Freese Family of Medina County, Ohio

• Introduction
• First generation: John Freese and Dorothy Carr
• Second generation: Jacob Freese and Rebecca Van Loon
• Third generation: John Freese and Desire Williams
• Fourth generation: Bill Williams Freese, Sr. and Sarah Beaumont

Introduction

The genealogy of the Freese family which settled in Brunswick, Medina County, Ohio in the early 1800s isn't very clear to me. I've created this web page in the hopes that others may be able to correct the information so that we can achieve a definitive understanding of all the relationships. Much of the information here is speculative, especially for the earlier generations, although apparently family bibles verifying the information did exist at one time. Their whereabouts are now unknown.

In 1817 Bill Williams Freese Sr. settled in Brunswick along with his brothers John and Abram. Both Abram and Bill surveyed the land around what would become Brunswick and Hinckley for landowners in Massachusetts. They became so enamored of the area they decided to move there.

The Freese family was of Dutch descent -- perhaps ultimately from Friesland -- and among the first to settle Lunenburgh (later Athens), New York before moving to Lee, Berkshire County, Massachusetts. The first person surnamed Freese whom we know for sure was related to the Freeses of Brunswick, Medina County, Ohio was John Freese, born 1741. The parentage of this John Freese is not known for certain. From the Lee, Massachusetts town death records we know that John Freese was born in 1741. Mary Freese Warrell suggested John was the son of Jacob Freese and Rebecca Van Loon, since they had a son John born in that year. An old Dutch bible which was in the hands of members of the Freese family a hundred years ago, and whose whereabouts are now unknown, apparently gave Jacob and Rebecca as parents of the John who married Desire.

John Freese and Dorothy Carr

Fannie Freese, granddaughter of Abram Freese who married Melissa Deming (see below), writes that John Freese was an immigrant from Holland, settling in Salisbury, Massachusetts. He married Dorothy Carr in 1696. They had two children.

• Jacob Freese was born in Sheffield, Massachusetts on November 10, 1698. He married Rebecca Van Loon.

• George S. Freese was born August 27, 1709. He married Mary Atkinson on April 19, 1737.

Fannie Freese also quotes L. S. Rowland, for many years pastor of the Congregational Church in Lee, Berkshire County, Massachusetts as saying: "With true Dutch thrift and foresight -- they brought with them their mahagony coffins and satin grave-clothes." and "They were large landowners -- their land extending from Cornhill to Beartown Mountain."

At this time there does not seem to be any evidence that John Freese and Dorothy Carr were the parents of the Jacob Freese who married Rebecca Van Loon.

Jacob Freese and Rebecca Van Loon

Jacob Freese and Rebecca Van Loon married November 14, 1740, probably in Albany, New York. Rebecca was born to Jan Van Loon and Rebecca Halenbek (Hallenbeck, Hollenbeck) on February 18, 1719. Rebecca may have been Jacob's second wife. I do not know the name of his first wife, nor whether they had any children.

Jacob and Rebecca had the following children, according to an old Dutch Bible quoted in Mrs. Warrell's book Freese families in America:

• John Freeze was born September 13, 1741. He may be the John Freese who married Desire Williams.

• Rebecca Freeze was born Mary 16, 1745.

• Jacob Freeze was born February 18, 1747.

• Dorothy Freeze was born November 10, 1750. She married Derick Spoor on December 25, 1777 in Athens, Green County, New York. Derick was born November 15, 1754 to Nicholas Spoor and Sara Hallenbeck. He served in the Revolutionary War. Derick was a first cousin once removed of Johannes Spoor, who married Dorothy's sister Rachel. Both Derick and Johannes Spoor were descendants of Johannes Spoor and Maria Singer.

  Dorothy and Derick had five children.

  • Rebeckah Spoor was born September 7, 1779.

  • Sarah Spoor was born June 26, 1781.

  • Nicholas Spoor was born July 6, 1783.

  • Lany Spoor was born August 3, 1789.

  • Jacob Spoor was born January 7, 1786.

  Derick died November 30, 1832. Both he and Dorothy are buried in a private cemetery on their homestead according to the book The Spoor Family in America by Marie A. Underwood.

• Rachel Freeze was born May 5, 1753. She married Johannes Spoor on March 8, 1781 in Claverack, Columbia County, New York. Johannes was born about 1750 to Cornelius Spoor and Cornelia Esselsteyn. Johannes was a first cousin once removed of Derick Spoor, the husband of Rachel's sister Dorothy Freese.

  Rachel and Johannes had four children.

  • Cornelia Spoor was born about 1782. She married either David Campbell or Cornelius Clarendon.

  • Rebecca Spoor was born September 5, 1784. She married either David Campbell or Cornelius Clarendon.

  • Polly Spoor was born about 1786. She never married.

  • Elizabeth Spoor was born February 5, 1798. She married James Knapp who was born on January 22, 1787 in Amity, New York to Moses Knapp and Amy Sprague. Elizabeth and James had at least one child.

    • Lucina Cornelia Knapp was born November 5, 1830 in New York. She married William Pitt Webb on May 10, 1851. William was born August 8, 1828 in Beekmantown, Clinton County, New York. Lucina and William had at least two children. William died July 23, 1907 in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. Lucina died August 9, 1924 in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.

    James died September 11, 1878 in Lowell, Wisconsin.

  Johannes or "John" served in the Revolutionary War. He enlisted in Colonel Peter Gansevoort's New York regiment where he was appointed an ensign in 1776.

  Johannes died July 1, 1834 in Lafayette, Onondago County, New York.

• Abraham Freeze was born January 1, 1756. He may have been the one who surveyed portions of Medina County around the time of the War of 1812, but more likely the surveyor was his nephew Abram, son of Abraham's brother John.

• Marie Freeze was born June 15, 1759.

• Magdalena Freeze was born October 30, 1761.

Jacob Freeze died April 19, 1789. Rebecca died February 14, 1799. The spellings Freese and Freeze were interchangeable, as were other such as Vries, Frees, Freeze, and Fries.

John Freese and Desire Williams

The immediate ancestors of the Freeses who moved to Brunswick, Medina County, Ohio were John Freese and Desire Williams. John married Desire in 1762. Desire's name was probably pronounced "Dez'-er-ray". The Williams family was prominent in Berkshire Country, giving their name to a river (the Williams River), a town (Williamstown), and a school (Williams College). Williams was a middle name for several of John and Desire's descendants. Lee was also the home of my ancestors Samuel and Sarah Partridge Tillotson before they moved to Brunswick.

Desire may have been the daughter of John and Mary Williams, whose daughter Desire was christened in Sheffield, Berkshire County, Massachusetts on June 2, 1742. Alternatively she may have been the daughter of Solomon Williams of Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

The History of Lee, Mass published in 1888 says this about John and Desire.

John Freese, who m Desire Williams of Stockbridge, & thus was allied to the blue blood of Berkshire Co., was a tailor & Tavern keeper in Egremont. in 1776. He came to this town during the Rev. War & became a very large land owner. The house he first occupied stood near the present brick school house (ca 1877) of the first District in the Hoplands. He afterwards lived on the spot where is now (1877) Mr. Henry Smith's house. He owned that farm, & South across the river to the top of Peartown Mountain. --The Freese family were of Dutch descent, among early settlers of Lunenburgh, now Athens, N.Y. The family name has entirely disappeared from the town, since their removal in 1814 to Brunswick, Ohio. Miss Sarah Goodspeed is the only immediate descendant left.

John and Desire had at least the following six children.

• Mary Freese was born October 10, 1773. She died November 13, 1804 at age 31 in Lee, Massachusetts.

• Rebecca Freese was born April 18, 1776. There is a record of a Rebecca Freeze marrying a John Van Deusan on April 18, 1802 in Great Barrington, Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Whether this is the same Rebecca I do not know. Regardless, Rebecca married Anthony Goodspeed in 1808. Anthony was born August 20, 1769 in Sandwich, Massachusetts to David Goodspeed and Naomi Lewis.

  Rebecca and Anthony had six children, probably all born in Lee, Berkshire County, Massachusetts.

  • Martin Lewis Goodspeed was born October 23, 1810.

  • Rebecca Goodspeed was born January 29, 1812.

  • Cynthia Goodspeed was born April 30, 1813.

  • Albert Goodspeed was born September 16, 1814.

  • Emily Goodspeed was born October 1, 1816.

  • Sarah F. Goodspeed was born September 28, 1818. She is the Sarah mentioned in the the excerpt from the History of Lee, Mass. above.

  Anthony also had one child from a previous marriage to Cynthia Goodman:

  • Uretta Adelia Goodspeed was born April 4, 1801 in Ithaca, New York.

  Rebecca died May 4, 1865.

• John Freese, Jr. was born March 10, 1778. He married Sarah "Sally" Stearns on August 27, 1801. Sarah was born July 22, 1781 in Lee, Berkshire County, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of John Stearns and Lucy Merrill. John and Sally moved to Brunswick, Medina County, Ohio in 1816.

  John and Sally had at least four children. There may have five or so more.

  • Pamela Freese was born February 4, 1802 in Lee, Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Her name also appears as Parmela or Parmella, even as Pamelia, but that may represent the way the name was pronounced. Even today dropped "r"s and intrusive extra "r"s appear in words pronounced by some New Englanders.) Some sources say Pamela was the daughter of Abram, but Abram's granddaughter Fannie Freese wrote that Pamelia (as she spelled it) was the daughter of John.

    Pamela Freese taught school in Brunswick and Hinckley. The History of Medina County published by the Medina County Historical Society relates that "Miss Pamela Freese was also a teacher for several years, but due to the unruly behavior of some of the big boy pupils, Judge Abram Freese would visit the school at unscheduled times and administer chastisement where needed."

    Pamela married John Berdan. He was born in New York City on December 16, 1798. They lived in Brunswick for a time. John held the office of Justice of the Peace while working as a merchant. In September 1835 John and Pamela moved to Toledo, Ohio. John entered into partnership with B.H. Peckham and Company, a commission and forwarding business. John gained a popular reputation as an astute and honest businessman. When the city of Toledo was incorporated in 1837, John Berdan was elected its first mayor. He was reelected in 1838. In 1839 after John's second term as mayor, the county commissioners named him an associate justice of the Court of Common Pleas for Lucas County. John served in this capacity until his early death on October 11, 1841. John Berdan is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Toledo.

    Berdan is still the name of a street in west Toledo. It is named in John Berdan's honor.

    Pamela and John had four children.

    • Peter Frederick Berdan was born October 23, 1824. The following biography of Peter appeared in the History of the City of Toledo and Lucas County by Clark Waggoner, published in 1888 by Munsell and Company, New York.

      PETER FREDERICK BERDAN was born in Brunswick, Medina County, Ohio, October 23, 1824. He was a son of John and Pamela (Freese) Berdan. The father was born in New York City, December 16, 1798. The mother was born in Lee, Massachusetts, February 4, 1802. The father was a merchant and Justice of the Peace at Brunswick, and otherwise prominent in business, as in social and religious circles. the country thereabouts was then pretty much a wilderness, and the Village little more than a Hamlet. Hence, the traffic of the Store made very moderate return in profits.

      In September, 1835, the family removed to Toledo, arriving there amid the most intense of the excitement connected with the boundary dispute or the "Toledo War." Mr. Berdan soon engaged in the Forwarding and Commission business, with B. H. Peckham (the firm name being Peckham & Co.), whose warehouse was at the foot of Lagrange Street. This firm did most of the business of the kind in Toledo, the Steamboats generally stopping at their dock. As elsewhere stated, upon the organization of a City Government for Toledo, in 1837, Mr. Berdan was chosen as its first Mayor, serving as such for a term of two years. In 1839, he was elected by the State Legislature as Associate Judge for Lucas County, which position he filled with special credit until his death, October 11, 1841. No name is borne in the memory of the early settlers of Toledo with more respect, than is that of John Berdan, who throughout his residence there, as throughout his life, manifested conscientious regard for the rights of his fellowmen, while, in all ways open to him, contributing to their well-being. Peter's educational privileges, aside from the careful attention of his parents, were meagre. At Brunswick he attended for a short time a School taught by a female teacher, who accompanied the family to Toledo. He had no male School teacher save while for one year at Gambier Seminary, which term closed when he was 12 years of age. If entered upon his business life when 13 years old, as clerk in the Store of Titus & Co., Toledo, at a salary of $75 per year (without board). At that time $500 was the highest salary paid to any clerk. He remained with Titus & Co., and with Gid. W. Weed, successor to that firm, until 1845, when he engaged in the same capacity with the firm of Ketcham & Secor (V. H. Ketcham and Joseph K. Secor), remaining there for three years. In 1848 Mr. Berdan and Salmon H Keeler organized the firm of Berdan & Keeler, dealers in general merchandise, the partners contributing, respectively, to the capital stock of the firm, the sums of $156 and $132, their savings from clerkships. They were associated in successful trade for six years, and until the firm of Secor, Berdan & Co. was organized in 1854, with which Mr. Berdan was connected until his retirement from active business, in January, 1877. Such change was largely the result of impaired health, caused in great measure by long years of incessant business cares, rarely interrupted by any cause. Few men in Toledo or elsewhere have passed as equal period of time in like unremitting devotion to the demands of trade -- made the more imperative by the steady increase and extension of its volume. Mr. Berdan's withdrawal from routine cares of trade, did not take him from the circles of business. While judiciously consulting health in comparative relaxation, he was not without interests furnishing exercise for his mind. He was for many years a stockholder and long a Director in the Second National Bank; was a stockholder and for seven or eight years a Director in the Toledo Gas Light and Coke Company; was a heavy stockholder and for an equal period a Director in the Wabash Elevator Company; and was among those who organized and put in operation 'the Maumee Rolling Mill, in which Company he was from the first and until his death a Director. In these various channels, both his capital and his superior business capacity were made effective to the common prosperity. In no sphere of action did Mr. Berdan more fully manifest his appreciation of the claims of his fellow-citizens upon his attention and aid, than in his long and prominent connection with the Fire Department of Toledo. Entering such volunteer service of the City as soon as old enough to warrant that relation, he maintained the same, with special success, won by personal sacrifice known to few of the present generation in Toledo. "Old No. One Engine Company," of which for years he was Foreman, was largely indebted to his untiring devotion, for the high position to which it attained, and which it held so long as the system of which it was a prominent part was in existence. Mr. Berdan was actively identified with the prosperity of First Congregational Church, Toledo, with which his father and family and his own family were connected throughout a period of over 50 years. He was long connected with the Middle Bass (Put-in Bay) Association, at which place with his family for many seasons previous to his death, he spent much of his time, and was greatly benefitted thereby. he was eminently a man of domestic attachments, whose chief happiness always was found within the charmed circle of his home. Mr. Berdan was married October 21, 1852, with Maria Waite, only daughter of Judge H. M. Waite, of' Connecticut, and sister of Chief Justice M. R. Waite and Richard Waite, of Toledo. She died in Toledo, September 3, 1864, aged 33 years. She left five daughters -- Mary B., wife of Walter Shepard, of Buffalo, New York; Ida M., wife of E. C. Bodman, now of New York City ; Alice A. (deceased), wife of Arthur E. Baker, of Toledo; Julia, wife of Oliver Rodgers, of Toledo; and Pamela, of Toledo. Mr. Berdan was married in New York June 21, 1866, with Mary Elizabeth Ketcham, who with three children -- Anna Secor, Frederick and John Milton -- survives him. Mr. Berdan had one brother -- John Berdan, so long associated with him in trade, and vet in the same business: and two sisters Rachel A., widow of the late V. H. Ketcham; and Mary M. (deceased), wife of Dr. E. M. Buckingham, of Springfield, Ohio. Not least of the many conditions contributing to the happy domestic circle of Mr. Berdan, has been the part borne therein by his venerable mother, throughout a widowhood now near a half-century in duration. Rarely, indeed, has a family been blessed with such presence and support; and even more rarely, has such blessing been attended by like precious results.

    • John Berdan was born in 1831.

    • Rachel A. Berdan married Valentine H. Ketcham.

    • Mary M. Berdan married Dr. Ebenezer Milton Buckingham of Springfield, Ohio.

  Pamela Freese Berdan died October 9, 1896 in Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio at the age of 94. She outlived her husband by 55 years.

  • Sally Freese.

  • Desire Freese.

  • Milton Freese was born November 10, 1819 in Medina County, Ohio. The following biography of Milton appeared in Kentucky: A History of the State by Battle, Perrin, & Kniffin.

    MILTON FREESE, a miller of Lawrence County, Ky., was born in Medina County, OH., November 10, 1819. His father, John Freese, was associated judge of Medina County, was a native of Kinderhook N.Y., was a school-teacher and the tutor of Martin Van Buren. He settled in Ohio about 1800. Milton Freese came to Kentucky in 1847, settled at Prestonburg, and had charge of a coal mine for a Cincinnati firm. In 1861 he entered the army as a cavalry wagon-master, under Gen. John L. Williams, but was soon taken prisoner. In 1863 or 1864 he located in Louisa, and at first was engaged in steamboating on the Big Sandy and Ohio Rivers. He is now proprietor of the Louisa Roller Flouring-Mills, which have a capacity of seventy-five barrels per day. In 1848 Mr. Freese married Mis Minerva Vaughan, of Prestonburg, daughter of Burrell Vaughan. This lady died in 1865, and in November, 1867, Mr. Freese married Miss Kate McGuire, of Louisa daughter of Nicholas McGuire. To his first marriage were born three children: Mary, Kate and Frank; to the second have also been born three children: Fannie, Sallie and Charlott. Mr. Freese served as Postmaster at Prestonburg for several years. He is a Freemason, and is one of the prosperous business men of Lawrence County.

  John was one of the first teachers in Brunswick. He taught in the second schoolhouse set up in Brunswick, a quarter mile west of the center of town. His brother Abram taught in the third school, a log cabin which was also used for Hinckley township official meetings. John had taught in an academy at Kinderhook, New York before coming to Brunswick. At Kinderhook one of his pupils was Martin Van Buren, future president of the United States.

  John Freese was the second postmaster in Brunswick, succeeding Seth Blood. John was made an associate judge in 1825. He held that post for seven years. He was also clerk of the court and county recorder for five years beginning in 1818. He was Medina County surveyor for six years starting in 1838.

• Bill Williams Freese was born about September 20, 1780 in Great Barrington, Berkshire County, Massachusetts. October 22 was the date of his christening. Bill married Sarah Beaumont in 1809. See below for information about their children.

• Sally Freese was born February 29, 1784. She died March 24, 1807 in Lee, Massachusetts. Her death date also appears as March 25.

• Abram Freese (sometimes Abraham) was born October 18, 1786. (The 1850 census record gives his age as 62, indicating he was born around 1788, but census records are not always reliable.) Abram was christened January 10, 1787 in Great Barrington, Berkshire County, Massachusetts.

  Before the War of 1812 either he or his uncle Abraham surveyed portions of what would become Medina County, Ohio. He bore the commission of surveyor to the new Connecticut colony, He arrived in the first sailboat that crossed Lake Erie, a rude barge fitted with canvas and called "The Little Mayflower." The greater part of the surveying of this new country was done under his supervision.

  In 1818 Abram surveyed the land around what was to become the town of Hinckley, Medina County, Ohio for the landowner, Judge Samuel Hinckley of Northampton, Massachusetts.

  Abram shows up in the Medina County census starting in 1820, living outside Brunswick in what would become the town of Hinckley. His neighbor at that time was Wright Beaumont, possibly a relative of Sarah Beaumont, wife of Abram's brother Bill Williams Freese, Sr.

  Abram married Melissa Deming on October 7, 1819, probably in Brunswick. Melissa was born October 2, 1799 in Sandisfield, Massachusetts to Andrew Deming and Elizabeth Mather. (Some sources give her birthdate as March 2, 1799.) Abram and Melissa had four children. The first three were born in Hinckley, Medina County, Ohio; the fourth in Brunswick.

  • Philander Deming Freese was born June 4, 1821. He married Angeline Latimer on December 25, 1843. Philander died May 17, 1900.

  • Edwin Williams Freese was born February 1, 1823 in Hinckley, Medina County, Ohio. He married twice. He first married Abby Loomis Ellis on July 28, 1853. She died December 18, 1870. Later Edwin married Sarah Ann Martha Palmer (née Ellis) on June 1, 1871.

    Edwin and Abby had three children.

    • Fannie Freese was born January 13, 1858. She married William Samuel Whittelsey in Clinton, Michigan on March 16, 1881. William was born in Lexington, Kentucky. Fannie and William lived in Clinton, Ypsilanti, and Battle Creek, Michigan.

      Fannie and William had four children.

      • Nelle Ida Whittelsey was born November 28, 1882 in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

      • Grace Whittelsey was born July 30, 1884.

      • William Edwin Whittelsey was born February 14, 1886.

      • Frederick Dudley Whittelsey was born October 23, 1900 in Clinton, Michigan.

    • Charles Edwin Freese was born April 22, 1854 in Michigan. He married Mary Hobart on October 20, 1880 in Blissfield, Lenawee County, Michigan. Mary Hobart was born to Marlin Hobart and Clarissa Cornelia Parshall on January 25, 1858 in Owosso, Shiawassee County, Michigan.

      Charles was a merchant. He and Mary had one son:

      • Charles Edwin Freese, Jr. was born October 28, 1881 in Blissfield, Lenawee County, Michigan.

      Charles Edwin Freese died June 12, 1881 in Clinton, Lenawee County, Michigan at the young age of 27. After Charles died, Mary married Julius Austin Grow on December 3, 1884 in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan. Mary Hobart Freese Grow died October 28, 1912 in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan.

    • George Williams Freese was born June 5, 1860.

    Sarah died February 15, 1893. Edwin died August 28, 1915.

  • John Edward Freese was born March 20, 1826. He married Catherine Bourke on January 30, 1855. John died October 28, 1893. Catherine died January 30, 1911.

  • Jane Elizabeth Freese was born April 14, 1832. She married George Anson Pritchard who was born May 5, 1832 in Liverpool, Medina County, Ohio. They moved to Iowa shortly after their marriage.

    The Bontecou Genealogy says this of George and Jane.

    George Anson Pritchard, born in Liverpool, Ohio, May 5, 1832. He left school at the age of eleven years, and was employed by his father in the business of buying and selling cattle. During the first year of his work in this line, he personally superintended the transfer of a drove of 260 head from Madison County, Ohio, to Cleveland. He continued in his father's employ until he became of age, when he engaged in the same business on his own account, and has ever since followed it. He married, Oct. 10, 1854, Jane Elizabeth Freese, daughter of Abram and Jane (Deming) Freese of Des Moines, Iowa. She was born April 14, 1832, and died August 8, 1878. He married (2d), March 1, 1880, Mrs. Florence Agnes.

    This extract is in error when it says Abram and Jane Freese were of Des Moines, Iowa. At the time George married Jane Elizabeth, her parents were still living in Ohio.

    Jane Elizabeth Freese Pritchard died September 8, 1887. George died October 21, 1888.

  The first frame barn raised in the Hinckley area was Abram's in 1824. The barn measured thirty-five by forty-five feet. Abram paid the contractor seventy-five dollars for the barn, a real bargain even in those days.

  Abram was instrumental in the naming of the town as Hinckley. Judge Samuel Hinckley owned several townships including that which would later bear his name. Hinckley had promised Abram that if the citizens would name the town in his honor, the judge would donate a lot of one hundred sixty acres for a school, or for whatever other purposes the citizens saw fit. When the Judge next visited the township in 1825, Abram reminded him of this promise. The Judge did not feel able to make good on his promise because of significant financial losses and illness in his family. Abram did convince him to donate two and a half acres at the center of town for a public square, and two lots of one and one quarter acres each for cemeteries. While not the largesse for which the towns folk had hoped, these land grants were sufficient to convince them to name the town Hinckley after the Judge.

  The log cabin school in which Abram taught was the site selected for organizing the town of Hinckley on September 25, 1825. The first election of township officers was held in the cabin that very day. Abram and fellow resident David Babcock were election supervisors of the township.

  Abram Freese was the first Past Master of the Medina Lodge #58 F&AM of Ohio. He served in 1820. His brother John Freese served as secretary in 1822 and 1823. Later John was a past master for several years. Abram rode horseback through Indian country to Columbus to pick up the charter for the newly established lodge.

  Melissa Deming Freese died October 30, 1864 in Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa. I do not when or where Abram died, but perhaps he too died in Iowa.

John Freese died March 25, 1814 in Lee, Berkshire County, Massachusetts. He was 72 years old at the time of his death. His wife Desire Williams Freese died September 17, 1817 at the age of 75.

Bill Williams Freese, Sr. and Sarah Beaumont

Bill Williams Freese, Sr. married Sarah "Sally" Beaumont on March 19, 1809. There is a church record for the marriage in the Reformed Dutch Church in Kinderhook, Columbia County, New York. Sarah was born in New York according to the census records. We know nothing further about Sally's family, although it is possible that she was the Sarah Beaumont born to Oliver Beaumont and Lucinda Fitch of Kinderhook. This is where Bill's brother John Freese was teaching before the move to Brunswick, Medina County, Ohio. A Wright Beaumont also lived next to Bill's brother Abram Freese in the 1820s. Possibly Wright and Sally were related.

Bill Williams Freese, Sr. and his wife Sally Beaumont had the following children.

• Harlow Freese was born in 1810. He married Almira Morton, an aunt of Emma Morton Tillotson. Almira Morton was born September 3, 1817 in Brunswick, Medina County, Ohio to Erasmus Morton and Prudence Butler.

  Harlow and Almira had at least one son.

  • Egbert Morton Freese was born September 23, 1845 in Brunswick, Medina County, Ohio. He married Rosina Berger in 1882. They had three children.

    • Herbert H. Freese was born August 16, 1884 in Plymouth, Ohio. He married Jessie Wheeler Balliett on May 24, 1921.

      Herbert's obituary appeared in The Marion Star of June 1946.

      H. H. Freese, Galion Manufacturer, Dies.
      GALION, June 20 -- Herbert H. Freese, 61, a prominent Galion industrialist, died at 9 p.m. Wednesday in Lakeside hospital in Cleveland, following an illness of several months. He underwent an operation at the hospital March 12 and was returned to his home in Galion at 321 Gill avenue April 16. He was then returned to the hospital May 31.

      Senior partner and general manager of E. M. Freese and Co., he was born August 16, 1884 in Plymouth, O., to Egbert M. Freese and Rosina Berger Freese. This company is Gallion's oldest manufacturing industry. A thirty-second degree Mason, he was a member of Blue Lodge of Masons of Galion, was a charter member of Galion Elks, and belonged to several other organizations.

      He was married May 24, 1921 in Mansfield to Jessie Wheeler Balliett, who survives. Other survivors are one stepdaughter, Mrs. Edward Cable of Pittsburgh, Pa. and two brothers, Arthur J. and Horace E. Freese, both of Galion, with whom he was associated in business.

      The body is being brought to Galion today where funeral services will be conducted Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at the home. Burial will be in Fairview cemetery.

    • Horace E. Freese. He died March 26, 1963 in Galion, Crawford County, Ohio at the age of 74.

    • Arthur J. Freese was born January 7, 1887 and died in Galion, Crawford County, Ohio in September 1968.

    Egbert was a pioneer manufacturer in Galion, Ohio. At the time of his death in 1924 he was president of the First National Bank of Galion. In his will Egbert provided for the establishment of a foundation which bears his name. The foundation still supports community development and city improvements in Galion.

    Egbert's obituary appeared in The Marion Daily Star for April 25, 1924.

    GALION BANK PRESIDENT DIES
    Egbert M. Freese Succumbs to Apoplexy.
    HEAD OF E. M. FREESE & COMPANY, TILE MAKERS
    Becomes Identified with Galion Nation Bank in 1903. President since 1904.

    Egbert M. Freese, president of the First National Bank and pioneer manufacturer of Galion, died this morning at 7:45 o'clock at his home in that city. His death was caused from apoplexy with which he was striken a week ago Tuesday.

    Mr. Freese was born in Medina county, September 23, 1845. He began his career as a manufacturer in 1880 when he established a factory at Plymouth for the manufacture of clay work machinery. In 1891 Mr. Freese established the E. M. Freese & Company, Galion manufacturers of brick tile.

    Mr. Freese became identified with the First National Bank in 1903 and the following year was elected president of the organization, continuing in that capacity until his death. In 1882 Mr. Freese was married to Miss Rosina Berger, who survives with three sons, Herbert, Arthur, and Morris (sic) Freese, all of Galion.

    The funeral services will be held Monday afternoon at 3:30 o'clock from the home in charge of Rev. George M. Zinn, pastor of the Reformed church. The remains will be placed in the Fairview cemetery.

    Mrs. E. C. Miner prepared an obituary for Egbert which was published in The Medina Sentinel.

    Egbert Morton, son of Harlow and Almira Morton Freese was born here in Brunswick Sept. 23, 1845, and died at Galion, O., April 25, 1924 aged 78 years. He lived around here until about 20 years of age, when he became a machinist apprentice at Cuyahoga Falls. Then four years later her went to Crestline, then in 1881 he went to Plymouth where he manufactured brick and tile machinery. About 1890 he moved to Galion, where he was in business until his death. In 1882 he was married to Miss Rosina Berger of near Galion, and to this union was born three sons, Herbert, Arthur, and Horace.

    

    Arthur, Herbert, and Horace Freese.

    

    Rosina and Arthur Freese.

• Lucinda Freese was born May 11, 1811. She married twice. She first married Riley Alderman on November 19, 1829. As far as I know Lucinda and Riley had no children. Later Lucinda married William Barrett. William Barrett was the son of William High Barrett and Betsy Patrick of Vermont.

  Lucinda and William had ten children.

  • Angeline Melissa Barrett was born in 1834 and died in 1921. She married Welcome A. Gilmore. They had at least one child.

    • Albert A. Gilmore was born in 1874.

  • Nancy Jane Barrett was born in 1836 and died in 1892. She married William Henry Richie. William's middle name also appears as Henery.

  • George Barrett was born in 1840 and died in St. Louis, Missouri in 1909. He was married, but I do not know his wife's name. They had at least one child.

    • Della Barrett. She married a man name Hardin.

  • William Barrett was born in 1843 and died in 1931.

  • Merchant Oliver Barrett was born in 1845 and died in 1893. He married Wilma Henry.

  • Mary Elmina Barrett was born in 1847 and died in 1924.

  • Henry Barrett was born in 1849 and died in 1918. He married Avarilla Gilmore on October 3, 1869 in Meigs City, Ohio. Averilla was born in 1852. They had three children.

    • Wallace A. Barrett was born in 1870.

    • William Henry Barrett was born in 1874.

    • Bertha M. Barrett was born in 1877 and died in the great influenza epidemic of 1918. She married Thomas Alfred Mann about 1897. Thomas was born in 1879 and died in 1965. They lived in Beaver County, Pennsylvania.

  • Sally Freese Barrett was born in 1851 and died in 1949. She married John Pratt Landon who was born in 1844 and died in 1917. They had five children.

    • Sally Selma Landon was born in 1869. She married Lewis Lylte.

    • Mary Ellen Landon was born April 24, 1871. She married Jacob Kanel who was born March 24, 1865. They had at least one son.

      • Maurice Landen Kanel was born August 25, 1901 and died November 18, 1909. He is buried in Seymour Masonic Cemetery in Seymour, Missouri.

      Jacob died June 6, 1939. Mary Ellen died August 20, 1943. They are both buried in the Seymour Masonic Cemetery in Seymour, Missouri.

    • John William Landon was born in 1873 and died in 1950. He married Lulu Graham.

    • Effie Lucinda Landon was born in 1879 and died in 1955. She married Frank Hoover.

    • Walter Edmond Landon was born in 1882 and died in 1924. He married Gertrude Long.

  • Charles Barrett was born in 1853 and died in 1929.

  • Ida Agnes Barrett married George Ewirs.

  The book Pioneer Women of the Western Reserve says says of Lucinda:

  Lucinda Freese came, when quite young, from Lee, Massachusetts, in 1818, with her father's family, and grew to be a beautiful young lady, endowed with many graces, and one of the sweetest of tempers. She married William Barrett, and is the mother of five sons and five daughters. She is now 85 years old and reads and writes without the aid of glasses. It is a great pleasure to read her finely composed and beautifully written letters.

  Lucinda Freese Barrett died after 1896.

• Elbridge G. Freese was born in 1813. He married Mary Stevens.

• Elmina Freese was born in 1814. She married Elijah Somers, a physician. They had at least five children.

  • Mary Somers was born about 1836.

  • Nancy Somers was born about 1838. In 1858 she married Andrew G. Foskett, born April 15, 1839 to Averill Foskett and Mary Ann Kellogg. They moved to Maple Rapids, Michigan but returned to Brunswick in 1902. They had one child.

    • A daughter who married Will Bradway of Medina, Medina County, Ohio. She died in 1906.

    Nancy Somers Foskett died in 1904. Andrew later married Mrs. Elizabeth Sedgwick Carrington in 1906. They had no children.

  • Jane E. Somers was born about 1845. She married Orson E. Harrington. They had at least one son:

    • George L. Harrington was born in 1878 in Brunswick, Medina County, Ohio. He married Florence Abigail Carlisle around 1920. Florence was born May 16, 1898, probably in Ohio.

      George and Florence had at least one child.

      • Clara Mae Harrington married Raymond J. White.

      George died February 18, 1963 in the Glenhaven Nursing Home in Chippewa Lake, Ohio.

  • Alice Somers was born Novmber 8, 1849. Mrs. E. C. Miner's obituary for Alice which appeared in The Medina Sentinel reads as follows.

    Alice Somers, daughter of Dr. Elijah and Elmina Freese Somers, was born in Olmstead Falls, O., Nov. 8, 1849. When two years of age, with her parents she moved to Brunswick, on the farm now owned by her sister, Mrs. Orson Harrington. She attended the school in the Leinseder district. When 20 years of age she married E. Levi Clark, and they went to Michigan to live. She died at Aldin, Mich., May 4, 1917, aged 68 years. Her husband died in March, 1916. She leaves three daughters, eight grandchildren; a brother, Irving Somers of Medina; two sisters, Mrs. Orson Harrington and Mrs. Elijah Somers (sic?) of Washington.

  • Irving Somers.

  

  Jane Somers Harrington and Orson Harrington.

• An unnamed girl was born in 1815 and died as an infant.

• Nancy Freese was born in 1816 and died young.

• Henry B. Freese was born in 1820 and died young.

• Melissa Anna Freese was born in 1823. She married Porter G. Somers.

• Bill Williams Freese Jr. was born in May 1826. He married Tryphena Tillotson. See their page for information about their children.

Carl Davidson provided the information about the descendants of William Barrett and Lucinda Freese.

Margaret Freese Heath provided information about the family of Abram Freese. Other information about Abram Freese comes from Fanny Freese's manuscript Freese Family History written around 1920. Fanny was a granddaughter of Abram and Melissa Freese. Terri Mulliken Allen provided information about Charles Edwin Freese.

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Last modified by pib on October 7, 2006.