Arthur Oscar Freudenberg I (1891-1968)



Arthur Oscar Freudenberg I (1891-1968) operated a typewriter repair shop and later worked as a real estate agent and an insurance broker. He abandoned his wife and in 1928, just before the Great Depression and she had to raise their three children alone without a steady income. He never contributed any money toward their care. (b. August 9, 1891; 104 Madison Street, Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey, 07030-1811, USA - d. January 22, 1968; Jersey City Medical Center, 50 Baldwin Avenue, Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey, 07304-3199, USA) Social Security Number 156051651.

Name variations

 * Arthur Oscar Freudenberg I
 * Arthur Oscar Freudenberg
 * Arthur O. Freudenberg
 * A. O. Freudenberg

Parents

 * Maximilian S. Freudenberg I (1858-1921)
 * Eloise Lindauer II (1860-1935)

Birth
Arthur was born on August 9, 1891 in Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey and later his family moved to Jersey City, New Jersey.

Siblings
Eloise and Max had 15 children, 9 lived to adults. The children of Max and Eloise are:
 * Babyboy Freudenberg (1879)
 * Max S. Freudenberg II (1881) who died as an infant
 * Ada Augusta Freudenberg (1885-1957) who married Ralph Kohlman (1885-1957) the printer;
 * Charles Fredrick Freudenberg (1887-1942) who married Julia Mary Buttomer (1883-1973);
 * Jenny Gertrude Freudenberg (1888) who died as an infant
 * Clara Freudenberg (1889-1959) who never married
 * Max S. Freudenberg III (1893-1900) who lived till at least 7 years old and appears on the 1900 census
 * Louis Julius Freudenberg I (1894-1918) who was killed in action in the last battle of World War I
 * Harry Freudenberg (1895-1896) who died as an infant
 * Richard F. Freudenberg I (1896-1988) a chemical salesman who married Charlotte C. Kahrar (1897-1963)
 * Eloise Freudenberg (1898) who died as an infant
 * Eugene Freudenberg I (1900-1956) aka Gene Freudenberg who was a freight handler that married Florence Catherine Skinner (1901-1986) and died of emphysema from smoking
 * Ralph Freudenberg (1903-1980) a typesetter for the New York Times who married Nora Belle Conklin (1902-1963) and after her death married Lottie Dombrowska (1916-1995)
 * Grace May Freudenberg (1904-1981) who married George Dewey Sanford I (1898-1965) who worked at a print shop

Education
He went to the local public schools in Hoboken, and then his parents moved to Jersey City, graduating from high school around 1909-1910. He also attended evening school for two years.

Postcard from brother
Ralph Freudenberg (1903-1980) sent Arthur a postcard on August 26, 1911. Arthur was staying at 70 Laurences Cottage in Highlands, New Jersey. Arthur would later buy a house near Highlands. Dear brother Arthur. Glad you are having a good time and enjoying, but we will all be glad to see you again. We all received your postals today. From Ralph. Love and kisses.

Occupation
Arthur first worked at Street and Smith, in the mail room, where he saved all the airmail and first class stamps that came in. All the stamps in the collection of Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ), from around 1910 till 1915 are from Arthur. He worked there for 10 years. Then for about two years he operated a typewriter exchange in Jersey City and New York. In 1918 he went to work for the Travelers Insurance Company of Hartford, Connecticut, as a field representative. He worked for the Globe Sales Company on Fulton Street in New York in 1920. On October 12, 1922 a caricature of him was published in the Hudson Dispatch when he was the Secretary for H.J. Bauridel Real Estate, Insurance and Auctioneer. He later had a real estate business with a partner and the company was "Freudenberg and Saedler" located at 109 Paterson Plank Road in West Hoboken, New Jersey. He taught Sunday School at Waverly Congregational Church.

Marriage
In 1914 he married Maria Elizabeth Winblad II (1895-1987).

Children

 * Naida Muriel Freudenberg (1915-1998) who married Burnett Peter Van Deusen (1913-1993)
 * Selma Louise Freudenberg (1921- )
 * Helen Eloise Freudenberg (1928-1989) who married John Earl Borland I (1924-1986) and later married Al Brindley (c1930- ).

World War I
He registered for the draft on June 20, 1917 but was exempted from service because he was married and had a child. His brother, Louis Julius Freudenberg, served and was killed in action, and his brother Richard Freudenberg served at Camp Meade in Maryland, but was not sent overseas.

Abandoned family
Arthur was a womanizer, and around 1928 he ran off with another woman but never divorced Maria, his wife. The oral family tradition has been that she was a burlesque stripper, but the stripper may have been a woman that he was dating at a later time. Arthur never gave any money to support his family. Maria had to scrub floors and wash laundry through the Depression to pay for food and shelter.

By the time of the 1942 draft he was 5' 6" and weighed 160 pounds. He had a body mass index of 25.8. he still listed himself as married to Maria Elisabeth Winblad II (1895-1987) who was living at 11 Claremont Avenue while he was working at 102 Congress Street in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Cadillac
Around 1947 he sold one of the buildings he owned on Central Avenue in Jersey City, and used the money to buy a brand new Cadillac. This was the building that he had his office in. Everyone in the family told him not to sell the building and to keep collecting rental income from it. He sold it and the Cadillac he bought was ruined within a few years.

Edlycoe Klynman
During the late 1940's he was living with Edlycoe Klynman aka AdaLee on Cottage Street and she had a daughter, but Arthur was not the father. Richard Freudenberg (1918-1994) aka Dick Freudenberg, dated the daughter. Arthur wouldn't get a divorce from Marie to marry her, so she left him after taking all his money.

Diabetes
Later in life he had diabetes and had to have a few toes amputated. His daughter Helen told him: "don't worry, the women will still love you".

Easter 1961
He showed up for Easter in 1960 or 1961 and a series of photographs were taken.

Death
He died in 1968 on Journal Square in Jersey City at the bus station. He had a heart attack. His nephew, and namesake Arthur Oscar Freudenberg II (1929- ) was walking home in Jersey City and saw a crowd surrounding a man lying on the ground. He had come across his uncle Arthur having the heart attack. Arthur loved to collect first edition books, engravings and antique clocks. He died with a large collection of antiques but the family never inherited them. Selma and her son Richard went to his house the day he died and there was a pile of material from the house thrown into the backyard. They rescued several engravings from the pile and they are still with Richard Norton (1958- ). One of them is titled "Othello, the Play Scene" and it is by C.W. Sharpe.

Burial
He was buried in Flower Hill Cemetery with his parents and siblings:
 * Maximilian S. Freudenberg I (1858-1921)
 * Eloise Lindauer II (1860-1935)
 * Louis Julius Freudenberg I (1894-1918)
 * Charles Fredrick Freudenberg (1887-1942)
 * Eugene Freudenberg I (1900-1956)
 * Clara Freudenberg (1889-1959)

Biography
In 1923 Arthur had a one page vanity biography published in the "History of Hudson County" and it reads as follows: Taking a prominent part in the present day advance of Hudson County, New Jersey, as a dealer and operator in real estate and insurance. Mr. Arthur O. Freudenberg is carrying into his business principles of honesty and fair dealing which bear so important a relation to the public welfare. Still a young man, and always in close touch with the movement of the times, Mr. Freudenberg is counted among the influences of progress which are carrying Hudson County to ever larger prosperity. He is a son of Maximilian and Eloise (Lindauer) Freudenberg, the father a native of Germany, the mother of New York State. Of the sons of these parents Louis J. Freudenberg was killed in action in the World War. He served as a runner or messenger with Company M., 309th Infantry, 78th Division, and was shot in the Argonne, October 16th, 1918. Richard, another brother, served at Camp Meade, Maryland, but was not sent overseas. Maximilian Freudenberg was active in the insurance business in New York City for many years, in the capacity of actuary in the German department of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. Arthur O. Freudenberg was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, August 9, 1891. His education was begun in the local public schools. Later attending the public schools of Jersey City, as the residence of the family changed, he continued his studies at the Jersey City public and high schools, and also attending evening school for two years. Mr. Freudenberg's first business experience was with the famous publishing house of the Street &amp; Smith Company, of New York City, where he continued for a full decade, then for about two years he conducted a typewriter exchange in Jersey City and also in New York. In the year 1918, Mr. Freudenberg identified himself with the Travelers Insurance Company of Hartford, Connecticut, as a field representative, and is still active in this capacity. He also handles a very extensive real estate and insurance business, and with offices at No. 109 Paterson Plank Road, West Hoboken, and is taking a definite part in the local advance. Mr. Freudenberg acts as a notary public, is a Democrat by political affiliation, and is a member of Waverly Congregational Church. His brother Eugene Freudenberg, fraternally holds membership in the Junior Order United American Mechanics, of Jersey City, Summit Council, No. 87. He is also a member of the Waverly Congregational Church. Arthur O. Freudenberg married, February 28, 1914, Maria E. Winblad, daughter of John and Salmine (Pedersen) Winblad, both now deceased, her father during his lifetime being associated with an ocean steamship line. Mr., and Mrs. Freudenberg are the parents of two daughters; Naida Muriel and Selma Louise.

Memories about Arthur Oscar Freudenberg
Note: Stamps are still in the family with Richard Arthur Norton Source: Selma Louise Freudenberg, Oral Testimony, 1998 Source: Selma Louise Freudenberg, Oral Testimony, 1999
 * Selma Louise Freudenberg (1921-2009) said in 1998: "Arthur Oscar Freudenberg abandoned the family when they were living on Claremont Avenue. Arthur gave Selma Louise Freudenberg a collection of contemporary stamps from his publishing job. This was when Selma had diptheria at age 10 (circa 1930). Helen Elizabeth Freudenberg (1895-1989) had scarlet fever shortly after that. Arthur Oscar Freudenberg died of a diabetic coma while walking down the street on Journal Square. Arthur Oscar Freudenberg may have been a Sunday School teacher when he met Maria Elizabeth Winblad (1895-1987). When Arthur Oscar died his lawyer, Eugene Kenny, took everything he owned, his houses and his collection of antique clocks and prints. Selma remembers going into the basement after his death and finding it empty. Selma thinks he died without a will. Eugene Kenny took the house in Keansburg, his house on Journal Square and his house on Summit Avenue. Selma thinks he had owned at least 3 pieces of property. Arthur Oscar sold an office building on Central Avenue (his real estate office) and bought a car with the profits. He asked Selma, Helen and Maria if he should sell the property, and they said to keep leasing it out, so that he would get monthly rent. He bought a car with the profits, and it was in an accident and it was wrecked just a few years later. Arthur Oscar and Marie Elizabeth Winblad never divorced and Marie always wore her wedding ring up to her death."
 * Selma Louise Freudenberg (1921-2009) said in 1999: "When Arthur was in the hospital he told me to go to one of his houses and take some of his rare books. When I got there they were already gone. After he died I went to his main house with my son, Richard and it was locked. Someone had gone through and taken everything. They piled everything they didn't want into the backyard in a garbage heap. He had a house full of antiques. Most came from his mother's family in Rye, New York.
 * Richard Charles Freudenberg II (1932-2009) said in 1998: "Arthur Oscar Freudenberg (1891-1968) sold his property on 309 Central Avenue in Jersey City. The building was his office and he sold it for $35,000 in the late 1950s. There were 2 apartments upstairs and the widow of Eugene Freudenberg (1895-1956), Florence Skinner and her children lived there.
 * Thomas Patrick Norton II (1920-2011): "He never took care of his family. May, his wife, had several nervous breakdowns during their marriage. He payed $3,000 for the house at 159 Ogden Avenue. I payed all the bills and the mortgage at 159 Ogden Avenue and I fixed the house up. Peter Van Deusen (1913-1993) payed $8,500 in 1953 for the same house when we moved out. Arthur bought a brand new Cadillac with the profits. He was not a nice person. He was annoyed at the religiousness of his wife, Maria Elizabeth Winblad (1895-1987) and abandoned the family after the 1928 birth of Helen Elizabeth Freudenberg (1928-1989). I saw the interior of Arthur's Cadillac after he had a fight with his girlfriend. She had taken her lipstick and smeared it over the interior ceiling. I remember that Helen Freudenberg told me she was going to visit the burlesque theater where Arthur Oscar's girlfriend/mistress was performing as a stripper."
 * Judith Elizabeth Norton (1951) said in 1998: "Helen Elizabeth Freudenberg told me that Arthur may have had children with other women and perhaps even with Edleycoe (Edley) Klynman. There was also a girl who lived with them that might have been Arthur's daughter." Note: Most likely not his daughter, but her daughter from a previous relationship.

Source: Steven Borland I, Oral Testimony, 1998
 * Steven Thomas Borland I (1950-2010) said in 1998: "Edley was the name of the woman who was Arthur Oscar's mistress at one time. She lived on Summit Avenue in Jersey City in a house that Arthur owned. Arthur also owned a house in Keansburg, New Jersey." Note: Edleycoe (Edley) Klynman was her name. People have been phonetically spelling her name as "Ada-Lee."

Source: Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ), Written Testimony, 1998
 * Richard Arthur Norton (1958) wrote in 1998: "I remember visiting the house of Arthur Oscar Freudenberg (1891-1968) in Jersey City after his death and seeing a pile of rubble in the backyard. The house was locked. My mother, Selma, and I picked through the rubble and found several water damaged paintings and several torn engravings. I still have the engravings, including the C.W. Sharpe "Hamlet". Helen gave me a few more, years later, that belonged to him. My mom always said he ran off with another woman during the depression and my grandmom had to raise the kids alone. He was well off but never gave or left anything to his family while he was alive or when he died. Mom always said that his lawyer took everything he owned.


 * Selma Louise Freudenberg (1921-2009) said on the telephone on May 29, 2003: "He owned a beautiful 10 room house in Keansburg, New Jersey. I was supposed to inherit the house with my sister Helen. That area used to flood but his house always stayed dry. When he died we never got the house. Most shore houses were small cottages but his house was very large.

Selma Louise Freudenberg (1921-2009) said on the telephone on May 29, 2003: "He lived with a woman named Edyle, she may have been the person that he left May for. They lived together on Summit Avenue. She may have loaned him money when he was in financial trouble. She eventually left because he wouldn't divorce my mother. In his later years he was in financial trouble. She had a daughter that lived with them.


 * Arthur Oscar Freudenberg II (1929- ) by telephone on May 3, 2003: "Central Avenue was where your grandfather, Arthur Freudenberg lived. He never fought with me and I had the keys to his house in Keansburg. He bought a brand new 1949 Fleetwood Cadillac. May Winblad, his wife, lived on Claremont Avenue and he used to own a house on Cottage Street. Arthur had lots of mistresses, lots of women coming and going. He was in real estate, we lived above him on 309 Central Avenue above his business. He always thought that his employees were cheating him. He died in the public service terminal, the bus station in Jersey City of a heart attack. The doctor said he was dead and I heard him say it, I was there at the bus terminal with him. I told my mom when I got home. He would go to City Hall all the time. He had a mistress that had a daughter and a son and they lived in one of his houses. It was 329 Summit Avenue, she had a good looking daughter, this would be around 1950. Arthur wasn't the father of the kids, they were older. Arthur spent a lot of money on her and eventually she took off because he wouldn't divorce May and marry her. We lived on Summitt Avenue, also so we knew the woman and her family. The kids were older. Clara owned the house in Keansburg. Arthur didn't have any money when he died."


 * Arthur Oscar Freudenberg II (1929- ) by telephone on May 5, 2003: "I think Helen Freudenberg got his house in Keansburg and she sold it to a milk guy named Burke in Jersey City. I think its 164 Center Avenue in Keansburg. I brought over a load of chopmeat an he ate it raw. I got it free because I was picking up food for thr nuns at the hospital. He owned a building on 309 Central Avenue, 329 Summit Avenue, 138 Cottage Street and a 10 room house in Keansburg, New Jersey. He never gave his wife May and money. He was a cheap bastard."


 * Selma Louise Freudenberg (1921-2009) said on February 20, 1999: "I remember my father would bring us a Christmas tree or a turkey for us [after he abandoned the family]. Once he brought us a turkey that went bad in our ice box. The butcher that lived in the four family house next door had us soak the turkey in salt water for a few hours and we were able to cook the turkey. Across the hall was a woman named Mrs. Edwards and she would bring over food, but she would stay for hours trying to find out gossip. After she moved out the Brady's moved in and we were good friends with them. They didn't have any kids. The Berberick's lived downstairs and they later moved to Fair Lawn, New Jersey. I remember on hot nights everyone would stay outside on their porches in Jersey City."


 * Thomas Patrick Norton II (1920-2011) said on June 18, 2006: "I went over to his house around 1950 to help fix something. There were several children in the house and they called him dad. The youngest was a boy around 10 years old and he wanted to look at all my tools."

Archive
Very few photographs of him survived, all his possessions were discarded when he died by his lawyer. A few pages of his letterhead survived and are archived. His collection of stamps removed from envelopes at Street and Smith is extant. A few of the engravings he collected survived. His diary survived with the Van Deusens, but it was determined that it was discarded by Karen Van Deusen Smith because it was "too smutty".

Uncompleted tasks
Rescan his letterhead and then convert it into an svg. Rescan his birth certificate. Find him in the 1940 census.

Timeline

 * 1891 Birth of Arthur Oscar Freudenberg in Hoboken, NJ on Sunday, August 9th
 * 1896 Birth of Richard Freudenberg I, his brother, on October 12th at age 5
 * 1900 United States Census on June 1st at age 9
 * 1903 Birth of Ralph Freudenberg, his brother, on February 11th at age 12
 * 1907 Living at 51 Boorham Avenue, Jersey City, NJ at age 16
 * 1907 Invited to church service at Waverly Congregation Church, Jersey City, NJ at age 16
 * 1908 Living at 22 Hopkins Avenue, Jersey City, NJ at age 17
 * 1908 First route of Hudson and Manhattan tubes (now PATH) opened in Jersey City, NJ at age 17
 * 1910 Postcard sent from "Mae" who is visiting Coney Island at age 19
 * 1910 Begin work at Street &amp; Smith, the publisher, in New York City, NY at age 19
 * 1910 Living at 22 Hopkins Avenue
 * 1910 United States Census on April 15th with Arthur listed (age 19)
 * 1911 Visiting Ada and Ralph Kohlman at summer home at Lawrence Cottage, Highlands, NJ at age 20
 * 1912 Living at 22 Hopkins Avenue, Jersey City, NJ at age 21
 * 1914 Marriage to Maria Elizabeth Freudenberg in Jersey City on February 28th at age 23
 * 1914 World War I begins with Austria's declaration of war against Serbia on July 28th at age 23
 * 1915 Birth of Naida Freudenberg, his first child, on January 3rd at age 24
 * 1917 Working at typewriter exchange
 * 1917 Registration for draft on June 20th
 * 1918 Death of Louis Julius Freudenberg (1894-1918), his brother in WWI
 * 1918 (circa) Start work at Travelers Insurance Company of Hartford, CT as field rep. in NJ (age 27)
 * 1919 Peace Treaty of Versailles signed on June 18th (age 28)


 * 1920 Living with Maria, Naida and Otto at 58 Oakland Avenue, Jersey City (age 29)
 * 1920 United States Census on with Arthur Oscar Freudenberg as head of household (age 29)
 * 1920 Birth of Selma Louis Freudenberg, his second child, on July 17th (age 29)
 * 1921 Death of Maximillian (Max) Freudenberg, his father, in March (age 30)
 * 1921 Funeral of Maximillian (Max) Freudenberg, his father, on March 23 (age 30)
 * 1922 Caricature of him drawn in the Hudson Dispatch on October 12th
 * 1923 Working at Travelers Insurance Company of Hartford, CT as field rep. in NJ (age 32)
 * 1923 Partner at Freudenberg & Saedler, 109 Paterson Plank Road, West Hoboken
 * 1923 Autobiographical profile written for "History of the Municipalities of Hudson County" at age 32
 * 1924 Colgate erects new clock: largest outdoor timepiece in the world in Jersey City, NJ (age 33)
 * 1927 Holland Tunnel opens in Jersey City, NJ at age 36
 * 1928 Birth of Helen Eloise Freudenberg, his third child, on September 27th (age 37)
 * 1929 (circa) Abandonment of family at age 38
 * 1929 Stock Market Crash on October 29th begins great Depression (age 38)
 * 1930 United States Census with Arthur Freudenberg as Head of Household
 * 1935 Death of Eloise Lindauer, his mother, in February (age 44)
 * 1935 Living at 9 Claremont Avenue, Jersey City, NJ (age 44)
 * 1935 Administration of estate of Louis Julius Freudenberg on April 24th at age 44
 * 1935 Marriage of Naida Freudenberg, his daughter, on October 26th at age 44
 * 1936 Birth of Lynn Van Deusen, his first grandchild, on June 11th at age 45
 * 1937 Roosevelt Stadium opened in Jersey City, NJ at age 46
 * 1938 Application for Social Security submitted on August 8th
 * 1940 United States Census (not found)
 * 1942 Marriage of Selma Louise Freudenberg, his daughter, on October 3rd at age 51
 * 1945 Germany surrenders in May at age 58
 * 1946 Jackie Robinson broke organized baseball's "color line" at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City
 * 1946 (circa) Marriage of Helen Freudenberg, his daughter, in Ohio at age 59
 * 1950 United States Census (not released yet)
 * 1950 North Korean troops invade South Korea on June 25th
 * 1956 Death of Eugene Freudenberg, his brother, on April 3rd at age 65
 * 1959 Living at 136 Cottage Street in Jersey City, NJ
 * 1959 Death of Clara Freudenberg, his sister, in November at age 68
 * 1960 United States Census (not released yet)
 * 1960 Jersey City Municipal government's Charter revised at age 69
 * 1960 Easter Day is on Sunday, April 17th
 * 1960 Easter celebration with Arthur, Maria, Helen and Selma photographed
 * 1961 Easter Day is on Sunday, April 2nd
 * 1967 End of railroad ferry service to New York City from Jersey City, NJ
 * 1968 Hospitalization at Jersey City Medical Center, 50 Baldwin Avenue, Jersey City, Hudson
 * 1968 Death of Arthur Freudenberg in Jersey City, NJ on January 22nd at age 77
 * 1968 Obituary for Arthur Oscar Freudenberg is printed in the Jersey Journal on January 23rd
 * 1968 Burial at Flower Hill Cemetery in North Bergen, NJ on January 24th
 * 1968 Richard Norton and Selma visit the house on Journal Square