Arthur Oscar Freudenberg I (1891-1968)

Arthur Oscar Freudenberg (1891-1968) aka A.O. Freudenberg; Typewriter Repair, Real Estate Agent, Insurance Broker (b. August 09, 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.

Parents
Arthur was the son of Maximillian S. Freudenberg I (1858-1921) and Eloise Lindauer II (1860-1935). Max was the son of Sigmund Freudenberg of Berlin, Germany. Eloise was the daughter of Charles Frederick Lindauer I (1835-1921) and Anna Augusta Kershaw (1841-1931).

Birth: Arthur was born in Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey and later his family moved to Jersey City.

Siblings: Eloise and Max had 15 children, 9 lived to adults. One child that died at birth is still unaccounted for and may be buried in Hoboken Cemetery. The children of Max and Eloise are: 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 (1890-1959) who never married; Arthur Oscar Freudenberg I (1891-1968) a real estate broker who married Maria Elisabeth Winblad III (1895-1987) aka Mae Winblad; Max Freudenberg III (1893-aft1900) who lived till at least 7 years old and appears on the 1900 census; Louis Julius Freudenberg (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 (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 (1905-1963) and after her death married Lottie Dombrowska (1916-1995); and 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.

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 (1895-1987). Together they had three children: Naida Muriel Freudenberg (1915-1998) who married Burnett Peter Van Deusen (1913-1993); Selma; and Helen Eloise Freudenberg (1928-1987) 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.

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 Freudenberg (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.

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 Maximillian 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. Maximillian 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 & 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 of Arthur Freudenberg: Arthur Oscar Freudenberg II (1929- ) said on May 05, 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 it was 164 Center Avenue in Keansburg. I brought over a load of chop meat and he ate it raw. I got it free because I was picking up food for the nuns at the hospital. He owned buildings at 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."

Memories of Arthur Freudenberg: Selma Louise Freudenberg (1921- ) 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. I remember on hot nights everyone would stay outside on their porches in Jersey City."

Memories of Arthur Oscar Freudenberg: Thomas Patrick Norton (1920- ) 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. There were rumors that his diary may have survived with the Borlands.