The Freemans
@Agnes Suiter Freeman's husband, Daniel Freeman, was born April 25, 1826 in Lewisburg, Preble County, Ohio (link to Daniel's family tree by Sara C. Johnston). His family moved to New York (Report about Daniel Freeman in New York), then to Knox County, Illinois. He married Elizabeth Wilbur on July 24, 1852 in Ottawa, Illinois, and had three children. Some reports say his first wife died in 1861, but the more common explanation is that she left him, taking the children with her to an unknown destination. Daniel Freeman decided to take advantage of the Homestead Act, to start a new life in Nebraska.
How Daniel Freeman came to be known as the First Homesteader:
The story goes that Daniel had identified the plot of land which he intended to claim under Abraham Lincoln's new Homestead Act ("So that every man may have a home"), and had traveled to Brownsville, Nebraska, to secure the claim under the act, which was due to take effect January 1, 1863. In Brownsville on Dec. 31, 1862, Daniel learned that the land office would be closed on the 1st for the New Year, and, as he had to return to Army duties immediately, he persuaded the land office clerk (whom he had met or found at a dance) to send for the registrar of the land office and allow him to make his claim just after midnight on January 1. For many years Daniel Freeman has been considered the First Homesteader of the US. There are 2 or 3 other claimants to this distinction, but no-one can be sure now, as the exact times of filing were not listed and there are other considerations such as differing time zones. In any case, Daniel's claim is listed as Claim No. 1 on Page No. 1 of the homestead records held in Washington. Various versions of this story can be found on the internet and in newspapers and books.
Daniel married Elizabeth Agnes Suiter on Feb. 8, 1865, in LeClaire, Iowa, and they moved to the homestead land he had claimed.
Daniel and Agnes's 8 children, all born in Nebraska, were:
- Eliza Jane Freeman, born Jan 27, 1866 in Beatrice, NE; died Jun 13, 1949 in Beatrice, NE. Married Daniel Webster Carre and had 6 children.
- Samuel Grant Freeman, born Dec 18, 1867 in Beatrice, NE; died Aug 18, 1958. Married Olive Benjamin and had 4 children.
- James Harvey Freeman, born Feb 27, 1870 in Beatrice, NE; died Apr 02, 1925. Married Leila Hare and had 4 children. James and his little brother Daniel (see below) were the only children of Agnes who preceded her in death.
- John Allen Freeman, born Jan 15, 1872. Married Irene Townsend and had 1 child.
- Daniel Freeman, Jr., born Jun 30, 1877 in Beatrice, NE; died Sep 15, 1880 in Beatrice, NE, at the age of 3 years.
- George Francis "Frank" Freeman, born Mar 30, 1879; died Mar 1940. Married Goldie Benjamin and had 6 children.
- LeClaire "Lee" Freeman, born Oct 21, 1884 in Beatrice, NE; died Jun 07, 1958 in Beatrice, NE. Married Sibyl Dolen and had 5 children. Later married Leona Marie Oswald Lee.
- Agnes May Freeman, born Sep 04, 1889 in Beatrice, NE; died Feb 21, 1956 in Ashland, OR. Often called May or Sis. Married Clifford Eugene Quackenbush and had 6 children.
Daniel Freeman was well-known in Beatrice as a long-time Justice of the Peace, a Sheriff for one term, and an early proponent of the separation of church and state. He fought for the rights of believers in (for that region) "minority" religions, such as Catholicism, to send their children to state schools without fear of the religious teaching being heavily biased in favor of the dominant church of the area. He took the case to the Nebraska State Supreme Court, and won it there, in the days when no similar cases had yet been addressed in the US Supreme Court.
Interestingly, he was not completely opposed to the use of the Bible in school -- just to the heavily biased manner in which one particular teacher used it. His granddaughter heard the story that he once asked his youngest daughter, Agnes May, to take a Catholic Bible to school and substitute it for the teacher's usual Bible, in order to challenge the teacher to teach in a more inclusive manner. However, this was very embarrassing for Agnes May, as a young schoolgirl. Daniel did not belong to any particular church, but was said to be a devout Christian and free-thinker. His wife, Agnes, supported him in his efforts, though the resulting conflicts with some other townspeople caused her inconvenience. Bible court case page at www.nps.gov
Sources:
Daniel and Agnes Freeman, Homesteaders, by Beverly S. Kaplan. Lincoln, Nebraska: Johnsen Publishing Company, 1971, and J&L Lee Company, 1992. 179 pages. A highly recommended book. www.leebooksellers.com (search for "homesteaders" or "freeman homesteaders"). Also can be purchased at the Homestead National Monument Bookstore.
Sara C. Johnston's website, with more information & details on Freeman and Suiter family trees. Most of the names and dates on this page come from this source.
Material from the Suiter Family Association.
Interviews with a granddaughter of Agnes S. Freeman, who lived on the homestead until age 18, and was 11 when her grandmother died.
Census information (found at ancestry.com by subscription, among other places)
History of Gage County, Nebraska, by Hugh J. Dobbs. "James H. Freeman" section, pp. 889 - 892. Lincoln, Nebraska: Western Publishing and Engraving Company, 1918. The Gage County Historical Society has for sale a reprint of this book.
Portrait and Biographical Album of Gage County, Nebraska. Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1888. p. 522. The Gage County Historical Society has for sale a reprint of this book.
Who's Who in Nebraska. "FREEMAN, GEORGE FRANKLIN" entry, p. 461. Lincoln, Nebraska: Nebraska Press Association, 1940. Transcription of Who's Who in Nebraska 1940 on Gage County Historical Society website. Click "PREV" to see an overview of Gage County on the previous page.