Drowning

The Preston family had many misfortunes and many family stories about these tragedies told through the years.  In addition to deaths by train, there were deaths by "drowning in the bay."  I have uncovered records that shed light on one such drowning.

John Preston, his wife, Bridget, and their ever-growing family moved to Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey around 1901.  They had previously resided in Warren County, New Jersey and before that, Dutchess County, New York.  Tragedy struck when their son, Edward, almost 18 years old, drowned in New York Bay.  The story is that he dove in and never came back up.  According to the newspaper account, Edward came back up to call for help, but drowned before his body was found.

Edward was buried at Holy Name Cemetery in Jersey City.  I have a listing of Preston burials at this cemetery, so I easily located Edward's death certificate.  The cause of death promised an explanation in a local paper.

Preston deaths in New Jersey for the year 1903, all counties.
The death indexes for years 1901, 1902, and 1903 are on one microfilm reel.
The number next to a name is the death certificate number.

Another train collision

John Preston was the son of Irish immigrants, born around 1860 in New York.  His son, Michael J Preston, was killed by or near a train in Bayonne, New Jersey in 1918.  I previously wrote about uncovering documents that shed light on the family story about Michael's fatal train ride.  The missing part from that story was the dog.  "The dog always went to meet him at the train station.  We knew something was wrong when the dog returned without him that day."  Michael was killed late at night and I hoped that the dog was not supposed to be wandering about at night for Michael.  So who else was killed by a train?

I located the 1928 death certificate of John Preston.  I think that the circumstances of his death would support the dog part of the story.  John worked for the Central Rail Road of New Jersey.  He was about 69 years old on June 28, 1928 when struck by a train in the morning.  My grandmother would have been old enough to remember the dog's return without its master.

Same Name, Same Family?

While researching Eugene Cook in New York and New Jersey in the 1800s and 1900s, I come across his doppelganger.  Eugene Everett Cook.  They were born about twenty years apart and seem to have no blood relation.  On my most recent trip to Trenton, I was not even looking for this other Eugene Cook and poof- I came across his death certificate.

This Eugene Cook died in Orange, Essex County, New Jersey in 1943.
He was born in Brooklyn in 1878 to Lyman Cook and Sarah See.

This Eugene Cook died in Florida in 1979.
He was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1898 to Charles Cook and Minnie Bishop.