Family Tree Repair: Hyser and Preston

While working on a branch of my Hyser family, I noticed that online family trees had a different year and place of death for Adelaide Hyser, wife of Sherwood Preston.  Adelaide was a sister of my father's 3rd great grandfather, Louman Hyser (1826-1895).

In the 1855 New York State census, Adelaide and husband lived in Catskill, Greene County, with two children.  In the 1860 federal census, Adelaide was living with her father and three children, minus the husband, in Catskill.  Adelaide relocated to Jersey City after the 1870 census.

My source for Adelaide's death was from a compiled genealogy of the Rockefeller family.  In this work, Adelaide died in Jersey City, [Hudson County], New Jersey on February 6, 1907.

Online trees had the year of death as 1908.  Places included Jersey City, Union Hill in Morris County, and Union Hill in Hudson County.

The source for this date and these places of death was from an application by Irving Sherwood Preston (a great grandson of Adelaide) to join the Sons of the American Revolution under the patriot Simon Rockefeller.  In viewing the actual application [database at Ancestry.com], you can see that the date given for Adelaide's death was February 6, 1908, but no place of death was given.

The compiled genealogy and the SAR application are both derivative sources with questionable reliability.  I needed the actual death certificate.  Fortunately, I copied many years of Preston deaths because I am a Preston descendant on my mother's side of the family.  The last Preston in my line was Anna Preston (1890-1921).  I have not found a relation between my great grandmother Anna Preston and Adelaide Hyser's husband Sherwood Preston.

According to the death certificate, Adelaide M Preston, daughter of Peter Hyzer and Ella [Fritz], died in Jersey City on February 6, 1908.

Her obituary appeared in the newspaper Jersey Journal, viewable at GenealogyBank.com (pay site).  A textual search for "Preston" did not yield this result.  I searched by date.

Burial was in Catskill.  Adelaide's father, brother, and other family members were buried at Catskill Village Cemetery.  I don't see a grave listing for Adelaide online.

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.