I have been interested in the Applegate ancestry since my Uncle, John Applegate, had some research done in the 1970’s. I was aware of Thomas Applegate, who immigrated to Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1630s, but I did not know how our family fit into the Applegate history. During the 1980s, I quizzed my parents and grandparents for information about my great-great grandfather, Jack Applegate, but no one knew much about his family. Then I found Jerry Applegate’s web page and it caused me to do a little more research. About two years ago, I wrote the following message to Jerry:
"I was rather surprised to find an Applegate genealogy home page on the www. While doing an impromptu search on 'Applegate', I sort of stumbled across it. Because of this discovery, I pulled out the information that my wife and I compiled when we first married and then contacted my Uncle John Applegate to get his information. I have organized it below and offer the information to add to the Applegate home page. If and when I get additional information my Applegate ancestry, I will update this information. The Applegate home page looks great! Keep up the good work.
"The following chart shows the known ancestry of my children, Andrew Jackson Applegate V and Vincent Taylor Applegate. The lineage includes an Applegate/Hirsh line on my fathers side, an Wittenmeyer/Huff line on my mother's side, and a Hallman/Deihl/Sobeleski/Kaspryzk line on my wife's side.
"The Applegate lineage, of interest to most contributors to the Applegate genealogy home page, begins with my great-great-grandfather John (aka "Jack"). My parents and grandparents knew little about him other than his birth date and the year that he died. As far as I can tell, no one knows the names of his parents, but I should be able to get better dates of birth and death from Jack's gravestone. I believe that Jack's parents are probably the possible missing link with the Thomas Applegate descendancy chart.
"When I again visit New Jersey, possibly later this summer, I will try to determine exactly when and where Jack died and then look into whether his death certificate is available. Any other guidance would be most appreciated.
Andrew Jackson Applegate IV
June 1996"
During the last two years, I visited Anglesea, NJ and sent many letters to Trenton, NJ to get vital statistics records on my family, especially on Jack. Keep in mind that Jack was born in (I thought) 1854 and NJ only kept records as far back as 1878. Even then, the record keeping was somewhat incomplete in those early days. Well to make a long story short, I had almost given up without knowledge of Jack’s parents, brothers, or sisters. I had his short-form death certificate from 1954, but the Atlantic City Municipal Offices told me that the long-form death certificate was in Trenton.
So once again, I wrote to the NJ Dept. of Health, Vital Statistics Office, in Trenton, NJ, enclosing a processing fee. Just on a hunch, I also sent a second letter seeking the marriage record between Jack and Mary Chew (Jack's wife listed on his son's birth certificate), circa 1889 or 1890. Frankly I just guessed the year of marriage because "Mary" was pretty young (the 1910 census record showed "Mary" as 37 years old and their son, Andrew, Sr. was born in 1891.
Well, lo and behold, I received Jack’s long-form death certificate and his marriage record to a "Mary" in 1895 at Anglesea, NJ! The initially confusing part was "Mary" was Mary Hughes, not Mary Chew. It appears that Jack married a second time and the marriage record showed his parents names, Andrew Applegate from "England" and Mary Ann Jobs from "NJ, USA." John’s age was 33 years in 1895, agreeing with the 1910 census record but disagreeing with his death certificate. At the same time, I received Jack's long-form death certificate filed by his surviving son and listing Jack's place of birth as Long Branch, NJ.
Armed with this information, I got on the computer the next day and began searching Hugh Voress’ Applegate family database. My first search on "The Descendents of Bartholomew Applegate" turned up lots of Applegate’s at Long Branch, but no other matching items. Next I searched "The Descendents of Thomas Applegate III" and I found someone who moved to Long Branch in 1868. Looking up, I almost fell out of my seat – there was Andrew Applegate (5A4C1F) married to Mary Ann Jobes. And to top it all off, Jack’s brother was Andrew Jackson Applegate (5A4C1F2), having the same name as myself. John is listed as 5A4C1F4, born Dec. 12, 1862.
I spent the better part of that day in utter amazement. The mystery had been solved! I linked my family all the way back to Thomas Applegate in Massachusetts. So don’t give up. I almost did and I would never have solved the lineage without persistence and a little dumb luck.
There are a few pieces of information that disagree. Jack’s birthplace, for example, appears to be Hightstown, NJ according to Hugh Voress and Long Branch,NJ according to Jack’s death certificate. I chalk up the discrepancy to Jack’s son hearing about Jack’s childhood in Long Branch. It appears that Jack's parents moved there and the new adventures around the seashore were very influential to Jack and his brother, Andrew. Jack also celebrated his birthday on July 4, not December 12 as reported by Mr. Voress. It could be that Jack simply forgot when his birthday was in his old age.
Later this summer, I hope to spend some time in Long Branch, Sea Bright, and Hightstown, NJ. Jack’s brother’s family lived in Sea Bright and Jack’s grandparents lived in Hightstown. I should be able to find out more information, since Jack’s brother was involved in the America’s Cup and his nephew saved three people from a shipwreck. I have also contacted a genealogist who was doing research in the Cranbury/ Hightstown, NJ recently. When I find more information, I will update these pages, so stop back from time-to-time if the work I am doing interests you.