COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES I'liaptcr, N o. 3 18 . R. A . M .; CotntnanUcry .o. 12, Knight- C la y; Jo h n W illiam I... who m ar ried Fanny Rittenhouse; H orace: Hiram, who married ,. B ro w n; and Isaiah B.. who mar ried Katherine Hagenbueh. H enry C lay F reas was bom on a farm in Briarcreek township. March 1 1, i ^ t . He was an c n c i^ tic business man. acquiring vari ous important interests. For years he w as en gaged in milling at Bcnvick as well as in his native township, in the later sixties selling the mill in B riar Creek to .sh Brothers; his mill at Berwick, located just Ixrlow the present site of the Delaware. I^ackawanna & W csteni rail road depot, was burned in 18 7 1. In 1873 he bought the earthenware business o f C. A . Becker, located where M r. K urtz’s marble yard now stands. About 1890 M r. F reas gave up business, and lived retired until his death, in 1896. H e is buried in Pine Grove cem etery. Berwick had evep- reason to count him among her public-spiriteil citizens, fo r he senc<l faithfully as burgess for several terms.
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Originally a W hig in politics, lie subsequeiuly bccamc a Republican. H e look an active in terest in the .Methodist Episcopal Church, which he served as trustee, and he held mem bership in Knapp Lodge, N o. 462, F . & .M. In 1856 M r. F reas married Doroth)’ A . Bowman, a daughter of George A . and Sarah ( Brow n) Bowman, o f Berwick. W c liave the following record o f ihcir children: John H ., bom Dec. 19. 1856, died in A pril. 1877, and is buried in Pine G rove cemetery at B e rw ick; .Annie Bowman, bom Ju ly 2 i, i860, married Franklin .A. W itm an: Sally .A., bom M ay 18. 1862. ninrric<l A . W. Dickson, and died in October, 1895. nnd is buried in Wildwood cemetery at Wiltianisport, P a .; Barton Dill is mcniioiicil below : .AIlKria G .. bum March 5. iXCiy. is the w ife o f Charles B. Keller, cashier of the Stroudsburg ( I'd .) National Bank. Barton Dill F reas was bom .Aug. 10. 1864. and had his early educational training in local institutions, attending the old M arket Street Academy and the Berwick high school; he was a member of the first h i ^ school graduating class. 18 8 1, and Ju d ge A . M. F reas. o f WilkesBarre. was one o f his classmates. Subse quently he w as a student a l the Wyoming .Seminary, and in 1882 he took a business course. Returning to Berw'tck in 1882, Mr. Freas found a po.sitton as clerk in the First National Bank. In 1895 he was nude teller, and w.'ts thus employed until 1902, when he resigneil 10 become cashier of the Berwick National lU nk. oiganizcd that year. In 1903. when the Berwick Savin gs & T rust Company was oiganizcd, he w as made treasurer, and he has continued to fill both positions. H is close association with the banking business in Berwick during so many years has developed his natural ability to such an extent that his fellow officers r ^ a r d his opinion with the utmost respect. T he sincere concern he has .shown at all times fo r the w elfare o f home enterprises has made him tmsted as the worthy confidant of the best interests in the town. On Oct. 16. 1890. M r. Freas married E liz abeth M . M ears, daughter o f J . H . and Cath erine (H u ll) M ears, o f Berwick, and they have one son, Frederick M ears, bom N ov. 25. »803 M r. F re as is a member and trustee of the Methodist Episco [>al Church, and fraternally is a member anc a past master o f Knapp & A . M ., and a member Lodge, No. 462, o f Caldwell Consistory (thirty-second degree), .A. A . S . R .. Bloomsburg. and o f Irem Temple. .A. .A. O . N. My.stic Shrine, at W ilkes-Barre, P a .; he also belongs to Berwick Council, No.
