Hmm, I am interpreting this week's theme to mean I can write about anything I want.
I am always especially intrigued by pieces of the puzzle that don't quite fit together. What I mean by that is when you find documentation that you are sure is associated with one of your ancestors but it doesn't quite fit. For me, this often happens with my family members who Anglicized their surnames but sometimes, like in this case, there is some typos going on. Ah, human error. I love it.
My great-great grandmother, Sabina Krantzel-Prinz, was killed by an automobile on the streets of Manhattan on April 24, 1926. She died on April 25, but she was struck by a car the day before. I learned that from her New York City issued death certificate.
This very sad discovery prompted me to look for a newspaper article. Newspaper articles are juicy bits. They add so much detail to ones family history. They tell the story.
So what the death certificate says is that Sabina died at 6:45 a.m. on April 25, 1926 at Flowers Hospital in Manhattan due to a "fractured skull, laceration of brain, struck by auto at 76th St. & First Ave. April 24, 1926."
Now I know my family lived at 1465 1st Ave from the 1920 census record which you can see below but you will note that she is listed as Lena Prince, living there with her husband John (or Johann) and grandchildren, Albert Kamm (age 10) and Margaret Kamm (age 9). I have other records in which she is recorded at Lena.
I am sure that the death certificate and 1920 census record are for the same woman.
I went off to look for newspaper articles that may have appeared in any New York City based newspaper on or shortly after April 24, 1926. I used Newspapers.com and all sorts of search terms but nothing came up for Sabina Prince or Sabina Prinz or Lena Prince/Prinz. Intent on finding something I did the Hail Mary search and just looked for articles that contained the word "car" and were published on a specific date. I did one day at a time starting with April 25. Crazy intense work but I was confident some newspaper would mention this fatal car accident.
And then I found this in the Daily News (New York) from Tuesday, April 27, 1926 page 6 under the title "Unlicensed Driver Speeds to 15-Day Sentence in Jail."
It reads, "John Lunnie, 35, of 348 East 118th st., a chauffeur, charged with having run down and killed Mrs. Lena Pringle, 65, of 1465 1st ave. when driving an automobile at 7th st. and 1st ave. on April 24; held in $2,500 for a hearing on May 4."
Pringle? At 7th street? I searched for New York City death records from the same date with the name Pringle and could not find one. I'm confident that this messed up little mention in the Daily News is about my 3rd great grandma, Sabina "Lena" Prinz/Prince. I'm sure of it.
With all the errors about Lena though, I can't say I am confident the man who killed her was really named John Lunnie. I can't find a John Lunnie in the 1920 or 1930 census in NYC. And I have tried looking for some mention of the hearing on May 4th but you know how the news is, you rarely hear about the aftermath.
When you come across supportive evidence that seems really far off the mark though, hold on to it. Trust your gut a bit but also write yourself a solid justification for why the tidbit seems to make sense to you in your research. When something or someone comes along to prove otherwise, be willing to let your conviction be overturned. Until then, I think if he was unlicensed, I sure hope he got more than a 15-day sentence.
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