Where would they get the running water power for a sawmill on Cattus Island? Those two creeks look minuscule for the needs of a sawmill. I'm not challenging you, I'm just curious what your thoughts are. Tidal?
It is my opinion that the Applegate sawmill on Cattus Island in the 19th century was probably powered by steam, although there were mills established in that area prior to the Revolution which likely relied on water.
In the mid-18th century, John Tilton owned 300 acres of land on the bay between Applegate Creek and Shelter Cove and was taxed on a sawmill in 1773. I've found reference to him as a carpenter, but he was likely a millwright as well as his father and at least some of his brothers were millwrights. The Tilton's owned that land for over two decades. Applegate's Cove was called Tilton's Cove at the time. Tilton Point and Tilton's Creek are still found on maps of that area. Applegate Creek seems to have been named for his father-in-law Jacob Applegate of Middletown who built a house on the north side of the creek... John Tilton built a house on the south side of the creek and the 300 acres there were purchased from his father-in-law in 1751. After Jacob Applegate's death in 1768, 300 or so acres from the south side of Mosquito Cove to the north side of Applegate's creek were left to his son Silvester Applegate. I believe these two tracts of 300 acres (all formerly owned by Jacob Applegate) were the 600 acres originally patented to Miles Forster in 1690. Early maps show the creeks as being a bit more substantial back then, so the Tilton's must have built a dam on one of them to power their saw. Most of the Tilton's mill would have been made of wood, but if some iron parts were used, they might have been fashioned by Jacob Applegate who was a Blacksmith.
It is also interesting to note that two of John Tilton's sons, Sylvester and Jacob (both millwrights) were employed by the Pennsylvania Salt Works in 1776/1777, likely to help construct the windmill they built there to pump water, and possibly some of the other buildings as well. James Mott, Jr. had purchased the 300 acres on the northern border of the salt works tract from John Tilton in 1774 and leased some of the land to the salt works for the cutting of timber, which they needed quite a bit of for their operation.
John Tilton is my 6X G. Grandfather and his son Jacob my 5X G. Grandfather. Jacob was a Capt. in the Militia during the war and served out of the block house at Toms River. He and his men fought off a boat full of Tories looking to attack the salt works at one point, a few of his men being injured in the fight. He was living near Schenck's Mill, about 4 miles north of the village when the blockhouse was taken and the village burned on March 24, 1782 and reportedly arrived with some of his men after the enemy had left.
The John Tilton property went from Mott to the Curtis family, who eventually sold it to Garret Irons, another local militiaman who served some tours under Capt. Jacob Tilton during the war and also raised the alarm in the village of Toms River prior to the blockhouse fight. After Garret's death in 1838 it seems that his property was commissioned to be divided up and some went to his heirs and some was sold off. Most, or possibly all, of the 300 Tilton tract is now preserved by the County (Tilton's Point) and the State (Tilton' Creek Preserve) and is now a cool little piece of wilderness on the bay shore having been reclaimed by nature.
I believe that the Applegate's who later owned Cattus Island were descendants of the aforementioned Jacob Applegate's brother Bartholomew, as none of Jacob's descendants seem to have stayed in that area very long aside from the Tilton's.
