mystery. What is so surprising about him is the suddenness in which he appears. What is also surprising is the staying
power of the Deuel name within the home. The 1927 city directory lists only Chas Deuel at 445 Harrison, whereas two years
prior we saw Cornelius Deuel, Hubert Deuel, John Deuel, and Richard Deuel. Cornelius, Hubert, Richard and John appear
to be brothers, but of course John Deuel (my grandfather) is the only one who should carry the Deuel name.
The 1929 directory has Chas living with Cornelius Grootenboer and Margaret Grootenboer. By 1930 Chas is surely gone
because he is missing from the census. In 1930 Cornelius is living at this address with his wife Clara and their five children,
none of which are named Charles/Chas or old enough to appear in the city directory as a Grootenboer carrying the name
of Deuel. Margaret is living next door by herself. Her husband Richard Grootenboer is living at a different address with his
two daughters Nellie and Louise, her husband and child, and a nephew John Morse.
Lately I have been thinking a lot about another Chas who appears in a city directory around the same time as Passaic
Chas. In the 1928 Yonkers city directory appearing for the first time we have Chas Duell, student, living at 1121 N.
Broadway. Also at this address for this year: Holland S. Jr. Duell, student and Harriet. This of course is the New Rochelle
lawyer line. I started wondering if this Chas Duell in Yonkers, could be the same Chas Deuel in Passaic. If he were a
student at the time, might he work and live with relatives during the summer break? Or perhaps he was attending school in
New Jersey? Of course we know that he is the great grandson to Rodolphus Holland Duell, who was a judge and lawyer.
He is the grandson of Charles Holland Duell, who was also a lawyer, assemblymen, and patent attorney. Son of Holland
Sackett Duell, a Senator. But best of all he is the Charles Halliwell Duell, born in 1905, who formed the book publishing
company called Duell, Sloan & Pearce. Now my aunt has not been wrong with any of her recollections as of yet. Wouldn't
this make the most sense? She recalls that my grandfather said he had a close relative who was in publishing. I know we
have been down this road before, but it really does seem to fit with her story. Not only did my aunt say that my grandpa
had a relative, most likely an uncle, who was a lawyer and judge, but she remembered where that they lived in New
Rochelle! Too many things add up in a straight line here for me not to dig deeper. She was on the money with so much,
why shouldn't we think she is correct with the rest. Yes, Chas is appearing in two different directories at the same time, but
we have seen that happen before. Was the 22-year-old Charles Halliwell Duell, the student, living with his close relatives in
Passaic during 1927-1929, some years before he would become a famous book publisher? I think it is very possible.
Of course our dilemma has always been fitting Henry into this line. We are missing something huge here. The lawyer line
begins with Rodolphus Holland Duell7, the son of Joseph Duell6 (Joseph5, Joseph4, Joseph3, Jonathan2, William1) who
was born in February 1784. In order to fit our 1811 born Henry into the line then we need to somehow squeeze him
between Joseph's sons Charles7 born in 1810 and Ebeneezer7 born in 1812. Of course this is possible but there seemed
to be a pattern of Joseph and Phebe having a child every two years, with only two exceptions:
Benjamin b.1803
Polly b. 1805
Ruth b. 1806
Nelson b. 1808
Charles b. 1810
Ebenezer b. 1812
Caroline b. 1814
Phila b. 1816
Marcena b. 1818
Louisa b. 1820
Rodolphus Holland b. 1824
I am really wondering if whoever transcribed the record from the cemetery books to the interment
index card, might have made a mistake. Or maybe John just made up the birth year for Henry.
Maybe Henry was born in 1822 or 1826 or thereafter and is a son of Joseph. Now it is known that in the year 1841, Joseph
left his family to go out west and never returned. Did he take Henry with him? That might explain the lack of
documentation. It might also explain the lingering stories in my family about a Deuel who
went west and of course a Deuel who became a prominent judge, via his son Rodolphus Holland. Maybe the two stories
were just combined into the Deuel who went west and came back a prominent judge.
Richard Deuel
Excerpted from Feb. 11, 2003