Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.pdf/591

 COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES I'liaptcr, N o. 3 18. R. A. M .; CotntnanUcry .o. 12, Knight<i T em p lar; and Caldwell Conristory: a& well a» 10 the Odd Fellows and Red Men. He is also a member o i the State College fraternity Phi Sigm a Kappa. Phi Kusilon Kappa chapter. In his business life ^lr. Buckalew has proved himself a man of executive ability and his future is bright. Socially he is numbered among the elect o f Bloomsburg, where he and his w ife are very jxipular. both belonging as they do to prom­ inent fam ilies long established in Pennsyl­ vania. B A R T O N D I L L F R E A S. o f Berwick. Columbia county, began his connection wilh (he financial institutions o f that place over thirty years ago. and his present important relations with same testify amply to his posi­ tion as an authority. H e understands the local situation thoroughly, a fact which makes his advice invaluable. H is loyal efforts to secure to his home community the best advantages possible have been vital factors in the evolu­ tion o f existing conditions there. Mr. Freas is a native o f Berwick, son of the late Henry C b y F reas and grandson o f John Frcas. The family is one o f old standing in Columbia county. John Freas w as boni in Briarcreek town­ ship. Columbia county, and owned a large farm there, following general agriculture all his life. H is death occurred in 1850. T he following children were Ixirn to his iiuirriagc with Sarah H idlay: G eorge; Sally, M rs. Jo n ­ athan E c k; Nancy. M rs. Benjamin H icks; Henr>- 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.