A blog about living in Aberdeen, New Jersey.

Saturday, November 30, 2013

History: Charles M Applegate Moves to Freneau (1901)

The 28 Nov 1901 edition of The Matawan Journal reported that Charles M Applegate and his wife would be moving in with their daughter and son in law, Mr and Mrs E Hartenstein, in Freneau. Well known in the region, "Dad" Applegate had been operating a hotel at the mouth of Cheesequake Creek for over forty years. He had held a public sale of their effects at the hotel the previous Thursday.

An Applegate family tree at Ancestry showed Charles M and Mary B (Moore) Applegate had a number of children, including a daughter Lois who married Edward Hartenstein on 5 May 1896 in New York City. The Hartensteins purchased the Mansion House hotel in Montclair and operated it for about five years, according to Edward's obituary. (They were enumerated in Montclair in the 1900 Federal Census.) The Hartensteins sold their hotel for a profit and relocated to Freneau, where they operated another hotel. Edward had a stroke in Oct 1904 and died the following June.

The Applegate family tree showed Charles as the son of William and Matilda (Wood) Applegate. The family tree showed the Applegate line tracing back to Thomas Applegate, who was born about 1664 in Gravesend, New York and died in Perth Amboy about 1744.

The Matawan Journal made much of Charles running a hotel at the mouth of Cheesequake Creek, but his role in running the place seems to have been less than 20 years, not 40 years. The hotel was an Applegate family business, according to Charles' obituary, and had been running for about a century at the time of Charles' death.

The US Census showed Charles' parents running a hotel in South Amboy, presumably in Morgan in the part of the township that in 1876 became Sayreville, where Charles was enumerated in the 1880 Federal Census. The evidence doesn't suggest that Charles had anything to do with the family hotel as late as 1880. After their mother died in 1873, Charles' brother Ernest M Applegate took over the hotel. Ernest (44 NJ) was running the hotel in 1880, according to the census. Charles' brother, Wood W Applegate, aka Wynant Wood Applegate, was running the hotel at the time of Charles' death in 1905.

The 1850 Federal Census showed Charles Applegate (23 NJ), wife Mary (24 NJ) and son Richard L (2/10 NJ) living in South Amboy. Charles was a farmer with $3,000 in property. William Applegate (53 NJ), wife Matilda (46 NJ), and daughters Catharine (22 NJ), Elsie (16 NJ) and Mary (14 NJ) were enumerated in the previous household. William was a tavern keeper with $1,000 in property.

The 1870 Federal Census showed the widow Matilda Applegate (76 NJ) was keeping a hotel in South Amboy. Enumerated nearby was Charles Applegate (41 NJ), wife Mary (38 NJ), and children Lloyd (19 NJ), Stanton (16 NJ), Mary (12 NJ), Lois (10 NJ) and Charles (9 NJ). Charles and son Lloyd were oystermen.

The 1880 Federal Census showed Charles Applegate (54 NJ) as a fisherman in Sayreville. Also in the household was his wife, Mary B Applegate (52 NJ), and sons Richard (28 NJ) and Jacob E S (10 NJ).

Both Charles Applegate and Edward Hartenstein died in 1905, according to the Applegate family tree. Charles' obituary appeared on the front page of the 30 Mar 1905 edition of The Matawan Journal. A transcript of Edward's obituary from the front page of the 22 Jun 1905 edition of The Matawan Journal appears at Find A Grave.

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