Max S. Freudenberg I (1858-1921)



Maximilian S. Freudenberg I (1858-1921) aka Max Freudenberg; Emigrated from Berlin, Germany to Jersey City, New Jersey, USA in 1875; Actuary in the German Department of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; Lutheran (b. October 25, 1858, Berlin, Germany - d. March 21, 1921, 5:00 pm, 63 Concord Street, Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey, 07306-1617, USA)

Name
His middle name is most likely "Sigmund" after his father, but no written record of it has been found to date.

Parents
His mother may be the person named "Clara Charlotte Horwitz" who was baptized in Friedrichswerder in Berlin on September 29, 1834.
 * Sigmund Freudenberg (c1835-?) of Berlin, Germany
 * Clara Horwitz (c1835-?) of Berlin, Germany

Birth
He was born on October 25, 1858 in Berlin, Germany.

Emigration
Max emigrated from Germany around 1875 while working as a cabin boy on a ship.

Marriage
He married Eloise Lindauer II (1860-1935)‎ around 1880 and they lived with her parents at 51 8th Street in Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey. They appear in the 1880 US Census.

Saint Matthew's-Trinity Lutheran Church
In 1881 they were attending Saint Matthew's-Trinity Lutheran Church on Washington Street and 8th Street in Hoboken. The church was directly across the street from their apartment. The church was also known as Saint Matthaus Deutsche Evangelische Lutherische Kirke. The church recorded the death of their first child: Max Freudenberg II.

Hoboken to Jersey City
Eloise and Max rented a home at 89 Adam Street in Hoboken from about 1888 to 1893, then they moved to 220 Madison Street in Hoboken till at least 1903. Most of their children were born at 220 Madison Street. After 1903 they moved to 51 Booraem Avenue in Jersey City and stayed until around 1910. In 1910 they appear on the US Census living at 22 Hopkins Avenue in Jersey City. The family has not been located in the 1920 US Census. They were living at 63 Concord Street in Jersey City when Max died in 1921.

Children
Eloise and Max had 15 children, 9 lived to adulthood, and 5 of them had children and grandchildren. One child that died at birth has still not been found. The children were:
 * 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) and is the one sibling with only a single photograph
 * Jenny Gertrude Freudenberg (1888) who died as an infant
 * Clara Freudenberg (1889-1959) who never married
 * Arthur Oscar Freudenberg I (1891-1968) who worked as a real estate broker and married Maria Elisabeth Winblad II (1895-1987)
 * Max Freudenberg III (1893-aft1900) who lived till at least 7 years old and appears on the 1900 census and may be buried in Hoboken Cemetery
 * Louis Julius Freudenberg I (1894-1918) who died in World War I
 * Harry Freudenberg (1895-1896) who died as an infant
 * Richard F. Freudenberg (1896-1988) worked as a chemical salesman and married Charlotte C. Kahrar (1897-1963)
 * Eloise Freudenberg (1898) who died as an infant
 * Eugene Freudenberg I (1900-1956) who worked as a freight handler and married Florence Catherine Skinner (1901-1986)
 * Ralph Freudenberg (1903-1980) who worked as a typesetter for the New York Times and he married Nora Belle Conklin (1902-1963) and later married Lottie Dombrowska (1916-1995)
 * Grace May Freudenberg (1904-1981) who married George Dewey Sanford I (1898-1965) and he worked in Ralph Kohlman's print shop

Occupation
In 1922 Max's son, Arthur, wrote: "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". Eloise, his wife wrote in 1918 that Max was a "clerk, [earning] $36.00 per month when [he is] employed. [He] works only about one half the year due to heart trouble".

Death and burial
Max died in 1921 of "cardiac insufficiency with chronic parenchymatous nephritis" and he was buried in Flower Hill Cemetery with his wife and several of his children including: Charles Fredrick Freudenberg (1886-1942); Clara Freudenberg (1890-1959); Arthur Oscar Freudenberg (1891-1968); Louis Julius Freudenberg (1895-1918); and Eugene Freudenberg (1900-1956). Some of his children that died at birth are buried at Cypress Hill Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York in the Oscar Lindauer plot including: Max S. Freudenberg II (1881) and Jenny Gertrude Freudenberg (1888). Other children that died at birth are buried in Hoboken Cemetery but the plot hasn't been found yet. These children include: Harry Freudenberg (1895-1896) and Eloise Freudenberg (1898), and possibly the missing child. The death certificates show that the children are buried there, but the cemetery has no record of them being interred.

Legacy
No photograph of Max Freudenberg is known to exist, but there is one unlabeled photograph showing the Freudenbergs on the porch of a house taken between 1915 and 1918. There is a man about Max's age in the photograph and he has a mustache and white hair. This may be a photograph of Max Freudenberg or it may be a photograph of the father of the other family shown in the picture. The only other place where a photograph of Max Freudenberg may exist will be with the descendants of Grace Freudenberg. Of the 9 children to survive into adults only 5 of them had children and grandchildren and their lines are extant: Arthur, Richard, Eugene, Ralph, and Grace.

Uncompleted tasks
Max's obituary, marriage certificate, and appearance in the 1920 US Census have still not been located.

Religion
He was Lutheran. He attended Saint Matthaus Deutsche Evangelische Lutherische Kirke, in Hoboken. The church recorded the death of his first child: Max Freudenberg II.