Sacramento County
Biographies
MRS. MARY FREYER
MRS. MARY FREYER.—An able woman who has
demonstrated much ability in the commercial field as the wide-awake manager of
a growing local mercantile establishment, is Mrs. Mary Freyer,
a native of Germany, but now the merchant of Dillard Station. She was born
in the province of Posen,
the daughter of Henry Gerth, a farmer by occupation
and a musician by profession, who had married Miss Wilhelmina Schüller. When only eight years of age, she
accompanied her father and mother to the United States,
and they settled at Chicago, where
her mother breathed her last, in August, 1872. The worthy couple had four
children, Agnes being an elder sister, and Charles and William, younger
brothers.
Mary
Gerth attended the good schools in Chicago,
and on January 2, 1881, she was married at Chicago to Gustave Julius Erdmann, a native of Germany,
who had crossed the ocean in the same ship with her, and whom she met again in
later years. They settled for a while at La Cygne,
Kans., and then moved to Rogersville,
Mo., where he was active as a railroad
man. They had six children. Charlotte is Mrs.
Edward E. Johnson, of Sacramento. John
was the second in the order of birth, Lida, Mrs.
George Luethey, and Elsie, who married W. K. Potter,
live at Denver, Colo. Margaret,
Mrs. John Ruff, is in Los Angeles, and William in San
Francisco.
After
the death of her husband, Mrs. Erdmann moved to Denver,
and from there on to Chandler, Okla. On
September 1, 1905, Mrs. Erdmann married August Freyer,
also a native of Germany; and from Oklahoma
they came to California, and lived for a couple of years
at San Francisco. In 1918,
attracted by the future prospects of Dillard Station, she moved inland to this
center, and opened a grocery store; and ever since she has afforded this
convenience to the farming community, she has done well
with her enterprise. Mrs. Freyer, having come to
exercise and enjoy, the political franchise, marches under the banners of the
Republican party; but she is first, last and all the time an American, and is
one of the best possible boosters for Dillard Station and Sacramento County.
Transcribed 6-19-07
Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: Reed, G.
Walter, History of Sacramento County,
California With Biographical Sketches, Pages 897-898. Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1923.
© 2007 Marilyn R. Pankey.