Life, vanished

May 16th marks the 147th anniversary of the death of George W. Duryea.  He was a policeman in New York City.  At the corner of Second Avenue and 63rd Street, just blocks from his house on East 54th, he was shot in the head while attempting to bring in a prisoner after an uprising at Jones Woods.  He was 41 years old and left behind a wife, Rene Brewer, and six children, ages seven to fifteen.

Entry for death of George W. Duryea, 16 May 1864 in New York City.
"Shot while in discharge of his duty."
Individual death certificates were not issued in this time period.
Deaths were recorded in chronological order in a ledger book.

George was buried at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, Westchester County, New York in his wife’s family plot.  His gravestone lists his dates of birth and death, with no hint of the violence that brought him to his early grave.

George W. Duryea
Born Feb. 12, 1823
Died May 16, 1864

As was customary, a coroner’s inquest was conducted immediately and detailed in the newspapers.  We learn that George was shot at three times, with one bullet entering the right temple.  He died almost instantly.  John Cahill was arrested for the crime months later after being tracked down in Ohio.  At trial in February of 1866, Cahill was found guilty of second degree murder and sentenced to life at Sing Sing State Prison, where, ironically, several of Mrs. Duryea's family members worked as guards.

New York Herald-Tribune
24 February 1866
genealogybank.com

George's family may have received word of his death in an abrupt manner.  Trial testimony in the newspapers tells us that George’s body was taken from the scene of the shooting to the police station and then to his house, where a post-mortem exam was performed.  Can you imagine losing a loved one by violence and then having his body dissected in the front parlor?

New York Herald
20 February 1866
genealogybank.com

Coroner’s inquests are available on microfilm through a local family history center.  Any papers from George’s inquest have not been located, though.

http://www.familysearch.org/

Following the death of her husband, Rene received her own listing in the city directory.  She continued living at the residence she shared with George and his brother, Stephen.

Wilson's city directory for New York City
1865-1866

When we research our family history, sometimes we uncover tragedies, which lead us to a greater understanding of what our ancestors endured. 

Just a few strokes of the pencil

I received a stack of old and mostly unmarked photos from a relative.  (Thank you M.L.)  I will probably never figure out the identity of most of the people in the pictures, and this is a shame.  A relative of the past kindly labeled one picture for me, allowing me to visualize my great great grandmother, Katherine Dunn, born in Monmouth County, New Jersey around 1865.  The date of processing, 1937, is even stamped on the back, making her about 67 years old in this picture.  The writer and I must carry the same gene for documentation.

So detailed is the description on the back of the photo that I instantly knew the subject.  She is identified by her birth name, Catherine Dunn, as well as her married name, Winterton.  Here is her 1886 marriage certificate to William Walling Winterton, when she was known as "Kate."

These families- Dunn, Walling, and Dunlop- are prevalent in Monmouth County and I have not untangled their vines yet.

DNA

No new discoveries in my DNA quests.  On a fun note, I found a second person who shares DNA with both of my parents.  This is a coincidence, as my parents share no DNA with each other.  This is what that comparison chart looks like at 23andme.com:

I think that this process would serve me better if my known distant cousins (HINT HINT) would submit their specimens.  I could compare my overlap with my documented cousins to my cousins in the DNA database and at least figure out where to look for a common ancestor.  So far, one such cousin has done this.  (Thank you RS.)  He is my father's third cousin.  That makes him my third cousin, once removed.  It will be very interesting to see how 23andme classifies our relation.  This should be ready within three weeks.

And for those monitoring the cost, today's pricing at 23andme is $99 plus $9 per month for one year.

Gravestone Picture from the Past

1903-1904 Turner's city directory for White Plains

I found a picture of a gravestone.  The picture itself is over one hundred years old.  I found it in Turner's city directory for White Plains, Westchester County, New York on a visit to the White Plains Public Library.  The picture is part of an advertisement for a monument company.  The inscription is very readable:

Theo. G. Mahland
Born Jan'y 22, 1843.
Died Feb'y 8, 1891.

The caption under the picture lists Woodlawn Cemetery.  Naturally, I wanted a current picture of this grave for comparison.  No match at findagrave.com.  There are over twenty cemeteries named Woodlawn in New Jersey and New York, so I am not sure which one holds this stone.

There is actually not much on Theodore Mahland or the Mahland family in general.  I did find Theodore in the 1880 census living at 281 East Broadway in New York City.  He had a wife named Louisa, a daughter, Ella, and a brother, Otto.

1880 federal census for New York City.  281 East Broadway.
Theodore Mahland, age 34.

DNA Update

Have I found any common ancestors through my DNA matches at 23andme?  No.  But I am still hopeful.  I have more  people to contact- matches for both parents and me.  When a genetic match shares genomes, I can see where the common segment or segments lie and who else overlaps.  I have over twenty people matching me at the beginning of chromosome 7, but only one person matches on chromosome 5.  In theory, all 20+ of us are related from the same ancestor- if only we could discover this ancestor.

As the database grows, so does my chances of finding more matches and discovering the connections.  In the meantime, I am more motivated to uncover older generations on each line.

As of today, I have 1006 genetic matches in the database.  I can contact five people per day to ask them to correspond and share genomes.  About 50 of the 350 that I asked to share have accepted.  I am working with a very small sample size of genetic matches, so I am not too surprised that I have not figured out any connections yet.  I also have not figured out a way to inspire people to respond to my inquiry.