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Individual:
Alt. Death: 1662 , Middlesex, New Jersey
Immigrated from Norfolkshire England in early 1600's, and settled in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Nut Swamp, Middletown, Monmouth County, New Jersey
The founder of the Applegate Family in America was Thomas Applegate who left Norfolkshire, England and settled in Holland with a group of fellow Englishman during the Puritan disorders. About 1635, he came to Massachusetts Bay Colony and on Mar. 31, 1635, he was licensed for a year by the General Court to run a ferry between Weymouth and Braintree. However, he lost the license when the canoe he was using as a ferry overturned and several persons were drowned.
The following was taken from the official records of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Thomas Aplegate was "licensed on Sept. 2, 1635 to 'keepe a fferry between Wessagascus and Wolliston for which he is to have jd for any persons iijf a horse'". Thomas Aplegate was discharged of "keepein a fferry of Waymothe and Henry Kingman lycensed to keep said fferry at the pleasure of the Court".
At the Quarter Court held Oct. 14, 1638, it was decided that, "Aplegate wch owned the canooe out of wch the 3 psons were drowned/& it was ordered that no canooe to be used at any fferry upon paine of 5' nor no canooe be mad in or iurisdiction before the next General Court upon paine of 10'." Also an order was appointed to be given to Richard Wright to, "have that canooe out of wch these persons were drowned". At the next Court held on March 5, 1639, Willi Blanton, Willi Potter, Robert Thorpe, Henry Neal, John Fitch, and Thomas Aplegate, appearing, were discharged with the admonition not to adventure too many in any boat.
However, the record is confusing as Thomas Aplegate's canoe was ordered to be staved in by the court orders making it unusable; then the Court ordered that Thomas be given 29 shillings for his canoe, provided that he returned the arms he had borrowed and that they were in good condition.
Stillwell* cites trouble that Elizabeth Applegate, Thomas' wife had in the Massachusetts Bay Colony as follows: "She appears to have been one of the unfortunate persons who suffered from the ecclesiastical tyranny of that Puritanical age, for she was 'censured to stand with her tongue in a cleft stick for swearing, reviling, and railing'" (Boston Court Sept. 6, 1636). These experiences were obviously too much for the Applegates and they left the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1640 and went to Rhode Island.
There, Thomas appears to have engaged in several real estate endeavors and was identified as a weaver. Thomas was also involved in several Court suits. He sold his 15 acre farm on May 5, 1644 and probably left Rhode Island and came to New Amsterdam where he settled briefly at Flushing, Long Island. He was one of the original patentees there receiving a patent on Oct. 10, 1645. Thomas sold this patent and secured a patent of land on Nassau Island at Gravesend, New Jersey on Nov. 12, 1646 where he apparently remained the rest of his life.
Only 26 settlers were listed in Gravesend by 1646 [the time of Thomas Applegate 's arrival at Gravesend], and the remaining lots were reserved for subsequent arrivals. (It is also possible that there were originally 40 settlers, but several had died or left the colony.) The centers of each of the four squares were devoted to public use. At dusk, livestock was brought in from the outside and secured during the night in the common yards. Many of the original farms' property lines are still extant, and the original roads have been in continuous use for over 350 years. The land referred to in the confirmatory patent had been previously obtained by Kieft for the Dutch West India Company on September 10, 1645 from "Seysey, Chief Sepinto, Ponitarchgyne, Chiefs and Owners." The land included all of Flatlands, Gravesend, and part of western Flatbush. This transaction occurred after the van Salee and Op-Dyck patents for Gravesend lands, and nearly a decade after the Hudde and van Kouwenhoven deeds for sections of Niew Amersfoort (Flatlands). Those lands had previously been purchased as well. Unclear land titles were the rule rather than the exception during the Dutch administration, and this was especially true in Kings County. In fact, it was common for the same lands to be purchased several times from different groups of Indians. Certain tribes were overlords to other tribes, and tribute had to be paid by subordinate groups. This quasi-feudal system of land proprietorship frustrated efforts of the Dutch West India Company and other authorities to legitimately obtain and safely occupy land in Kings County.
At Gravesend, both Thomas and Elizabeth were caught up in court cases as they were apparently strong minded and believers in free speech. According to Stillwell, "this brought them (the Applegates) oppressive punishment from their neighbors. But such was the habit of the times. Few or none escaped from conflict of this sort. Their isolated life gave small opportunity on mental development on wholesome and broad lines, and their talk degenerated into gossip of a dangerous, personal nature, readily embellished and circulated over the convival cup at the tavern. The habit grew in the community till it became customary to air the most petty grievances in court, and the contest savored much of a pastime. So great a nuisance did it became, that the court finally for its own protection, passed a rule laying the expenses of a suit upon the plaintiff in the event of his failure to successfully prosecute his case." (Additional text missing.)
- Paul Eldredge Smith, RootsWeb
Historical and Genealogical Miscellany: New York and New Jersey, Vols. I-IV:
THOMAS APPLEGATE , the founder of the Applegate family in this country, was an Englishman, probably of Norfolkshire origin. His surname can be traced, with corruptions and variations in its spelling, due to time, euphony and the carelessness or ignorance of scriveners or recording clerks, from Applegarth and Applegath , (an enclosure for apple trees), to Applegate . The names Appleyard and Applethwaite were also applied to persons residing at or owning orchards. And the most ancient form was probably Apeliard , suggesting an early Norman origin.
Families of these various names were seated in England ; one, the Applegarth , at Rapley , in Hampshire ; another, the Apeliard , in Norfolkshire , who had among its earliest and most distinguished members Nicholas de Apelyard , Rogert del Apelgath , Jeffrey de Applegarth , whose estate was mentioned in 1199, and John Appleyard , who lived in the time of Richard II, 1377-99, and had a son, Sir Nicholas Apelyard or Apeliard . These families held many estates in Norfolkshire ; among them Rainthrop Hall, Mills Manor, Hals Manor, Testerdon Manor, etc.
In Norfolkshire there is found a striking coincidence of family names in the Appleyard family with those of the first Applegates in New Jersey .
Among the lords of Rainthrop Hall and Mills Manor was Bartholomew Apelyard , and, in 1419, a branch of the Appleyards came into the possession of Duaton Manor. Will Applegate , in 1481, bequeathed it to his son, Thomas , and named his mother, Elizabeth , and his brothers, John and Bartholomew . Bartholomew Applegate died in 1492.
The repeated use of the comparatively rare Christian name, Bartholomew , is suggestive, if not substantiative, of a relationship between Thomas Applegate , the Immigrant, and the Norfolkshire family.
In America , the name has also undergone changes. The last half has, occasionally, been lopped off and it has remained simply Appel; and it has also been spelled Appelgadt and Appelget , as is now the case in Middlesex County, N. J. ; but the Monmouth County family spell it--Applegate .
Jan Laurensen Appel and Arien , or Adrian or Adriaen Appel were Dutchmen and early settlers in New Amsterdam , and not to be confused with the Applegate family.
Adrian Appel was a resident of New York in 1701, and left a will devising his estate to his children. In 1671, Adrian Appel had recently been a resident of New York , but had removed to Albany .
Thomas Applegate was a member of the Massachusetts Bay colony, as early as 1635, when he was licensed to keep a ferry between Wessaguscus , (Weymouth ), and Mount Wooliston , (Braintree ). A year later he was turned out. Between 1635 and 1640, his name frequently appears in the Massachusetts Records. His wife, Elizabeth Applegate , seems to have been one of the unfortunate persons who suffered from the ecclesiastical tyranny of that puritanical age, for she was "censured to stand with her tongue in a cleft stick for swearing, reviling and railing." Perhaps these experiences prompted them to move to the more liberally conducted settlements of Rhode Island , where the name, "Appelgats Plaine " was given to their land and which their son, "Bartholomew Appel ," then of New Amsterdam , subsequently empowered Henry Timberlake , of Rhode Island , to occupy and which he alluded to, as formerly the property of my, (Appel 's), deceased father. By this I infer that Bartholomew Appel was the eldest son and heir of Thomas Applegate . From Rhode Island Thomas Applegate came to the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam , and, upon the creation of the English town of Gravesend , on Long Island , he became one of its earliest settlers.
1641. He was located in New Amsterdam . T. G. Bergen , Esq.
1645. He was one of the Patentees of Flushing, Long Island .
1646, Nov. 11. He bought John Ruckman 's plantation in Gravesend .
1650. Nicholas Stillwell , of Gravesend , sued him for slander in saying that if his, (Stillwell's) debts were paid he would have but little left.
1650, Dec. 29. He sold half of his farm, in Gravesend , to Thomas Southard , who had married Anna , daughter of Anthony Jansen Van Salee .
1651, Jan. 1. He was sentenced to have his tongue bored through with a red hot iron and to publicly acknowledge his transgression in charging the Director General with bribery. After making a public acknowledgment, he was pardoned.
1659. He bought a farm, in Gravesend , from Randel Huet .
1662. Thomas Applegate died.
Both Thomas Applegate and his wife, Elizabeth , were, apparently, strong-minded and believers in free speech. This brought them oppressive punishments from civil and ecclesiastical officials, and embroiled them in law suits with their neighbors. But such was the habit of the times. Few or none escaped from conflict of this sort. Their isolated life gave small opportunity for mental development on wholesome and broad lines, and their talk degenerated into gossip of a dangerous, personal nature, readily embellished and circulated over the convivial cup at the tavern. The habit grew in the community till it became customary to air the most petty grievances in court, and the contest savored much of a pastime. So great a nuisance did it become, that the court, finally, for its own protection, passed a rule laying the expenses of the suit upon the plaintiff in the event of his failure to successfully prosecute his case.
The descendants of Thomas and Elizabeth Applegate mount into many hundreds, and it has only been possible to follow a few of the lines.
Issue
2 Bartholomew Applegate
3 John Applegate
4 Helena Applegate
5 Thomas Applegate
- Mark D. Montgomery, RootsWeb
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