John Freeman

JOHN FREEMAN. The grandfather of John Freeman, of Ligonier village, was Jacob Freeman, who was a miller by trade and lived and died in the Ligonier valley. He and his wife were the parents of children: John; James; George, of whom later; Polly married Abraham Eicher; and Hannah, married John Anstraw.

George Freeman, son of Jacob Freeman and his wife, was born in 1804, in the Ligonier valley, and learned the shoemakers trade which he followed in connection with farming throughout his life. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He married Katie Kriley, and their children were: Jacob, deceased; John, of whom later; James, a retired merchant of Millwood, Pa.; George, lives in Ligonier; Nancy, married Joseph Mathews, and after his death married Robert Ewing. The death of Mr. Freeman occurred in 1868.

John Freeman, son of George and Katie (Kriley) Freeman, was born January 26, 1832, in the Ligonier valley, and attended the old subscription schools. He remained at home, assisting his father in the labors of the farm, until he attained his majority, and then went to learn the shoemaker's trade with Henry Burrell. After following the trade for about three years he purchased a farm in Cook township on which he lived until 1866. He then bought a farm in Ligonier township to the cultivation of which he devoted himself assiduously until 1889, when he purchased a flour and feed mill at Ligonier and moved into the village. This mill he operated in partnership with his sons, under the firm name of John Freeman and Sons, until it was destroyed by fire on July 28, 1899, since which time he has led a retired life in Ligonier village. He belongs to the K. H., of Greensburg, and is a member of the Presbyterian church, of Ligonier, in which for seventeen years he served on the board of trustees. Mr. Freeman married Rebecca, daughter of James and Hannah Guffey, of Sewickley township, and their children were: George, an engineer at Greensburg; James, died at the age of twenty-one; Sarah J., died unmarried; John M., graduated from Jefferson College, and is an attorney in Pittsburg; and Anna Lucinda, wife of Charles B. Hollingsworth, of Greensburg.

Source: Page(s) 175-176, History of Westmoreland County, Volume II, Pennsylvania by John N Boucher. New York, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1906.
Transcribed May 2007 by Nathan Zipfel for the Westmoreland County History Project
Contributed for use by the Westmoreland County Genealogy Project (http://www.pa-roots.com/westmoreland/)

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