My Genealogy Hound

GEORGE FREAS was born June 17, 1849, in Plymouth township, on the farm now owned by Jacob Buckman. He is the son of George and Margaret (Hellings) Freas.

George Freas (father) was the son of Samuel and Mary Magdalena (Wiecant) Freas, and was born September 21, 1812, in Plymouth township, on the same farm where his son was born. He attended the Sandy Hill school, and then purchased the farm from his father, and followed the occupation of farming until his declining years. He was a member of a local troop of mounted horsemen in his youth, and was an ardent Republican, although he never sought public office, Margaret Hellings, his wife, was born April 26, 1815, and died June 5, 1891. They were members of the Lutheran church at Barren Hill. George Freas died December 18, 1890. George Freas and Margaret Hellings were married January 1, 1831. Their children were: Malinda, Samuel, Mary, Margaret, John, Elizabeth, George, Ellen, Henry H., Kate and Emma (twins). Malinda was born September 17, 1837, and married Powell Childs, of Plymouth township, who was school director for a number of years, and was a prominent Republican leader in Montgomery county. They had six children, four now living, three daughters and one son, George, who married Sallie Burk of Whitemarsh township, they have one child. Samuel, the second child of George Freas (father) was born January 26, 1836, and died in 1900. He married Isabella Mattis, daughter of Jacob and Sarah Mattis, of Whitemarsh township. They had two children-West, who married Miss Reiner, of Ambler; and Clara, who married Joel Stackhouse, of Whitpain. Mary, the third child of George Freas, was born September 17, 1839, and died January 26, 1842. Margaret, the fourth child, was born January 10, 1843, and is living unmarried in Germantown. John Freas, the fifth child, was born January 2, 1845, and married Annie Tammany, daughter of Peter Tammany, of Oreland. They have three children: Cora, married Lemuel Kensler; Millie, Warren. Elizabeth, the sixth child of George Freas, was born February 1, 1848, died August 7, 1848. George, the seventh child, is the subject of this sketch. Ellen, the eighth child of George Freas, was born May 24, 1851. She married T. J. Seltzer, of Plymouth township, who is the son of Samuel and Margarett Seltzer. Mr. and Mrs. Seltzer had five children: Ida, Elsie, Maggie, Walter and Lizzie (deceased). Henry H., the ninth child of George Freas, was born May 14, 1856, died November 23, 1857. Kate and Emma (twins), the last children of George Freas, were born November 29, 1859. Kate married Frank Graver, of Whitemarsh township, they having one son, Clarence. Emma married Daniel Beirley, of Plymouth township, they having one son, Harold.

The Freas family is of German extraction, the name being spelled originally Fries. George Freas, who married Barbara Wolf, was an infant of one year when the family came from Germany about the middle of the eighteenth century. Their children were John, George, Samuel, Jacob, Benjamin, Daniel, Joseph, William, Mary (Mrs. Samuel Roberts), and Catherine (Mrs. William Freas). Samuel (grandfather) was probably born about 1786. He was a well known black-smith at Cold Point, and his brother Joseph was one of his apprentices for a time. Samuel Freas married Magdelena Wient, and died in 1861, at the age of about seventy-five years. His brother Joseph did not like the blacksmith trade, and became a farmer. He is also the progenitor of a large family.

George Freas spent his early life on the homestead farm, attending the public schools at Cold Point. He followed the carpenter trade for six years, and then engaged in butchering. He attends the Conshohocken market with articles in his line, and has missed but five days in twenty- seven years. In 1890 he removed to his present home which he bought from John Marple. He is a member of the Patriotic Order of Sons of America, Junior Order of American Mechanics, Hickorytown Beneficial Society, and Knights of Golden Eagle. He is a staunch Republican, and has always taken an active interest in politics. He has been township school tax collector for a number of years.

He married Emma Marple, daughter of Daniel and Mary Marple. The couple have three children, as follows: Lillian Ethel, born April 21, 1879; Viola Lulu, born November 25, 1885; Earl D., born October 8, 1887. The eldest daughter, Lillian Ethel, is a school teacher.

Mr. Freas’ wife, Emma Marple, was born February 12, 1849, in Hickorytown. Her father, Daniel Marple, was a blacksmith by trade, and a lime burner, who also followed farming. He was a lifelong resident of Montgomery county, and a school director in Plymouth township for a number of terms. In politics he was a Democrat. He died at the age of forty-five years. Daniel Marple’s wife, Mrs. Mary Marple, was born in Whitemarsh township in 1827. She was the daughter of Daniel Fisher, a farmer and lime burner, who died at the age of ninety-three years. She lives in Ambler with her son, Daniel Marple. Their children: George (deceased), who married Kate Peters of Trappe, they having three children; Charles, who married Kate Marple, they having one child; Emma, wife of George Freas; Mary Jane (deceased); Elizabeth F. (deceased); and Annie who married Howard Brownholtz, of Whitemarsh, they having one child; Daniel F., of Ambler.