Date
purchased | Owners | Notes |
|---|
| 12/7/2007 | Carol Livingstone | Price was lots!! |
| 12/17/2004 | Elaine Petrowski | |
| 3/24/2000 | Elaine & Joseph Petrowski | Price was $350,000 |
| 9/7/1995 | Larry Kryzanowski & Mark Grossman | Price was $169,900 |
| 9/15/1963 | Mary & John Dyer | Price was $17,100. Mary was my grandmother's first cousin. |
| 1/6/1960 | Jean M. and Edward M. Schlaefer | Ad in Ocean Grove Times, Sept. 1, 1960: FOR RENT—27 Bath Ave.. Ocean
Grove, Single furnished room with water and semi-private kitchen. Available Sept. 15th. Open all. year. PR 5-8320. In 1961, the OG Times reported on Edward's retirement from the State of NJ. |
| 5/2/1946 | Mabel & Frank Valladares | Price was $12,500.
Note in 8/18/1950 OG Times: Frank Valladares, 27 Bath Avenue,
retired the first of this month after 34 years with the engineering
department of Babcock and Wilcox, of New York. Mr. and Mrs. Valladares
purchased their home here five years ago. Frank died in 1959 after a long illness. |
| 4/12/1944 | Ada Belle & Newall L. Powelson | Surmise that the house was renamed "La Belle" after Ada. |
| 3/23/1944 | Alice A. Freeman, widow | |
| 9/16/1942 | Marie & Ralph A. Walt | |
| 5/7/1942 | Peter F. Conover (deceased) | It appears Bertha owed Peter money, so when he died, his estate
took over the mortgage from Elizabeth and foreclosed on the house.
See Peter's burial site in Freehold, and his family. The following ad appeared 7/24/1942 and for about a month in the OG Times:
FOR SALE: 27 Bath Avenue, O.G., 11 bedrooms with running water, hot water heat, must close estate, price reduced to $2,500 cash. Brewer and Smith, 701 Bangs avenue Phone 250—48tf. |
| 9/23/1924 | Elizabeth J. MacDonald (widow) | She operated the house as a boarding house ("MacDonald House") with her two daughters. Bertha Apgar held the mortgage from Elizabeth. Public records are sparse:
- Ocean Grove Times: many ads for MacDonald House
- 1930 Census: Elizabeth MacDonald, 67, widowed, born Canada, head of household at 27 Bath Ave. Immigrated 1901. Two single daughters, Effie L. MacDonald (48), teacher and Annie L. (37), sub-teacher
- 1940 Census: Elizabeth MacDonald, 78, widowed, born Canada, head of household at 27 Bath Ave. Proprietor. Two single daughters, Effie L. MacDonald (60), and Annie L. (49), both working on own account
- 1971, January: Social Security Death Index: Elizabeth MacDonald, Ocean Grove NJ, birth 15 Mar 1891
|
| 192? | Bertha Apgar | Ownership was transferred to Bertha from her mother, Mary S. Rickey, sometime around 1920. Value of the property was $1800. Here are public records of Bertha and her husband:
- 1910 Census: Embury Ave, Ocean Grove: Margaret Apgar, widow, head of household; Augustus Apgar, age 24, son, clerk in a pharmacy.
- 1911 Ocean Grove Times, May 6: Augustus Apgar and Bertha Smith were married 2/5/1911
- 1918 Sept 12: Draft registration card for Augustus Nicholas Apgar: born 8/20/1883, resides 27 Bath, Ocean Grove, wife Bertha Apgar, occupation druggist, employed by D.H. Hills, druggist, Main St. Bradley Beach.
- 1920 Census: 102 Lake Ave (renting), Ocean Grove: Augustus N. Apgar, head of household, age 36, manager of a confectionary store;
Bertha, wife, age 34; Russell Gerard, son, 7 months (born June 11, 1919 in Ocean Grove); Mary S. Rickey, mother-in-law, age 56.
They may have been renting on Lake Avenue while 27 Bath was being remodeled.
- 1931: Augustus Nicholas Apgar married Isabel Bessie Dunsmore in Florida.
- 1940 Census: Trenton: Bertha Apgar, age 54, head of household, married; Russell Apgar, age 20, son.
- 1940 Census: Miami, Florida: Augustus Apgar, age 54, head of household, married, pharmacist, born in New Jersey; Isabel Apgar, 44, wife; Betty G. Rydon, 17, single, step-daughter; all living in Miami at least since 1935.
It appears Augustus left Bertha, moved to Florida, and married Isabel Bessie Dunsmore (who had just divorced Charles Ryden in 1931)
although there is no record of divorce from Bertha. Bertha continued to call herself married.
Surprisingly, Bertha and Augustus are buried together in Mount Prospect Cemetary,
just behind the Neptune High School along with a 7-year old son John Ogden who died 6/27/1919 just before the 1920 census.
Presumably they purchased the plots when son John died.
|
| 1906 | Mary S. Rickey | Purchased the house in a tax sale. Here are records related to her:
- 1910 census: Mary Rickey, head of household, age 50, married 15 years, with daughter Bertha R. Smith, age 24, single, living at 27 Bath.
- 1912 Ocean Grove Times April 6: Mrs. Lambert Rickey and daughter, Mrs. Bertha Apgar, have returned to 27 Bath Avenue from Asbury Park, where they spent the winter.
- 1916 Ocean Grove Times May 5: Mrs. Lambert Rickey and daughter, Mrs. Augustus Apgar,
are again occupying their cottage at, 26 (sic) Bath Avenue. They spent the winter in Lakewood.
- 1917 Ocean Grove Times February 16: Mrs. Lambert Rickey, who is staying at 24 Bath Avenue, is ill
with a heavy cold contracted during the remodelling of her cottage at 27 Bath Avenue. Mrs. Augustus
Apgar, of Lakewood, her daughter, was a recent visitor here.
- 1922: Death of Lambert Rickey of Trenton.
|
| 2/9/1906 | Clarence E.F. Hetrick (tax collector) | Severs lost the house due to back taxes of $33.45. Here is the notice of the sale |
| 9/23/1901 | Alonzo T. Severs (Trenton) | Operated as The Alonzo Hotel. Alonzo and his wife lived 35 Atlantic,
where his daughter Viola lived until her death at 101 in 1986.
OG Historical Society has a display on the Severs women with a picture of the house.
Alonzo also ran an insurance & real estate business in Bradley Beach; was also a judge.
Read the 1907 note in the Trenton Times
praising his donation of an electric sign for Bradley Beach. |
| 9/30/1885 | William P. and Mary C. Davis of Camden | William was born 8/31/1846 in Delaware, married Mary Parker in 1873. He was a clergyman. Lived in Camden NJ, Salem NJ, died in Philadelphia Sep 18, 1917 |
| 1880 | Sarah Yard and Pierson (Pearson?) William Yard (wife and son of Archibald) | Lived in Trenton. Inherited at Archibald's death |
| ? | Archibald William Yard | b. Mar. 17, 1806 in Trenton, died in Trenton May 24, 1879. See his family record |
| 8/19/1871 | Thomas C. Pearce of Hightstown | Bought lot for $1. Arrested in 1886 for insurance fraud. He sold policies to the downtown Asbury department stores; when one burned down, they discovered he never actually purchased the policies. |
| 8/4/1869 | Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Assn | |
| ? | William Osborn and wife and David Brown and wife | |
Mystery: did this earlier house burn down? Or was it
demolished to make way for the new house? Or did the owners add on and build it up?
The basement seems to have the outline of the original footprint.
Above is an undated picture from the Historical Society Archives showing the property as a boarding house named "La Belle" or "MacDonald House".
In the 1940 census, Elizabeth MacDonald listed her occupation as "proprietor of boarding house".
In the 1930 census, the value of the house was listed as $14,000-18,000, which was less than that of mom's house at 35,
which was listed at $25,000. So, the house was significantly increased in size between 1930 and 1940. Here is an ad for the "MacDonald House" from
the Ocean Grove Times, June 6, 1930. Note -- hot water in every room!
It was the practice in those times for Ocean Grove hotels to list their guests in the local paper. Here are the guests
who stayed at the MacDonald:
  
  
Below is a photo (approx. 1931) of Buster's aunt in front of 23 Bath, showing the house at 25 and the MacDonald House in the background --
see the sign on the 2nd floor railing. Buster's grandparents bought 23 and 25 in about 1930 as a wedding present for his parents (Augie Stoll),
and both houses were razed and
the house at 23 was built.
Below is a picture of Buster's house from about 1940. You can see some of the detail of the side of my house.
Decorative windows are where the 1st floor bathroom is now -- that might have been the original kitchen, and
Buster seems to recall that the
kitchen was on that side. Note that there seems to be a shed in back where the kitchen addition is now.
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