A few months ago, I stumbled upon new information regarding my great-great grandfather, Elias Nutick. Frankly, I did not know what to do with this new information. I was taken aback by my strong emotional response to the news. I set about trying to discover any available background information directly related to his death.

I attempted to find original records like court documents, newspaper articles, or historical society records that detailed the event and the reasons behind it. I came up empty. No matter how I spelled his surname, I could find no newspaper articles related to his death. No court documents or historical records. Update: If you scroll down further, a fellow genealogist that follows my blog was quite helpful and was able to locate a newspaper article regarding the suicide.

The above image is from the Laurel Cemetery records. It’s an entry on a page that lists numerous individuals alphabetically buried in the cemetery.

What we learn from the entry is that the spelling of his surname, even at the time of his death, was not uniform. The cemetery record lists his name as Eli W. Utick. His tombstone lists his name as Eli Nutick. In various records it’s spelled numerous ways. The earliest record I can locate is his marriage records, where his name is listed as Elias Wegt. In the census, and other records, it’s found as Udig, Utick, Otte, Udie, and eventually as Nutick.

In the baptism record of his daughter, Katharine Caroline Utig (Carrie Nutick), he is listed as Elias Utig.

We do learn from the cemetery record that his middle name began with the letter W. That he was 50 years old at the time of his death, putting his year of birth as 1837, or possibly 1836 if his birthday was in the second half of the year. He was a laborer, born in Germany. His residence at the time of his death was Madisonville. He died 7 June 1887 from hanging and was buried three days later on the 10th of June.

This left his wife, Margaret Weiss Nutick, a widow, at the age of forty, with seven children aged 2 to 19 years old. Since I cannot locate any court records or newspaper articles showing he was in legal trouble, it appears he must have taken his own life. The newspaper article from the Cincinnati Evening Post confirms it was a suicide. Sadly, suicide is a tragic reality in many family histories.

Due to his surname being spelled various ways, even at the time of his death, that may be why I cannot locate any records regarding his death. In Hamilton County, Ohio, the recording of deaths in a standard certificate format began on 20 December 1908. Prior to this, from 1867 to December 19, 1908, death records were kept as line entries in ledger books by the county probate court. The state of Ohio made it a law to record deaths in 1867. 

I painstakingly went through the Hamilton County, Ohio death records. It appears that deaths were reported by cemeteries to Hamilton County. I did not locate his death record, but if it was supplied by the cemetery, it would read the same as the Laurel Cemetery record. Original Hamilton County records were destroyed due to fire and floods. The public were encouraged to voluntarily come to the court and record their families’ death records. Due to those circumstances, the county death records for this time period, are not complete. 

I searched through the indexes of the listings of death in German language newspapers: Cincinnati Volksfreund, Cincinnati Free Presse, Cincinnati Volksblatt, Cincinnati Zeitung, and English newspapers: Cincinnati Daily Gazette, Cincinnati Commercial, Cincinnati Free Times, and Cincinnati Enquirer. I found no listings for the surname Nutick, or any of the other various spellings of his name in the time period near his death.

Update: Many thanks to my 52 Ancestors friend Barb, who follows my blog, she was able to locate information regarding his suicide on the front page of the Cincinatti Evening Post, in the 9 June 1887 edition. The story is not for the faint of heart. The newspaper story goes into grisly details at times. The photo above is of the Nutick house in Madisonville, with four of the children standing on the porch. This is where the suicide occurred in the basement of the house.

We learn quite a bit about the family in the article. We learn that his wife, Margaret (Margarethe) Weiss Nutick, received an inheritance from her family in Klingenmünster, Germany. Her mother, Margaretha Fried, died in Klingenmünster in 1853. I had been unable to locate a death record for her father, Heinrich Weiss. I was unsure if he remained in Germany or came to the USA with his daughter. This snippet of information regarding an inheritance from Germany, leads me to believe that he remained in Germany, leaving his two children that lived to adulthood, including my ancestor, with an inheritance.

We learn he was injured earlier in life, which left him with a limp. He worked as a laborer but had been out of work recently. The family was poor, despite his wife receiving a family inheritance, which it appears she kept separate from family finances.

I’m left to wonder which of the Nutick children was the one who found his body? I’m sure that trauma affected them for the rest of their lives. My direct ancestor, Alice Elizabeth Nutick, was aged sixteen when the suicide occurred. From reading the newspaper account, it appears it was a younger child that found him in the throes of dying in the basement. Although, it could have been one of the tween or teen children. Valentine was an adult. Carrie (Katharine Caroline) was fourteen. George Jacob was twelve. Emma Mae was seven. Charles was four. Harry Henry was one day away from his birthday when his father died, he was just shy of two years old.

The article states there were six children, there were actually seven Nutick children. The article incorrectly gives the name of his wife as Elizabeth. Her name was actually Margaret (Margarethe).

The article states he is aged sixty years old at the time of death. The cemetery record states he was aged fifty years old. The 1870 census lists his age as twenty-eight years old. The 1880 census lists him as sixty-four!

I am not sure that I appreciate how they describe my great-great grandmother as “…the widow past middle life and looked the picture of despair.” She was only forty years old! Although, I am sure she did look the picture of despair considering what she was dealing with that day.

Previously, I have written about the roots of my ancestor, Elias W. Nutick. You may read that entry by clicking on the title 52 Ancestors, Week 15. How Do You Spell That? My 2nd Great-Grandfather, Elias “Eli” Nutick.

There are no references or sources to list. This blog entry is based on my own research and prior writings.

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