My Genealogy Hound

ELIAS K. FREED, one of the best known business men of Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, was born in Franconia township, a few miles distant from his present home, July 1, 1830. He is the son of John Fry and Katharine (Kolb) Freed. He attended free and pay schools of the district, one of them being a German school taught by his relative, Jacob S. Freed, a man of considerable learning and ability. Another of Elias K. Freed’s teachers was Enos Freed Gerhart, also a relative. These facts prove that the Freeds were not an illiterate family, but, on the contrary, that they knew how to appreciate learning at its true value. Education at that day had its limitations, however, one of these being time.

At the age of fourteen years, Elias K. Freed left school and learned the trade of shoemaking. After serving an apprenticeship of several years he made that his occupation for twelve years longer. In 1857, having accumulated some capital, as well as established his credit on a firm basis, being known among his neighbors as a man of enterprise and energy, he began business on his own account in the retail lumber trade at North Wales, opening on January 1, of that year. The North Pennsylvania Railroad was then being completed, and his foresight was shown in his efforts to make North Wales a station of more than ordinary importance. Always on the alert for improvements, Mr. Freed has kept abreast of the times, and has done much towards establishing the prosperity of the place. At the time of the opening of the new railroad and the establishment of Mr. Freed in business, there was but one house of any importance in North Wales, that of Mr. Hurst, now renovated and considerably improved, known as the Main Street Hotel. Mr. Freed remained in the lumber business for four years as an individual operator. He took as partners Jonas and David Moyer, which arrangement continued for several years. In the meantime Mr. Freed interested himself in the milling business, and secured an establishment at North Wales. He introduced improved methods of manufacturing flour and feed. In the course of time Mr. Freed, having bought out the interests of the Moyers, took his son, Rhine Russell, into the firm, and also his son-in-law, which partnership existed as the E. K. Freed Milling Company until July 1, 1901, when the interests of the firm were purchased by the Eastern Milling and Export Company, Mr. E. K. Freed continuing to operate the establishment for that corporation.

Mr. Freed has always taken an active interest in local affairs, recognizing local needs and endeavoring to advance the interests of the community by every means in his power. He has encouraged local improvements, including the Water Company and the Electric Light Plant. In politics Mr. Freed is a Republican, but he has never aspired to any office beyond those merely local in their character.

Mr. Freed married, in December, 1859, Elizabeth Shutt, of near Harleysville. Their children: Sallie F., married Franklin Slaughter Kriebel, and resides at North Wales, the couple having one child; Rhine Russell, engaged as chief coiner at the United States Mint in Philadelphia, and resides at North Wales. He has been engaged with his father in local enterprises, and has long been recognized as a party leader in Montgomery county. He was elected register of wills on the Republican ticket in 1899. He has recently purchased a controlling interest in the North Wales Record. Mr. Freed is a very active and successful party worker.

The original mill at North Wales was built by J. H. Egner in 1860, and was then operated as a grist mill and distillery. It was forty by sixty feet in dimensions, and three stories in height, with an attic. At the time of finishing the mill the proprietor was obliged to sell it, and E. K. Freed and the Moyers became the purchasers. The new firm removed the machinery connected with the distillery, and changed that part of the building into a planing mill, using the other portion as a grist mill. In March, 1862, the building was destroyed by fire, but it was quickly rebuilt for a merchant and grist mill, with five run of stones and a forty-horse-power engine. In 1866 Jonas D. Moyer withdrew from the firm, and in 1868 David Moyer withdrew also, selling his interest to Henry W. Moyer. E. K. Freed & Company then operated the mill on the old plan until 1876, when they put in the new roller process. In 1881 Mr. Moyer sold his interest to Mr. Freed, who gave a third interest in the business to his son-in-law, Frank S. Kriebel. The mill was then rebuilt for manufacturing flour by the roller process, and its capacity greatly increased at the same time. It was the first roller process mill in the county, and the third in the state. Later, Mr. Freed gave his son, Rhine Russell Freed, a one-third interest in the business.

Mr. Freed has been for many years the president of the First National Bank of Lansdale, and has also filled many other important financial and other positions. He is highly respected in the community in which he lives, and for whose welfare he has so long been actively interested.