Sarah Scherer.

I did not find a birth record for Abraham, child number 4. He could not not have been born on January 16, 1909 because the fifth child, Sam, was born July 29, 1909.

Birth certificate of Sam Schomberg born July 29, 1909
in Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey.
Father- William Schomberg. Mother- Sarra Scherer.

Catherine, child number 6, was born February 21, 1911 in Jersey City, not February 2, 1912.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

March 18 is the birthday of my paternal grandfather, Clifford Lutter (1915-1980).

He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1915. He was born outside of Newark, New Jersey because, as the story goes, his father, a musician, was performing in Philadelphia.

He came of age during the Great Depression. He worked a variety of jobs, but the stories center around his two passions: photography and police work.

His photographs are of unnamed models. As the years pass, so do people who might recognize the subjects. Please view them here to possibly help identify any of these people.

Below is a previously unpublished photograph of Clifford as a young man. He is on the right, standing inside the tree. I do not know who the other person is. The location is likely in Holmdel, Monmouth County, New Jersey- the home of this maternal grandparents, William Walling Winterton (1863-1932) and Catherine Butterfoss Dunn (1865-1944).

A rare photograph of a smiling Clifford Lutter (standing inside tree)

Pictures on Gravestones

Gravestone of Di Agostino family:
Anna, Constandino, and their daughter Mary

Ceramic pictures occasionally appear on gravestones. Photographing them helps preserve these images.

These images of Anna Picone (1875-1958) and Constandino Di Agostino (1877-1936) are affixed to their gravestone in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in East Orange, Essex County, New Jersey. As time passes, these pictures will become worn. They might fall from the stone or go missing.

(Holy Sepulchre lies in East Orange and Newark. This gravestone is in Newark.)

Some poking around at Ancestry revealed that someone else took pictures of these photographs, but now they are preserved in additional locations online.

Obituary of Anna Di Agostino, born Picone.
May 8, 1958. Newark Star Ledger newspaper.

Anna's obituary references a tunnel leading to parking area. Anyone know what or where this is? Is it South Orange Avenue (County Route 510) as it passes under the Parkway? Section V, where this gravestone resides, is close to the Garden State Parkway. It is visible from the northbound lanes. The Parkway was nearing completion in 1958, when Anna died.

Picture taken standing in Section V and the Parkway
Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Newark, New Jersey

The southbound lanes border another side of the cemetery. Below is an undated earlier aerial picture of the Parkway and the cemetery on both sides of the road, followed by the modern-day Google aerial map.

Historical photograph of the Garden State Parkway.
This section lies in Newark, New Jersey.
The Parkway does not run through West Orange.

Same view of the Parkway and Holy Sepulchre Cemetery modern-day

Monument for The Chinese Charitable and Benevolent Association of Newark

Among my grandfather's pictures was this image of a stone monument.

Stone monument.
"The Chinese Charitable and Benevolent Ass'n of Newark."

Inscribed on this stone are the words, "The Chinese Charitable and Benevolent Association of Newark." Chinese characters are below these words, but I do not read Chinese. (Translations welcome. Comment below.) Smaller upright stones appear in the background. This picture was probably taken in the 1940s or 1950s.

My grandfather lived in Newark, New Jersey. I asked various cemeteries in Newark if this stone was located on their grounds. No takers.

I queried FaceBook and was guided to East Ridgelawn Cemetery in Clifton, New Jersey. (Thank you M. J.)

An inquiry on the website of East Ridgelawn Cemetery confirmed that this monument is located there. Here is the contemporary appearance.

Those are indeed gravestones behind this larger memorial.

Short upright gravestones at East Ridgelawn Cemetery
in Clifton, Passaic County, New Jersey.

This section is located along the fenceline of Fenlon Boulevard where Pennington Avenue terminates.

Years ago I determined that East Ridgelawn Cemetery was the setting of another picture taken by my grandfather- the stone of Emerson Lambert Nichols (1913-1935).

My grandfather took pictures of people in this area of the cemetery.

If anyone has further insight into this monument or the people in these pictures, comment below.