Yolo County
Biographies
HON. FRANK S. FREEMAN
HON. FRANK S. FREEMAN. - An encomium upon the life and
services of Hon. Frank S. Freeman is not needed in a volume presenting the
representative citizens of Woodland and Yolo county of the past and present,
for wherever the name is known, it is honored as that of one of the strong,
earnest and forceful men who made the accomplishment of his efforts the bulwark
of our western statehood. Born in Knox county,
Kentucky, December 25, 1832, he was the son of J. N. and Mary (Parman) Freeman, both of whom were also natives of that
state, while the paternal grandparents came from Virginia. In 1833 the home of
the family was changed to Buchanan county, Mo., on a farm lying along the banks
of Blacksnake creek, and being now entirely within the limits of the city of St.
Joseph. Trained to the practical self reliance of the young pioneers of the middle west, Frank S. Freeman was only fourteen years old
when, in 1847, he secured an appointment in the commissary department of the
army then operating against Mexico, going with Van Fleet, quartermaster of
Doniphan's regiment, which was stationed at Santa Fe until 1848. Shortly after
returning to the north the Oregon battalion, five hundred strong, was organized
in the city of St. Louis, and he went into the commissary department in the
train of Rodney Hopkins, wagon-master, this being one of the five formed to
supply the battalion with the necessary provisions. During this trip west the
forts of Kearney, Childs and Laramie were built, and later in the year the men
were returned to Fort Leavenworth, where they received their discharge.
Mr. Freeman remained for a
short time in his home, to which he returned after his discharge from duty,
for, becoming interested in the report of the discovery of gold in California,
he determined to go west. Accordingly, in April, 1849, he joined a company of
fifteen or twenty men organized in St. Joseph, himself having an interest in
one of the wagons forming the outfit. With a perfect familiarity of the road as
far as Fort Hall, Mr. Freeman guided the party over the route chosen, and
proved of great assistance on this portion of the journey. Arriving in
Placerville August 5, 1849, Mr. Freeman engaged as a miner in Coloma, Georgetown
and other places in that vicinity until the following spring, making a profit
of $3,000. With the characteristic thrift and judgment of the forceful pioneer
he decided then to enter into the agricultural life of the state and coming to
Yolo county he located land on the north side of Cache creek about sixteen miles
west of the present site of Woodland. Besides engaging in stock-raising, buying
and selling of stock, in 1851, in conjunction with two partners, he planted 100
acres of barley, which required the attention of the three owners and a hired
man. The crop was cradled and threshed in the old-fashioned way, and a market
found in Sacramento and Grass Valley, where the product brought six cents per
pound, and as the land produced fifty bushels to the acre their returns were
such as to encourage further effort in this direction. Until 1855 Mr. Freeman
remained upon that farm, when he purchased land on Willow slough and engaged in
the stock business for about two years. In 1857 he purchased one hundred and
sixty acres of government land, the present site of the city of Woodland. The
idea of establishing a town in this location was the outgrowth of a careful
study of the conditions existing in the state, a shrewd forethought and
practical judgment which realized the necessity that would soon arise for trade
centers for the agricultural sections of the country. With an understanding of
the possibilities of the future he established a general merchandise store upon
the present location of the Main Street school house and in 1860 erected a
building where R. Cranston's store is now located and moved his business into
it. In the same year he laid out the town, which, at the suggestion of his
wife, he called Woodland, the location being a vast meadow covered with
beautiful oak trees. Through his efforts a postoffice
was secured and he was appointed the first postmaster, securing also the agency
for the Wells-Fargo Express Company. In his efforts to induce settlement in the
town he met with the greatest difficulty he had yet experienced, both
capitalists and home-seekers hesitating to invest where there was only a
possibility of commercial life. To succeed in his undertaking Mr. Freeman was
thus compelled to establish each new enterprise which gave impetus to the
business life of the town, a blacksmith, harness, and butcher shop following
the store and postoffice, and these being disposed of
as a suitable purchaser appeared. A grist mill he established and conducted for
two years, and a hardware store for the same length of time, in the meantime
establishing a tin shop, dry-goods, clothing, shoe and grocery stores,
disposing of each as soon as purchasers were obtained. More deeply interested
in the welfare of the city he had chosen to establish than in the personal
accumulation of wealth, he disposed of his land regardless of price, with the
stipulation only that a building was to be put up in the course of three
months. The city prospered and through the efforts of Major Freeman, the county
seat was removed from Washington to Woodland and located upon land donated for
that purpose by him. With the rapid advancement of the city Major Freeman found
his business increasing to such an extent that he was forced to resign the postmastership, and also the agency of the express company.
In 1868 was established the first banking institution of Woodland, the late
John D. Stephens taking half of the stock, while, by the efforts of Major
Freeman, the other half was placed among citizens, he, himself, being a large
stockholder and vice-president, occupying this position until his death. In 1872
he built a brick block on the south side of Main street, where the Diggs
building is now located, and moved his hardware department there, as his trade
in this direction had grown to extensive to be accommodated with his other
mercantile pursuits. He conducted the two establishments until 1884, when he
disposed of these interests and withdrew from the mercantile life of the city,
where he had so long been a most important factor. During these years he had
also remained interested in the agricultural life of the county, having large
real-estate holdings where he carried on grain stock-raising. He was the first
man in the county to irrigate a field of wheat, and was also the first to use a
steam combined harvester and thresher. As an illustration of the rapidity with
which grain could be prepared for domestic use in his mill it is told of Mr.
Freeman that he ate biscuits at six o'clock dinner made from wheat that on the
same morning had been growing in the field.
The public career of Major
Freeman as identified with the state interests is one which places his name
high in the annals of the past. His first presidential vote was cast for James
Buchanan in 1856, that also being his last Democratic vote, his stanch support
being given to Abraham Lincoln in his first fight for the presidency, and to
the cause of Republican principles he gave his strongest allegiance throughout
the remainder of his life. In 1870 he was elected to the state legislature of
California, and in that body served on the swamp lands and ways and means
committees. His unselfish, independent course as an advocate of fair play for the people attracted the attention of
his fellow-members and thus greatly delighted his constituents, and resulted in
securing his re-election in 1872. During that session he was chosen chairman of
the ways and means committee and also served again on the committee on swamp
lands, his splendid championship of the rights of the people serving to again
advance him in the popular esteem. He advocated about thirty-eight measures
which became laws, and signalized his second term in the legislature by
accomplishing as much work as was ever done by any member of that body. The
Freeman freights and fare bill (which he carried through the lower house after
a long fight against tremendous opposition and which was lost only through
defeat in the senate on account of the great pressure brought to bear by the
railroad company) achieved a national reputation for Major Freeman; and his
efforts in this direction were encouraged by the leading newspapers of
California, including the San Francisco Examiner, Bulletin, Chronicle,
Sacramento Union, and others. The fight created more excitement than any
other contest made before or since on any measure before the legislature of the
state. Among the many bills he introduced which were passed at this session was
one to reorganize the Yolo county government, making the compensation of the
offices payable by salary instead of fees. He also framed a form of government
for Woodland whose citizens wished to incorporate, and the affairs of the
municipality were conducted under his system until it was re-incorporated in
1890 under the general laws. During the last session in which he was a member
Major Freeman was the regular candidate of the Republicans for speaker of the house, and so strong was his hold upon the affection and
esteem of the people that he could undoubtedly have been elected governor in
1874. During the war he held a major's commission in the state militia from
Governor Downey, and while his services were never called for he would have
been found under the banner of his country had the trouble occurred in the
state which many people feared at the time. The title of major clung to him
throughout the remainder of his life. In fraternal orders he was identified
with the Masons, being a member of the Royal Arch Chapter of Woodland and
Knights Templar Commandery of Sacramento.
July 8, 1900, occurred the death of Major Frank S. Freeman, taking from
the midst of many friends a personality equal in attraction to the strong
characteristics which had made him so prominent in the early history of the
state. Genial in nature he retained the youthful spirits which made his company
a constant pleasure; generous to a fault he gave liberally of his wealth, the
accumulation of which was secondary to the establishment and upbuilding of enterprises in his adopted state to make
California what it is to-day; magnanimous in victory and calm in defeat, he was
universally esteemed by political foe as well as friend; and his death was felt
to be a public sorrow.
In October, 1858, Major
Freeman was united in marriage with Gertrude G. Swain, who survives her husband
and makes her home in the beautiful residence which they erected on First street. She was born in Marengo, Mich., a daughter of George
G. and Ruth (Kimball) Swain, of whom the former died in Michigan. The mother
came to California in 1872, and in Woodland was married to Elder Martin. She is
now eighty-nine years old, with well-preserved health and faculties, keeping
abreast of the times and with a keen interest in daily happenings. She makes
her home near her daughter, Mrs. Freeman. The latter was reared and educated in
her native state, after completing the course of the common schools beginning
to teach at the age of fourteen years. Later she entered the Woman's College at
Lansing, Michigan and became a teacher there when sixteen years old,
distinguishing herself at that early age for the depth of her knowledge and her
splendid ability to impart it. Her maternal grandfather having come to
California during the gold excitement, Miss Swain had developed a longing to
see the wonderful country so graphically described, and when C. W. Crocker
returned from California and married her mother's sister she saw the
opportunity that she had been awaiting. After a long persuasion of her parents
she gained the desired permission and in 1856 she made the trip to the Golden
state. On her arrival here she secured a school near Folsom City, Sacramento
County, where she taught until March of the following year. In that year (1857)
she went to Yolo and took charge of the school there, the building, which was
two stories in height, being located on the present site of the Southern
Pacific Depot. With the exception of the school taught the previous year by
Rev. J. Pendergast, this was the pioneer school of
the little town, and for the greater part of the following two years Miss Swain
was engaged in the same location, at times having as many as sixty pupils, some
coming as far as five and six miles, afoot or horseback, one horse often
carrying two or three children. The ability of the young eastern teacher was as
evident in the pioneer days of the western state as it had been in her own
home, and she attained a wide degree of popularity and an unusual success in
her brief career as a teacher. Becoming the wife of Major Freeman in 1858 she
has since devoted her time and efforts to the furtherance of his plans and
ambitions, proving a worthy help meet in his pioneer life. She has always
taken the keenest interest in the growth and prosperity of the city which she
herself named and watched from infancy to its present substantial basis. She is
ranked among the cultured, educated women of the city and appreciated highly
for the many qualities which have distinguished her womanhood. Three children
were born to Major and Mrs. Freeman, of whom George and Curry are deceased.
Lillian, the only one living, married John Eakle, of
Point Richmond, Cal., and she has one daughter, Gertrude.
Transcribed by
Sally Kaleta.
Source: “History of the State of
California and Biographical Record of the Sacramento Valley,
California” by J. M. Guinn. Pages 269-271.
Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago 1906.
© 2014 Sally Kaleta.
Golden Nugget
Library's Yolo County Biographies