My Genealogy Hound

WILLIAM G. FREYMAN, attorney-at-law of Mauch Chunk, is a leading member of the Carbon County Bar, occupying a foremost place among the lawyers in this section of the state. He well deserves representation in this volume, and with pleasure we present this record of his life to our readers. He was born in Mahoning Township on the 4th of July, 1838, and is a son of George Freyman, also a native of that township. The father followed farming and merchandising, and spent his last days in Carbon County, where he died in 1849. His father was Jacob Freyman. The mother of our subject, who bore the maiden name of Catherine Kistler, was born in Lehigh County, and died in Mahoning Township. In the family were four children, only two of whom are now living, Mrs. Catherine Nothstein and William G., of this sketch.

Mr. Freyman spent the days of his boyhood and youth in his parents’ home, and his early education, acquired in the public schools, was supplemented by study in the high school of Weissport. He then engaged in teaching and followed that profession for five terms, after which he began clerking in a general mercantile establishment in Unionville, Pa., but his commercial pursuits were interrupted in 1863 by his enlistment in the army. He became Sergeant of Company G, One Hundred and Seventy-sixth Pennsylvania Infantry, and was engaged in doing garrison duty. Later he embarked in merchandising in connection with his brother-in-law, John Nothsteiu, under the firm name of Freyman & Nothstein, which connection continued for four years. During that time our subject served as Justice of the Peace, and also followed surveying.

Mr. Freyman’s connection with the legal profession began in 1871, at which time he became a student in the law office of Gen. Charles Albright, with whom he remained until his admission to the Bar in October, 1873. He then joined his former preceptor in business, and under the firm name of Albright & Freyman was engaged in the prosecution of his chosen profession until the death of the General, in 1878. Subsequently he formed a partnership with James Kiefer, and under the firm style of Freyman & Kiefer, business was carried on until 1889, when the partnership was dissolved. His next partner was Horace Heydt, and this connection was continued until the 1st of May, 1893, when Eugene O. Nothstein was also admitted to partnership, and the firm name is now Freyman, Heydt & Nothstein. They do a general law practice and receive a very large patronage.

In 1865 our subject was united in marriage with Miss Matilda Gilbert, a daughter of George Gilbert, of Mahoning Township. In politics he is a Republican, and takes an active interest in the success and welfare of his party. He has been honored with a number of public offices, and holds membership with the German Reformed Church. In connection with his other interests, Mr. Freyman is a Director of the Second National Bank of Mauch Chunk, and he holds the same position in the Mauch Chunk Shoe Manufacturing Company and the Priuce Manufacturing Company. He takes great interest in horticultural matters, and has developed one of the finest farms in this part of the state. It is upon the side of a steep mountain which rises precipitately from the river, and he has transformed what was a few years ago a barren, cheerless waste, into a very productive garden. This he terraced, making beds for some distance about thirty feet wide, and then enlarging in both directions to a width of about one hundred and fifty feet. The walls of the terrace are constructed of brown stone, and there are twenty-two of these terraces which are connected by a flight of stairs three hundred and fifty-three in number. The height of the upper terrace is about two hundred feet above the street, and at about one hundred and fifty feet an arbor is located, which commands a line view of the town in both directions. Here are raised flowers, fruits and ornamental trees, and a large quantity of garden vegetables. His farm is well stocked with Holstein cattle, and he has a good barn, 60x90 feet, also a horse-power shed 26x28 feet, a chicken house and all the other buildings which are found upon a model farm. This lies on the top of the mountain. The orchard contains three hundred and twenty-five apple trees of many choice varieties, and there are also many peach, pear and plum trees. Mr. Freyman owns altogether twenty-four hundred acres of land, and his fine farm, situated on the mountain side, is probably the only one of the kind in the country. He also owns a farm of one hundred acres in Mahoning Township, with all modern improvements.