Very little is known about Charles Hester Fredrickson. According to U.S. Census and newspaper records, he was born on October 1, 1811, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He settled in La Porte in May 1835.
The earliest census in which he appears is the 1840 U.S. Census, showing him living in La Porte and married to his wife, Caroline (1814–1861). In the 1850 census, he is recorded as a grocery keeper, placing his bottle within the same time period in which he was operating a grocery business. By the 1860 census, his occupation is listed as “gent,” an abbreviation for “gentleman,” a term typically used for individuals who were not employed in a trade or wage-earning occupation, and who may have been retired or living from property, investments, or pensions.
After Caroline’s death, he remarried in 1862 to Isabella Francis Albright (1837-1919).
He died on December 16, 1880, from “congestion of the lungs,” and is buried in Patton Cemetery in La Porte.
His bottle is currently the oldest known embossed glass bottle documented in La Porte County. If you have any more information, please share it with us.
1) Pioneers: Chas. Fredrickson — Born in Philadelphia Oct. 1, 1811; Settled here May 1835; Always a Whig; and a strong active Republican. La Porte Union & Herald, November 27, 1869.
2) LAPORTE, Ind., Dec. 17. — Charles Frederickson, an old and well-known resident of this city, died yesterday, from congestion of the lungs, aged 68 years. He was largely acquainted, and had numerous relatives all through this part of the country, including J. C. Knoblock, and other leading men of South Bend. The Inter Ocean, Chicago, December 18, 1880.
