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Harlyn Shay Luce (1891 - 1951)

Harlyn Shay Luce
Born in Ossian, Livingston, New York, United Statesmap [uncertain]
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married about 1914 [location unknown]
Descendants descendants
Died at age 59 in Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas, United Statesmap
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Profile last modified | Created 22 Aug 2018
This page has been accessed 66 times.
This profile is part of the Luce Name Study.

Biography

Harlyn was born 16 Aug 1891. He was the son of Edwin Luce and Maude Shay.[1]

He married Hester Kurtz on 20 Feb 1916.[1]In 1925 his occupation was listed as "chauffeur."[2]

In 1930, they lived in Hornellsville, NY, about 20 miles south of Dansville, with their first 3 children. He was a foreman for a lumberyard.[3]

When he registered for the draft during WWII he showed his address as being a resident of Providence Forge, New Kent, VA. and his contact as Charlotte S. Luce.[4] Whether this "Charlotte S. Luce" is a second wife or not is speculative at best, as no record of a divorce from Hester or a marriage to Charlotte has been found to date.[5]

Harlyn's death certificate states he was married and had lived in Fort Worth for 5 years (since about 1946).[6]

His obituary told of an odd tale.[7]

He was a native of Ossian, NY. and lived for a time in Dansville, NY. He left Dansville "several years" before 1952, and his family lost track of him. A daughter, Mrs. Audrey Krieley of Rochester, made inquiries of the authorities in Texas (presumably sometime in 1952) and learned he had died about a year prior in Fort Worth. Services and a burial had taken place in Arlington, TX. and records indicated he had died 13 Aug 1951, three days short of his 60th birthday.

The family that had "lost track" of him consisted of two daughters, two sons, two sisters in NYC, two brothers from Upstate New York, an aunt, and 10 grandchildren.[7]

No mention was made of his wife, or ex-wife. She was still very much in the Dansville area. She remarried in 1940.

Sources

  1. 1.0 1.1 The Luce Family Tree, Descendants of William Henry Luce and Diantha Colwell - 1972
  2. New York, U.S., State Census, 1925 county of Allegany, town of Burns, Assembly District 01, Enumeration District 01
  3. The Stories and History of the Cobin Family" by H. Ross Glover and Robert H. Glover
  4. U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942
  5. See Research Notes
  6. Texas, U.S., Death Certificates, 1903-1982, state file # 43972
  7. 7.0 7.1 Dansville Breeze, Dansville, Livingston County, New York; Thursday, November 20, 1952, posted on Find A Grave memorial # 49428424
  • "New York, County Marriages, 1847-1848; 1908-1936," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FFRG-YYF : 21 September 2017), Edwin C Luce in entry for Harlyn S Luce and Hester Lewella Kurtz, 20 Feb 1916, Steuben, New York, United States; citing ref. ID , county clerk’s office,; FHL microfilm 1,006,432.

Research Notes

Who was Charlotte S. Luce? No marriage record has been found. No death or burial record has been found (yet) under that name.

If they (Harlyn and Charlotte) were married in 1942 and he had left Dansville "several years before" 1952, were his year(s) in Virginia part of the "several"?

Had he disappeared and gone first to Virginia, then to Texas?

Did he marry somewhere other than Virginia?

Did he disappear from Virginia also?

Did Charlotte know where he went?

His death certificate states he was married and had lived in Fort Worth for five years. The informant, the owner of Hugh M. Moore & Sons funeral home, William Moore, knew he was married but little else (occupation, parents names). Was he wearing a ring or carrying identification that stated he was married? If his wife was with him why would she not be the informant?

Was he divorced from Hester, or did they go looking for him because she wanted to remarry (which she did) and she wanted to be sure he wasn't coming back?

An answer to one of those questions was discovered when Harlyn's name was found in a 1947 city directory from Fort Worth, TX, page 679. Listed as "Luce...Harlyn S. (Charlotte) millwright Armour's..." So Charlotte moved with him to Fort Worth. Turned out that she was from neighboring Hornell, NY. They were married by 1940 and, that year living in Baltimore, MD. They were married when they both moved to Fort Worth about 1945. Notably, on her death certificate, it states parents names were unknown. So we don't know what her maiden name was.





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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Harlyn by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. Y-chromosome DNA test-takers in his direct paternal line on WikiTree: It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Harlyn:

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