Another Great eBay Find

A name that could be Alex Lutter witnessed the 1888 marriage of Herman Lutter to Clara Uhl in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey.

I can't find Alex Lutter in Newark.  I can find Alex Lutter in Chicago.  He is dead before the 1900 census.  He left behind a wife, Odelia, and three children, Emma, Adolph, and Gertrude.  By the 1910 census, Odelia is dead, and the children are wards of Gustav Schwabe.

1910 census, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois; ED 897; page 18B; enumerated 29 April 1910.

Their bank books turned up in an auction on eBay.  This is incredible.

These little bank books are mostly accountings of monthly expenses, perhaps because the children were drawing from some kind of an inheritance from their deceased parents.



Expenses of Adolph Lutter

Expenses of Emma Lutter- music lessons from Miss E. McIntyre

Expenses of Gertrude Lutter

The best part of these little bank books was written by Emma.  She wrote names and addresses, perhaps of relatives.  None from Newark.



Friends or relatives of Emma Lutter

Except for Mrs. Jerry Shaw of Boston, everyone else resides in Clinton, Iowa.  I don't see the connection at this time.  Alex and Odelia Lutter, the parents, were from Germany.  The Iowa state census for various years is available at ancestry.com.  Most of these people are easily found, though the connection remains unclear.  The 1925 Iowa state census is amazing, listing the parents and birthplaces of those enumerated.  (Use with caution- this is not primary information!)

Iowa state census, 1925, for Albert and Bertha Lorenzen at 435 1st Avenue, Clinton.  His parents were Paul Lorenzen and Christine Powers; her parents were Charles Kohler and Sophia Kamp.

Mystery Photos: The Winterton Family Album

Many years ago, I acquired the "Winterton" family album.  This collection of photographs perhaps came into its current name because some of the photographs are identified as William Winterton.  William Gladstone Winterton (1898-1976) was the son of William W. Winterton and Catherine Dunn of Monmouth County, New Jersey.

Only one other picture is labeled on the back:  William J. Newcomb, age 6 months, 2 days.  The photographer was A. Werner of Brooklyn, New York, and the date of September 1903 is included in the imprint.

The baby in the photograph is probably the seven year old boy found in Brooklyn in 1910 with his parents, Lydia M. and William D. Newcomb.

1910 Federal Census, Brooklyn, Kings County, New York; ED 76; page 26A; enumerated 29 April 1910.

Why wasn't the woman in the picture named?  Is she William's mother, Lydia?  According to the census, William was 7 years old and his parents were married for 7 years.  Could be possible, or could be a mistake.  Maybe the woman in the picture is not the baby's mother.  There is a potential marriage for this couple over at italiangen.org:  William Newcomb to Sydia Bexer on 22 June 1903 in Kings County, New York.

So what is the link between this Newcomb family and William Winterton?  The baby William's paternal grandmother was Emma Dunn.  Emma Dunn's sister was Catherine Dunn, mother of William Winterton- the 8 year old boy in the first photos.  So this is really more of a Dunn family album than a Winterton family album, I think.

Another photo provides a clue as to its date, though not its subject.

This photograph measures almost 4 inches long and 2 1/2 inches wide.  According to billblanton.com, such stamps were part of a tax to raise revenue for the Civil War; specifically, two cent playing card stamps were used in the summer of 1866.  This particular stamp looks like it was cancelled by the photographer, MM, or Moses, November 16.  We could perhaps date this photo around 1866.  I need to find a man related to the Dunn family living in the Trenton area during the Civil War.

The other photographs are mysteries for now.

Neighbors and business partners

In researching the connection between the Place and Duryea families, I am reminded of two things to always pay attention to:  the business partners and the neighbors.

My current theory is that John Place was a brother of Lydia Place.  In poking around in documents I already have, John now jumps out as a business partner of Stephen C Duryea in the grocery business.  They are mentioned in a deed in 1836, taking over the lease of 309 Spring Street in New York City from John H. Duryea, deceased.

New York City deed book 362, page 294

John Place is found in New York City in the 1850 census- on the same page as George W. Duryea (brother of Stephen and John) and Fannie Brewer (their sister).

1850 United States Federal Census, New York Ward 8, New York, New York; roll M432_542, page 241B, lines 19-22.

The more names that you acquire, the harder it becomes to organize everything and realize the links.  I recommend typing out transcriptions of documents, at least of the names, so that you can easily find the names on a search function of your files.