Thursday, September 9, 2010

Day 81

What a fun day this was. I spent several hours working on a grant proposal and finally got to the Ridgewood library about 11:30. I found a map of the Little Ferry and Ridgefield areas from 1868 but Peter Mehrhof didn't buy the brickyard property until 1871. The research librarian and I then went to the storeroom for a 1912 map. There was the brickyard in Little Ferry with the Mehrhof houses lined up not too far away. This map should help me locate the brickyard site tomorrow when I head back that direction.

I then looked through a number of surname and vertical files but no luck on additional Tukey or Mehrhof information. However, opening a book on Ridgefield Park, I came across wonderful photos. There are several of the Mehrhof mansion and various groups of people who have familiar names. One photo is of the 4th of July organizing committee. Walter Townsend, (who married Zeo Mehrhof), Edward F. Tukey (brother of James Bradford) and Morton Brewster (who married Julie Tukey) were all featured. Then a great photo of junior and senior high students in 1891. Zeo Mehrhof (age 14), Edith Mehrhof (age 12), Arthur Tukey (age 11), Helen Ravekes (whose brother Oliver married Lucinda Mehrhof), and Mable Brewster (Morton's sister) are all there. These individuals are the brothers, sisters, and brothers and sisters-in-law of James and Armenia our great-grandparents. I even found a track team photo with Willoughby Chapman (who married Marion Tukey - grandpa's sister). Sorry for the lack of photos in this post - they are taking more than 30 min. to load so I will try again another day.

After all that excitement, I started in on an index of wills and probate records. No luck finding a will for Peter Mehrhof. However, I found Stephen H. Tukey's will in Bergen County because he lived in Ridgefield Park even though buried in Brooklyn. Then in Somerset County (further south), I found probate documents for Suttons and Coxes. These are early ancestors of the Suttons who moved from NJ to southwestern PA and then on to Ohio. I hope to make copies of the wills next week in Trenton. Now if I could only find where Davenports came from in NJ.....

Tomorrow - the cemetery!

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