Winter in New Jersey

This winter was mild in New Jersey.  Temperatures above freezing and little snow enabled me to visit cemeteries more this winter than in the past.  (Plus a physical issue prevents me from working out for hours like I used to, so I spend more time on genealogy.)

My contributions to Find A Grave reflect this wonderful winter weather.  During a time of year usually reserved to indoor pursuits, I added over 800 new graves and about 2500 photos.

Find A Grave is a free resource to locate final resting places.  The site is now under the Ancestry.com umbrella.  Memorials and pictures are added by anyone who wishes to participate.  The Find A Grave mobile app enables quick creations of memorials.

To find a name at Find A Grave, you need an exact spelling.  Ancestry.com offers a search engine that permits fuzzy searching but is not updated instantly.

First Cousins, Three Generations

Another close match appeared at FamilyTreeDNA for my maternal uncle.

The common ancestors of these three cousins were Mary Zolder (1870-1948) and Samuel Haas (1867-1945).  They were born in Slovakia, married in 1890 in New York City, and died in Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey.  The three cousins who tested DNA descend from three of Mary and Samuel's eleven children.

The actual relation of this newly-appeared person is first cousin, twice removed.  (Blue in the screenshot below.)  He and my uncle share ten segments* of identical DNA for a total of 198 cM.  The longest segment is 40 cM.

The prior close cousin is a first cousin, once removed.  (Orange in the screenshot below.)  He shares fifteen segments of DNA with my uncle for a total of 355 cM.  The longest segment is 80 cM.

These values are within the expected range for these relations.

What I found remarkable was that none of the shared DNA overlaps; no segments are identical in all three cousins.  The chromosome browser at FamilyTreeDNA does not allow me to compare other people, but the "In Common With" function shows that both cousins match each other, just not where or how much.

* Number of segments over 5 cM.  I did not include segments below 5 cM in this calculation.  FamilyTreeDNA includes these segments in its calculations.

New York City Marriage for New Jersey Folks

A reminder to check New York City records when researching New Jersey families.

I could not find a marriage record for my great grandfather Howard Lutter (1889-1959) to his second wife, Fiorita Lorenze (1890-1969) in New Jersey because they married in New York City.  (Copies can be requested online.  The current fee is $18.50.)

Howard's second wife was married to James Winnie and had two daughters with him.  Howard boarded with the Winnie family in Bloomfield (Essex County, New Jersey) and then purchased the house.  The address was 453 North 18th Street, but was renamed and renumbered to 171 Ampere Parkway.

Before Howard's divorce was final, he purchased the house where he was boarding.
The seller, Fiorita, would become the second wife of Howard.

Howard's testimony in his divorce.
You can view the full case file here.

Fiorita Lorenze and James Winnie should have divorce papers in Essex County, New Jersey.  It will be interesting to read how Howard Lutter boarded with them, purchased the house from them, and then married Fiorita.  Howard's divorce from Ethel Laurel Winterton was finalized in 1927, about 18 months before Howard remarried.  He blamed the failure of their marriage on Ethel's refusal to care for the home and children and to have his supper waiting for him when he got home from work.

The day before Fiorita Lorenze remarried to Howard Lutter, she arrived back in New York City from France.

By the 1930 census, Fiorita and Howard were living together as a family unit with his children and one of hers.

James Winnie was living with a new wife, Laura Brocker, and her son, Clifford Yunker.

Ethel Laurel did not remarry.