SKETCH LXXXVII

A MASTER FOUNDATION BUILDER—REV. DANIEL FREEMAN

If any one of our old pioneers is entitled to this special distinction, it is Daniel Freeman. He came into the wilds of the new country with his young wife and two little infant sons before the present century had dawned upon the world. He came as an ambassador of the Cross, and he spent his life in ministering to the spiritual welfare of his fellow pioneers. Surely, such a man played a most important part in laying the solid foundation upon which our social fabric is built.

The name of Elder Freeman will ever stand out as one of the leading headlights in old Long Point pioneer times. He was born in 1769, in New Jersey, and was the elder of the two sons of Andrew Freeman. The name of the other son was William, who raised a family and died in New Jersey. William’s grandchildren settled in the State of Michigan. Daniel married Phoebe Swazie, in New Jersey, and when their second son was two years old they came to Long Point settlement. This was in the year 1800, and just before leaving their New Jersey home Mr. Swazie presented his daughter with the Swazie family Bible. This choice old heirloom is at present in possession of Miss Phoebe Amelia Freeman, of Windham. The family is of English descent, and remained loyal to the British Crown during the troublous times of the war of the Revolution.

Elder Freeman was thirty-one years old when he came to the new country. He drew Lot 24, 4th concession of Charlotteville from Government, and here he erected one of Norfolk’s first and purest Christian family altars.[1] He was a zealous Methodist, and to him is ascribed the honor of gathering the nucleus of Norfolk’s first Methodist society. He was the leading spirit in the building of the first church edifice in the old Woodhouse cemetery grounds, and all this had been accomplished by him before he had been in the settlement two years. The old cemetery is sacred ground. In its soil are incorporated the ashes of a large number of the old pioneers and a mighty host of their descendants, and one historical fact connected with this old burying-ground, of no slight importance, is that the first grave dug in it was for little Mary Swazie Freeman, the first-born child in Elder Freeman‘s Charlotteville home.

The old circuit-riders of London District “fought a good fight,” which would have been impossible had they not “kept the faith”; and if any one class of men be more entitled to “a crown in glory” than another, surely it is these pioneer missionaries of the Gospel. Elder Freeman spent the larger portion of his Canadian life in the forests between the Niagara and Detroit rivers. No man could endure the hardships and withstand the privations that fell to the lot of these men, if he were not endowed with a good constitution and exercised an implicit faith in that “Father who careth for His children.” Elder Freeman was blessed with a fair constitution, but the fording of rivers and the constant exposure to the inclemency of the weather broke down his health while yet in the prime of life. It is said that the first Protestant evangelical sermon preached in the city of Detroit was delivered by Elder Freeman. He died in 1835, in his 67th year.

The old record of the courts held at the house of James Monroe, shows that on the 31st of January, 1801, Elder Freeman applied for a license to marry, and that the court refused his petition. At this early time licenses to marry were withheld from dissenting ministers of the Gospel, and much hard feeling was caused thereby.

Rev. Daniel Freeman had five sons—John Ogden, Joseph, William Gilbert, Daniel Wesley and Isaac Swazie; and four daughters—Mary Swazie, Mary Ann, Amelia and Phoebe Almena.

John O. Freeman, the eldest son, was born in 1796, in New Jersey. He married Mary Moore, and settled on Black Creek, Woodhouse, where he built and operated a sawmill. He died in 1850, in his 53rd year.[2] He had one son, Daniel; and two daughters—Mehitabel and Mary.

Joseph Freeman and his brother William G., died in childhood.

Daniel Wesley Freeman, fourth son of Rev. Daniel was born in 1807. He married Isabella, daughter of Rev. John Bailey, and , on Lot 4, 10th concession of Windham, he established one of the finest rural homes in the county. D.W. Freeman was one of Norfolk’s most distinguished citizens. He was educated at Cazenovia, New York, and from the time he left college to the time of his death, he was identified in some way, with the educational interests of his township. There is not a man in Windham who has seen fifty years, and whose school days were spent in the old schools of that township, that does not remember with pleasure the periodical visits of the old Superintendent. His dignified geniality brought out our best behaviour and commanded our unqualified respect. He encouraged us in our youthful aspirations, and spoke words of approbation and sympathy to us; and, somehow, each time the old Superintendent bade us a kind adieu, we felt there was a place of usefulness awaiting each of us somewhere in the great, wide world.

When D.W. Freeman was but a lad of eighteen, the responsibilities of a Sunday School Superintendent were placed upon his young shoulders, and from that time to the close of his busy life he held the position. He was a most exemplary young man, as evidenced by the fact that he superintended the Sunday School work for nine years previous to his marriage. He commenced at the bottom round of the ladder as a school teacher, and thus qualified himself, by a practical experience, for a successful performance of the duties of a superintendent.

D.W. Freeman was a busy man. He was a model farmer himself, and was deeply interested in the agricultural interests of the county—serving, for many years, as Secretary of the County Agricultural Society. He was a Justice of the Peace, and performed the duties of a general conveyancer; and in addition to all his other duties, he served for many years as Clerk of the Division Court of his township. When his busy life came to a close his remains were followed to the tomb by a host of sorrowing friends; and a place was made vacant that few men are able to fill. Daniel Wesley Freeman had six sons—John Bailey, Daniel, William, Francis Wesley, Charles Edwin and Isaac Wilbur; and four daughters—Phoebe Amelia, Henrietta Jane, Mary Emma and Rachel Isabella. John Bailey married Jane Scatchard, and succeeded to the old homestead. He was a model farmer and a most exemplary citizen. He represented the North Riding of Norfolk in the Provincial Parliament for twelve consecutive years, gaining in popularity during the whole time. His public career was cut short by his untimely death, which occurred November 22nd, 1890. The name of John Bailey Freeman will always occupy a prominent place among the distinguished sons of Windham’s old rural homesteads .

Mary Ann Freeman, second daughter of Rev. Daniel, married into the Beemer family, and settled at Stony Creek. She had a son, Daniel, who studied medicine, and settled in New Orleans; and a daughter, Phoebe.[3]

Amelia Freeman, the third daughter, married Rev. Edwy M. Ryerson, and died young, leaving no children.[4]

Phoebe Almena Freeman, the fourth daughter, married Rev. Edwy M. Ryerson as his second wife. She had one daughter, Josephine, who married a lawyer named Fitzgerald, of Ottawa.[5]

Isaac Swazie Freeman, youngest son and last born child of Rev. Daniel, was born in 1814. He married Mary Bradley and settled near Vittoria, where he operated one of Norfolk’s first carding and fulling mills. He had three sons—Lewis, John and Edgar, and one daughter, Mary. John settled in South Carolina, and Edgar settled in Illinois. Isaac S. Freeman died in 1863, in his 50th year.[6]

There are no Freemans of the second generation, and very few of the third generation, in Norfolk. Miss Phoebe Amelia, eldest daughter of the old Superintendent, and Mrs. John B. Freeman, occupy the fine old Windham home at present.

[1] Lot 24, Concession 4, Charlotteville Township was granted by the Government of Upper Canada to George Havens on December 31, 1798. Havens lived in Grantham Township, Lincoln County and might have leased the location to Daniel Freeman until he purchased the west 100 acres on February 24, 1814. Source: Abstracts of Deeds Register of Charlotteville Twp.

[2] The obituary of John Ogden Freeman in the Canadian Christian Advocate issue of April 16, 1850 stated that he died on April 4, 1850 in his 54th year.

[3] Mary Ann Freeman married John Beemer, son of John and Hannah (Lewis) Beemer. They farmed in Lot 1, Concession 14, Townsend Township, Norfolk County. John died there on 23 Aug 1828, according to his gravestone in Old Windham Cemetery, and his will named his wife Mary Ann (London District Surrogate Registry, Doc. No. 164). Mary Ann subsequently remarried to Colonel Daniel Lewis and settled in Stoney Creek. By that marriage, she had the following children recorded in the 1852 Census of Saltfleet Township, Wentworth County: J. W., born c. 1834; Harvey, born c. 1836; Francis, born c. 1838; Amelia, born c. 1842; and Clarissa, born c. 1844. The youngest daughter Marcia was born in 1846 and died in 1848, buried beside her parents in Fifty Cemetery, Saltfleet Twp.

[4] Edwy and Amelia (Freeman) Ryerson had five children, only one of whom survived to adulthood. They were Helen Almena, born in Jun 1829, died in Oct 1843; Mary Amelia, born on June 6, 1831, died on August 21, 1832; Mary Ann, born in Jul 1833, died on October 12, 1834; Joseph William, born in 1835, died on May 2, 1854; and Phoebe Amelia, born in 1837 who married Edwin R. Powell. (Source: Phyllis A. Ryerse and Thomas A. Ryerson, The Ryerse and Ryerson Family, p. 301)

[5] Edwy and Phoebe Almena (Freeman) Ryerson had six children, of whom three survived infancy. They were: Albert Leonidas, born June 26, 1840 who married Patience Carr; Charles Edgerton, born c. 1842, died in 1842; Alfred Edwy, born in 1843, died in infancy; Charles Edwy, born in Dec 1844, died on 23 Mar 1846; Helen Josephine, born on March 1, 1847 who married William Fitzgerald; George Arthur, born in Jan 1851 who married Catherine Eleanor Hamilton. (Source: Ibid, p. 301)

[6] The obituary of Isaac Swayzie Freeman in the Christian Guardian newspaper stated that he was born on July 6, 1816 and died on May 19, 1853. Following his residence in Charlotteville Twp. near Vittoria, he settled later on Lot 15, Concession 2, Woodhouse Township where he was recorded in the 1852 Census.