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.

Birth Corrections

People can "correct" a birth certificate years later.  They can change names, dates, and locations.  Always be on the watch for a correction to any record.  When viewing images, this correction may be filmed before or after the original record, or you may have to search a different collection.

Naturally, discrepancies result in changing any official record.  You need to consider the original information as filed and weigh it against the "correct" information and when the amendments were requested.  Most of the corrections I see where not made around the time of the event.  You need to look not just at the information provided and changed, but when the changes were sought and figure out the motive.

I usually find corrections to names.  This includes giving "Baby" a first and middle name.  (Yes, you could have a birth certificate issued for "Baby.")

Birth certificate for Gertrude HERZIG, born November 10, 1904 in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey.
Copied at the New Jersey State Archives by J Lutter.

Birth certificate correction for Gertrude HERZIG.  "Gertrude" was changed to "Louise Madeline."
Note the time of correction- almost 39 years after the event.

I see two factors in correcting birth certificates in the 1930s and 1940s.  First, people could apply for a Social Security Number under the 1935 Act and may have needed a birth certificate to reflect the name under which they were employed.  Second, during World War II,  people needed to "prove" their American citizenship.

Birth certificate for Marie Kenny, born "December 9, 1917" at "86 W 7th St," Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey.

Birth certificate for Peter Kenny, born "March 6, 1919" in Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey.

The birth certificates for these siblings appear in order.  But wait- the dates were changed!  Changing the date is something I don't usually see and really makes you question the validity of any of these records.  Nevertheless, on the official form, under "Items to be corrected," "Date of birth" is one of the suggestions.

Correction to birth, 25 years later, during World War II.
The date of birth was changed by a month.
The place of birth was also changed from house number 36 to 86; but it is 86 in the original.

On the same date as his sister sought to amend her date of birth by a month,
Peter Kenny also amended his- by only three days.

When you encounter official corrections to a record, you will need to cite both the original and amended information and reference the respective sources.

These documents demonstrate that even a birth certificate is not absolute proof of the event.

License to Marry

People seeking to marry in New Jersey in the 1900s (through today) needed a marriage license first.  A license from this time period is not usually something that we get to see.  It is the certification of marriage or the marriage return that we find at the Archives or receive in the mail.  But I found a license, partially obscured, next to the certificate of marriage.  Note the bold ink stamps and the perforation on the left of the paper.

License to get married
Peter Kenny and Mary Dugan, issued November 2, 1916 in Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey

Certificate of marriage
Peter Kenny to Mary Dugan
November 15, 1916 in Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey
Copied at the New Jersey State Archives by J Lutter

Thirteen days later, the parties were married.  Above is the marriage certificate that we are used to finding.  Note the perforation on the right of the paper and the reverse ink stamps from the license on the back.

Maybe the two pages were separated before writing, but for this couple, the pages stuck together?  Lucky me that the back of the marriage certificate was also filmed so I can see the license as well.  This is also why you want to look at the images filmed before and after the object of your search has been located.