Murky Days = Cemetery Visits

The early spring weather here in New Jersey has been dismal.  This cold and rainy spring following a long winter of snow has delayed the regeneration of plant life.  To those pursuing family research, these factors make for great cemetery visits.  There are few growing plants to interfere with the finding of gravestones.  Cloudy skies mean no shadows on graves, making for better pictures.

I had the opportunity to visit a few cemeteries in the area this past week.  I had never visited St. Mary's Cemetery in East Orange, Essex County, New Jersey before today.  That cemetery is in poor shape.  The gates were closed and I did not try to go in.

St. Mary's Cemetery is maintained by the Archdiocesan Catholic Cemetery Program.  I did not call the number because I was visiting another cemetery run by them, Gate of Heaven in East Hanover, Morris County, New Jersey.  Upon inquiring about St. Mary's, I was told that Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in East Orange could arrange access to St. Mary's.  Gate of Heaven is an active cemetery and is very well maintained, but they will try to hit you with a $25 inquiry fee.

image from Newark Cemeteries

Older records for St. Mary's Cemetery are on microfilm through your local family history center.

Description of microfilm of St. Mary's Cemetery records from familysearch.org.

When you do photograph a grave of interest, take a close-up of the grave, the stones surrounding it, as well as a more distant view.  This process will help you, or those who come after you, to locate the grave in the future.  Plus, unknown relatives could be buried nearby.  If any of the close graves share a surname or variant, get a picture of them, also.

These two graves were side by side at Rosedale Cemetery in Montclair, Essex County, New Jersey.  One is spelled Eckert; the other, Eckhardt.  They may be the same family, or they may not be.  Take a picture just in case.

Divorce

If your research leads you to suspect a divorce, look for the divorce record.  Herman Lutter and Clara Uhl were married in Newark, New Jersey in January of 1888.  They are not found living together as a couple in the 1900, 1910, or 1920 census.  I suspected that the couple may have divorced because Herman married Emma Neubauer in Newark in March of 1915.  The marriage certificate lists Herman as divorced.

Divorces in the late 1800s in New Jersey were heard in the Chancery Court.  The records for a divorce may be in a few locations with no clear dividing points.

Description of holdings for divorces at the website for the New Jersey Archives.

The Archives in Trenton carries microfilm of the docket for some years of cases heard in Chancery, so I started there.  I found proceedings for Lutter versus Lutter for 1894 and 1895.  I was told that the records for these years are held by the manuscripts room at the Archives, but off site.  I placed an order for copies and about ten days later, I had copies of the divorce proceedings.

There are few details provided in the record, such as the marriage date and place, that I already had.  I discovered the cause of action, desertion of Herman by Clara, not even ten months into the marriage.

You may need to read what is not there.  The marriage ended very quickly.  You also need to gather any other documents that you can find.  There is no mention of a child in these divorce proceedings, but Clara filed a delayed birth certificate for a child in 1935, claiming a birth date of June 1889.

Filing a delayed birth certificate, especially in the mid to late 1930s, is common because of the Social Security Act.  While we should not necessarily read into Clara's not filing for a birth certificate at the time of the birth, we have more of a prospective on Clara's circumstances in 1888.  She left her marital home and returned to her mother when she was newly pregnant.  She may or may not have known about the pregnancy, but that is the timing of the events.

Herman acknowledged his son in his will, dated 1923, leaving him $5.  (Not a large sum of money then or now.)

Marriage Redone

I had a poor copy of a marriage return from New Jersey for Newark in 1888.  Viewing the microfilm at the Archives in Trenton was no better.  The information that I really wanted was the birthplace of the groom and his parents.  My copy looked like this:

Some original records are kept onsite in the manuscripts area, currently open in the afternoons only.

The staff was able to find the original blue marriage return and copy it for me.  It's a much better reproduction than what is on microfilm.  The place of birth now looks like this:

This looks like Sachsen.  I have more work to do to discover the area within Sachsen and possible records.

As a bonus, the back of the marriage return contains signatures of the bride and groom.  The back of the document is not microfilmed and can only be obtained from the manuscripts room.

The marriage itself did not last the year.  Bridge and groom separated in November of 1888.  The details of the divorce will be in an upcoming post.