More Lutter DNA

It happened last month and again this month.

Another Lutter has been found through DNA testing.

At Ancestry.com, my paternal aunt shares one segment of DNA with someone who had ancestors of German origin living in Newark, New Jersey. This person also shares DNA with a Lutter cousin.

I started the research with Lydia Bischoff, the great grandmother of the DNA match. She was born about 1861 in Germany. In 1876 she married Albin Oeler in Newark. Only the names of the fathers were provided on this document filed with the State: Anton and Hugo. Albin died in Newark in 1891. Lydia remarried Oswald Schoener in 1892. Her mother's name on this record appears to be Henrietta. No surname given.

By 1900, Lydia had relocated to Brooklyn, New York.

Lydia Bischoff (listed as Lillian here) with second husband Oswald Schoener,
plus her children from both marriages,
at 289 Knickerbocker Avenue in Brooklyn.

Passport photograph of Lydia Schoener 1922

Lydia had a brother, Edwin Anton Bischoff (1866-1923). (Coincidentally, I photographed Edwin's grave over fifteen years ago at Hollywood Cemetery in Union, New Jersey as I attempted to trace my Bishop line.)

Edwin's documents provided the link to Lutter.

In 1891, Edwin married Louise Bechmann (1869-1944) in Newark. His mother's name looks like Nanette Lutter.

On Edwin's death certificate from 1923, his mother's name is Henrietta Lutter.

I located Annetta Lutter and Hugo Bischoff in the 1880 census in Newark. Annetta's age was 45, making her year of birth around 1835. I last found them in the 1885 New Jersey state census. Hugo died 1893 and was buried in Woodland Cemetery. I do not know what became of Annetta. Her death certificate could list her parents.

My great great grandfather, Herman Lutter, was born in 1861. Annetta would have been too old to be a sibling. More records are needed to reveal the relationship.

A House Eighty Years Later

Among the pictures taken by my grandfather, Clifford Lutter (1915-1980), is this house. My aunt said it was in Nutley where Clifford's sister, Beryl lived after she married, but nobody remembered the address.

I revisited this project and located the modern-day house and address.

Beryl Lutter (1918-1988) married Harry Nanejian (1901-1986) in 1937 in Suffern, Rockland County, New York. I do not know why they traveled there to marry.

In the 1938 city directory for Nutley, New Jersey (collection at Ancestry.com), Harry and Beryl are living at 104 McKinley Street. This address, accessible via Google Street View, looks like the house in the photograph. The couple moved around in the years that followed, but those houses do not resemble the house in the photograph.

Another Lutter found through DNA Testing

Another DNA connection for Lutter.

My ancestral Lutter line is the shortest of my family tree. The will of my great great grandfather, Herman Lutter, (1860-1924) named two deceased siblings, Otto and Ottillia. DNA testing revealed connections to descendants of Alexander Lutter and Charles Lutter, possible additional siblings.

Herman probably had another close relative living near him in Newark, New Jersey: Emilie Lutter.

Emilie was a great great great grandmother of a DNA match to my uncle. I did not have to research the entire family tree because the match has only one great grandparent of German origin.

Emilie's first record so far discovered in the United States is the 1870 federal census for Newark. In this snapshot of her life, Emilie was 31 years old and born in Türingen- same place as my ancestor Herman. She was married to Franz Jäger/Yäger and had two children, Emilie J and Charle, both born in New Jersey.

The index is wrong for most of the German families I've sought.
Franz Jäger shifted the spelling from J to Y, but this is not a T in the 1870 census.
Compare the first letter of Franz's surname to his occupation, Taylor. Not a T.

I have not located a marriage record for Emilie and Franz.

In the 1880 census, the couple had two more children, Caroline and Frank.

Emilie died July 29, 1892 in Newark from heat stroke. She was buried at Woodland Cemetery. Her death certificate and obituary did not provide the names of her parents. The obituary mentioned that she had siblings, but did not name them.

"Unknown" are the most disappointing names of parents on the death certificate.

Franz Jager- husband.
Children: Emilie, Charles, Carrie, and Franz.
Otto Unglaub, son-in-law (husband of Emilie).
In addition to siblings and relatives.

In 1904, the plot at Woodland Cemetery was reopened to bury Emilie's granddaughter, Clara Yaeger.


The source of Emilie's name of Lutter is from the marriage records of three of her children in Newark:
Emilie Jäger married Otto Unglaub in 1886.
Caroline Jaeger married Frederick Teufel in 1894.
Frank Jäger married Anna Seyfarth in 1899. (They moved to Rhode Island, where most of their children were born and where daughter Clara died. They returned to Newark by 1910.)

Charles used the spelling Yaeger. He wife was Clara Augusta Seyfarth (1881-1943), but I have not found their marriage record yet.

This brings us up to the following siblings of Herman Lutter (1860-1924):
Otto Lutter, born about 1845 in Germany, died in 1909 in Harrison, New Jersey.
Ottillia Lutter, date of birth unknown, died before Herman died in 1924, maybe in Scheibe (renamed Neuhaus, Thuringia).

And relatives of Herman:
Emilie Lutter, born about 1838 in Thuringia, died 1892 in Newark, New Jersey.
Charles Lutter, born about 1863 in Germany, died in 1919 in Newark, New Jersey.
Alexander Lutter, born about 1864 in Germany, died in 1897 in Chicago, Illinois.