A Page from the Book of Death

While perusing the death records on my most recent trip to the New Jersey State Archives, a found an entry for a murder-suicide.

In 1878, New Jersey started issuing individual death certificates.  Before then, deaths reported to the State were logged in ledger books.  No individual records were created.  Jersey City's deaths are separate from the rest of Hudson County.  Browsing the pages of death gives you a glimpse of the times.  This page from 1872-1873 records the death of eighteen children and six adults, mostly from infectious diseases that we rarely see today.  One set of siblings was wiped out from diptheria; another from scarlet fever.

What caught my eye was the entry for Mary Gehring, age 55, and Michael Gehring, age 45.  Both were born in Germany.  Their deaths were in September of 1872- no specific day.

I followed their lines to the cause of death.  Mary was murdered; Michael committed suicide.  This is not seen often.

The incident made the first page of the Jersey Journal for September 27, 1872.  According to the article, Mary and Michael Gehring immigrated about twenty years earlier.  They had a violent marriage with periods of not residing together.  On the night of September 26, 1872, Michael returned to the home after an absence.  Initially Michael and Mary were getting along, but soon began arguing.  In front of their 13 year old son, Michael fatally stabbed Mary at least three times and then slit his own throat.

Four children survived couple.  An 18 year old son, Frank, is mentioned; as was Christopher Diericks, a son-in-law.

If anyone has anything further on this family, please let us know.  Any descendants out there?

FindAGrave 11th Anniversary

Yesterday was 10 years, 11 months, and 30 days.
Today is 11 years, 1 day.

Eleven years contributing to FindAGrave!

1,800 memorials are my contribution, with over 2,000 pictures.

When I first started contributing, I did not have a digital camera.  I handwrote the information from the stones and created the memorial later on a computer.  Later I included pictures by using a digital camera: unloaded the pictures onto the computer, compressed their size, and then uploaded to the FindAGrave.

Just this year, in 2014, FindAGrave introduced its mobile app.  Now it is so easy to add a new memorial and include a picture and even the exact location using GPS coordinates via your phone.  You can also locate cemeteries in an area on a map by using the Search for a Cemetery function.

Many people have contacted me about graves I've posted in these eleven years.  Some are seeking family members; others are still gathering information to link lines.  People have posted graves of my family that I needed to see, but had not yet traveled to the location.

In 2013, Ancestry.com acquired FindAGrave.  FindAGrave continues to be free of charge, which it should remain.  The 121 million records continue to grow from volunteer contributors.  Users can add content, or search and view the entire site, for free.

Look Alike, Transcribe Alike

Here's another one about finding the original record and not relying on an index.

The surnames DWYER and DURYEA look very similar in script.

Some years of New Jersey deaths, 1878-1892, are indexed online at the website of the State Archives.  (The web address keeps changing.  The current site for indexed records, which is free, is http://www.nj.gov/state/archives/searchdatabases.html)  (You can also find indexes for New Jersey's births, marriages, and deaths at FamilySearch.org for free.)

In the search box I entered "Durye" to bring up both spellings- Duryea and Duryee.  An entry for the death of Mary Duryer, age 50, appeared for Jersey City in Hudson County, one of my geographic target areas.

Deaths for July 31, 1889 through June 30, 1890 are on one microfilm.  47 is the place code for Jersey City.  Records for Jersey City are separate from the rest of Hudson County.  The certificate is D87; D for Duryea.

The death certificate was for Mary Dwyer, not Duryer or Duryea.

My family tree contains a Duryea-Dwyer marriage.  You can imagine the transcription errors.  So always seek the original record and do not stop with the index.

Birth certificate for Agnes Duryea, born July 4, 1907 in Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey.
This baby lived just a few months and died on October 29, 1907.
Daughter of John Duryea and Katharine Dwyer.
Number 11- but not the last child born to this couple.

Also note that the birth certificate for Agnes Duryea was created March 31, 1908--- five months after her death.  I wonder why.