Historical accounts
The Suiters and Freemans
Excerpt from History of Gage County, Nebraska, by Hugh J. Dobbs. Lincoln, Nebraska: Western Publishing and Engraving Company, 1918. p. 891 (part of the entry for James H. Freeman, Agnes's son).
"February 8, 1865, recorded the marriage of Mr. [Daniel] Freeman to Miss Agnes Suiter, of Scott County, Iowa, where she was born and reared, the date of her nativity having been November 16, 1843.
This revered pioneer woman still resides in Gage county and owns the fine old homestead place which her husband secured in the early territorial days, as previously noted, the same being in Blakely township.
Mrs. Freeman is the daughter of John and Eliza (Wright) Suiter, who were numbered among the early settlers of Scott county, Iowa, the farmer's father, Philip Suiter, having settled at LeClaire, that county, when the place was a mere Indian village, the same having been named in honor of Antoine LeClaire, who was Indian agent to the Sac and Fox tribes.
Mrs. Freeman received good educational advantages in her youth and after coming with her husband to Gage county she had the distinction of being the first teacher in Blakely township, her first school having been held in a private house.
Of the children of Daniel and Agnes (Suiter) Freeman all are living except Daniel, who died at the age of three years; Eliza is the wife of D. Webster Carre, of Beatrice; Samuel is a prosperous farmer in Jefferson county; James H., of this review, was next in order of birth; John is a substantial farmer near Beatrice; Frank and LeClaire remain with their widowed mother on the fine old homestead farm; and Agnes is the wife of Clifford Quackenbush, another of the progressive farmers of this county."
Excerpt from Portrait and Biographical Album of Gage County, Nebraska. Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1888. p. 522 (from the section about Daniel Freeman). [ The first quote relates to Daniel's brothers, including James H., who had been engaged to Agnes.]
"Four of the brothers of our subject died when young and single men, one of them, James H., having served as a private in the 83rd Illinois Infantry during the Rebellion, and dying from sickness and exposure at Ft. Donelson. He was a graduate from Abingdon College, and had a bright future before him." ...
"Our subject [Daniel Freeman] was a second time married, in Scott County, Iowa, on the 8th of February, 1865, to Miss Agnes Suiter, who was born in Le Claire, that county, on the 16th of November, 1843, and is the daughter of John and Eliza (Wright) Suiter, who are natives of Ohio.
The father was a rapids pilot on the Mississippi River, and his father was also engaged in a like business. The grandfather of Mrs. Freeman, Philip Suiter, was an early settler in Ohio, where he spent a number of years, and afterward came to this State, making his home in DeWitt, Saline County. There he lived a retired life for some time, and died on the 25th of November, 1884, at the age of eighty-five years. He had been four times married, his last wife surviving him but a short time, she having died since 1884.
John Suiter moved to Iowa when the State was in the beginning of its development, while he was yet a young and single man, and he became engaged as a pilot for boats over the rapids between Le Claire, Davenport and Rock Island. He has since made his home in the first-named city, and having retired from river life, he devotes some attention to farming, his place on the river now being supplied by his two sons. He is now sixty-six years old, and is living in Le Claire with his wife, whom he married in Iowa.
Mrs. Freeman was reared to womanhood in her native county, entering Abingdon College when she was fourteen years old, and after completing her education she taught school for some time, one term of which labor was spent in this county, she being the first teacher in Blakely Township, and her school taught in a private house.
She is the mother of seven children, one of whom, named Daniel, died when he was three years old, and of the remaining six, Samuel, James, John, Frank and Le Claire, are at home; Eliza is the wife of Webster Carre, and resides in Beatrice.
Mr. and Mrs. Freeman are highly esteemed as old settlers, and are influential and enterprising citizens."
A description of Beatrice and the surrounding area by Laura Ingalls Wilder, who traveled through in 1894
In 1894, Laura Ingalls Wilder (later to become author of the Little House books) moved by covered horse-drawn wagon with her husband, Almanzo, and daughter, Rose, age 7, from South Dakota to Missouri. They traveled with another family, the Cooleys. This move was the result of a prolonged period of drought in South Dakota and other northern areas. She passed through Beatrice in August, 1894 - at that time, my great-grandmother Agnes May Freeman was nearly 5 years old, and lived on the homestead of her parents, Daniel and Agnes Suiter Freeman, outside Beatrice. This description of Beatrice and surroundings comes from Laura Ingalls Wilder's diary of her journey, discovered after her death and published as the book On the Way Home: The Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri, in 1894. p. 42-43 describes the journey from outside Lincoln through Beatrice and on to Blue Springs, NE.
August 4
On the road at 7:45, a nice level road and good farms fenced with board fences. We are following the telegraph wires to Beatrice, then do not follow the railroad but go across country.
We have crossed Little Salt Creek and Big Salt Creek. Orchards are as common here as houses. Manly traded one fire mat for a whole bushel of large ripe apples. Plums are nearly ripe. Crops look splendid to us but everyone tells Manly that they are very poor and will make no grain to mention. We passed the best field of oats that Manly ever saw.
Made a hard long drive to get to a good camp, and when we got there we found the creek dry and no grass but plenty of sand burs. Camped in the edge of a town.
Sunday, August 5
Same as last Sunday. Saw five emigrant wagons. Lost the thermometer.
August 6
Started at 8:30 and reached Beatrice at noon. Corn all dried up and no ears on it. Oats and wheat threshed and a great deal of plowing done.
Beatrice is not as large as Lincoln but a nice town, I think. We saw the courthouse, it is handsome.
Splendid roads all day. We crossed Blue River just south of Beatrice, drove through Blue Springs at 5 in the afternoon and crossed Blue River again. Did not see much of the city because we drove along the north edge and down the east side past a big mill run by water-power. The river runs east of the town, a very pretty river. I do not mention orchards any more because they are common here, there are so many of them.
We saw 8 acres of seedling apple trees about 12 inches high near Blue Springs. Today has been quite cool, but with a little too much wind.
August 7
On the road at 7:30, we crossed the line into Kansas at 10:28 ¼ exactly. Judging from what we have seen and heard of Nebraska, the south east corner is quite a good country, but taken as a whole it is "nix good." I don't like Nebraska. ...
She continues with a description of Marysville, Kansas. The northern Nebraska leg of the journey had been very hard, with dust, wind, and desolate bluffs "without houses or fields or trees and hardly any grass."