Frey Family of Susan J. Dorey

There are a number of mysteries for me in this family, principal among them: (1) Who fathered Wilhelmina Stein? Family stories have him the son of the famous German statesman, Heinrich Friedrich Karl, Baron vom und zum Stein (1757–1831) and his wife, Christiane Wilhelmine von Wallmoden. So far I have found only three children of the Baron's, all daughters. (2) Which Joseph Frey did what, father or son? Apparently both men had the same name: Joseph J. B. Frey. Both were illusive in the census. Family stories make no distinction. The only records I can trust are the deed to the cemetery lot in Brooklyn, NY, the patents, and the court case regarding the dispute of a will. Consequently I am ascribing the telegraph patent to the father and the military positions, the other patents, and the burial in Brooklyn to the son.

Other Documents

These files are in Adobe Acrobat PDF format for which you'll need the Adobe Acrobat Reader (available free from Adobe).

• Frey Family details.
• Frey family pedigree diagram Six pages of Freys and their ancestors.
• Ancestry of Heinrich Friedrich Karl, Baron vom und zum Stein. This was provided by Marcus Weidner of LWL in Germany.
• Parental family of John Cumming Clirehugh who married Margaret Bernardina Octavia Frey.
• Christie Edinger kindly posted photos of a Frey telegraph key she recently restored.
• South Carolina State Militia State Troops by W. A. "Bil" Brasington. Search on "Frey" to see the list of the members of the Sixteenth (16th) Regiment South Carolina Militia Jackson Guards.
• Record of The Charleston Zouave Cadets, 1st Regt. Rifle, 4th Brigade, S.C. Militia, 1860–1862.
• Horres Family of Frederick Horres who married Margaret Heuer. The Horres family immigrated from Moselle, France to Charleston, SC in 1849 where three sons propagated the surname. All the Horres folk in this area descend from these immigrants.

Frey Family at a Glance

In the Beginning

First Generation

Flight from Charleston

The Civil War is the background and a woman's compassion the actor. The Greek chorus is the residents who were enraged by kindness to the enemy. So the story unfolds in three acts: (1) secession and war, (2) aiding the prisoners of war, and (3) banishment.

The Civil War in Charleston

South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union, on 12-20-1860. The Confederate States of America were formed less than two months later on 2-9-1861. Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as the 16th President of the US on 3-4-1861. On 4-12-1861 the Civil War began with the firing on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor by Confederate soldiers; it was captured two days later.

The city of Charleston withstood efforts to invade and conquer it. The first major Federal effort to take the city was the Battle of Secessionville on 6-16-1862. It was fought on nearby James Island and ended with defeat by the Union.

The first Civil War prisoners in Charleston were those from the first Battle of Bull Run (or Manassas) in July 1861. These were the ones housed in Castle Pinckney. The prisoners from the Battle of Secessionville in June 1862 were, according to her daughter's letter, the ones aided by Margaret Frey.

In Charleston virtually every military operation by either side involved the navy including the first large scale use of ironclad vessels in an assault on forts, the first submarine attack, and extensive blockade running activities.

In February 17–18, 1865 Charleston was evacuated in the face of General Sherman's nearby land forces and of naval forces north and south of the harbor. A week later the city was described as "little more than a heap of ruins." On 4-9-1865 General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Confederate Army to General Ulysses S. Grant. Three days later President Lincoln was assassinated. The remaining Confederate forces surrendered in May. The war was over—after more than 620,000 deaths in battle and over twice that many deaths from disease.

Aiding the Prisoners

The treatment of prisoners in the Civil War was a tragedy on both sides, but perhaps worst by the North: official reports show more Confederates died in Northern prisons than Federals died in Southern prisons.

Margaret Bonheur Frey helped Union officers captured in the 6-18-1862 Battle of Secessionville (fought on James Island, near Charleston) and imprisoned in Charleston Jail.

I have ten letters from prisoners of war testifying to Margaret's kindness. The earliest dated 8-12-1862 was Signed Capt. A. J. Lawler, 28th Mich., Capt. G. E Pratt, 8th Mich., Fred R. Jeackson, 7th Conn., "and the rest of the prisoners." "Dear Madame, We the Federal prisoners of war cannot leave Charleston without expressing to you our profound sense of your great and constant kindness toward us. What we should have suffered had it not been for your kindness—you and a few kind souls like you—we cannot tell. Your generous and self-denying benevolence will be remembered and cherished by us to the latest hours of our existence. Accept this feeble testimony of our gratitude to you. We hope and pray that your path in life may be always pleasant and happy. Yours gratefully."

There are letters dated into April 1863, after which the next one is from 11-21-1864 signed by many men imprisoned in Hilton Head, SC. There are two letters from 1865 and one from 1867, the last being from J. P. Chazat, MD: "My dear Madam, I take pleasure in testifying to your devotedness to the Federal wounded placed under my charge, in 1862, after the battle of Secessionville. Your efforts to administer to their comfort being constant while I remained in charge. Very respectfully."

One letter, undated, included: "You will remember me to Albert and Miss Maggie and thank them for me."

Margaret was not alone in her ministrations to the prisoners. Prisoners at the City Jail during early 1864 mentioned "Sisters of Mercy" who visited the prison. Mrs. Eliza Gorton Potter was another woman who helped care for the sick and wounded; she is recognized at Ed Boots' website. There is a web page on the Charleston City Jail with pictures.

There is a long account of Civil War prisoners at www.civilwarhome.com: The Treatment Of Prisoners During The War Between The States compiled by Rev. Wm. Jones, Secretary of Southern Historical Society.

Getting Out of Dodge

I have pieced the following account from the archives and the census.

• Margaret Frey received a passport dated 5-12-1863 to leave Charleston to go to Richmond, VA. It asked for unrestricted access for Margaret, three sons, and one daughter.
• Joseph J. Frey had a pass dated June 1863 from the 8th Army Corps Provost Marshall in Winchester, VA to convey his family to New York via the Martinsburg Road. (See the discussion of Winchester below.)
• A letter, undated but likely August 1925, by Margaret Frey Clirehugh saying "I have the passport the mayor gave her to leave Charleston . . . I also have the pass for our family from Winchester to Martinsburg where we met the Union troops."
• J. J. B. Frey had Pass #87 dated 3-24-1865 from the Department of the South, Provost Marshall in Hilton Head, SC "to pass anywhere within the lines of this Department . . . good until April 30th, 1865." This indicates Joseph went back to SC after escorting his wife to New York.
• The NYC Directory for 1869 cites Margaret Frey living in NYC at 176 Hudson Street.
• The 1870 Census reports Margaret Frey living in NYC at 174 Hudson Street with children Joseph, Margaret, and Albert.

Winchester is in northern VA, northeast of Washington, DC and about 40 miles southwest of Martinsburg, WV. Winchester was likely the northernmost city in the Confederacy. Winchester's location was the hub of key roadways linking the Ohio Valley to the eastern United States coastal plains. Sitting just south of the Potomac River, Winchester lay on the only route between the east and western United States with direct connections to Washington, DC.

Winchester was a base of operations for several Confederate incursions into the Northern United States, at times threatening the Federal capital city. Winchester also served as a central point for troops conducting raids against the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and turnpike and telegraph paths along those routes and the Potomac River Valley.

It was a dangerous place in June 1863.

The Second Battle of Winchester was fought June 13–15, 1863, in Frederick County and Winchester, VA as part of the Gettysburg Campaign. As Confederate Lieutenant General Richard S. Ewell moved down the Shenandoah Valley in the direction of Pennsylvania, his corps defeated the Union Army garrison commanded by Major General Robert H. Milroy, capturing Winchester and numerous Union prisoners.

The Freys likely traveled to New York by train. Certainly my mother said they left Charleston by train.

Patents

All these patents were held by a Joseph J. B. Frey of New York. The earliest one belonged to Joseph Frey, the father. The later ones belonged to Joseph Frey, the son.

Cemeteries

Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY

This cemetery is located at 5th Avenue and 25th Street, Brooklyn, NY. Lot 7859 section 15 was bought by Vair Clirehugh and is now owned by me.

The Evergreens Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY

The cemetery is located at 1629 Bushwick Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11207-1849. Four Freys are buried in the Orient Hill section. These lots were bought by Joseph J. B. Frey on 2-19-1887 for $135. It is currently owned by my uncle, John C. Clirehugh.

Bethany Cemetery, Charleston, SC

This cemetery is owned by St. Matthew's Lutheran Church and is often referred to as the Lutheran cemetery. Founded in 1856, it is located at 10 Cunnington Avenue, just off upper Meeting Street, and has 52 acres. There are 15,000–20,000 people buried here. Modern records are incomplete. Burial records before 1904 are included in the church records (some of which have disappeared), those after 1904 are located at the office at the cemetery.

Lots #1–5 in row C of the South section were bought on 1-23-1939 by Rosa Wilhelmina (Horres) Larsen. There are 5 lots, 2 are currently empty. I do not know which person is in which lot.

Lot #300 in the Northeast section is owned by the Harbers family. It was closed before 1945 at the request of a will.

St. Lawrence Cemetery, Charleston, SC

The Catholic cemetery is located on Huguenin Avenue, Charleston. It was begun in 1851.

St. Barnabas Anglican Church, Dunwoody, GA

This church is located at 4795 North Peachtree Road. It has a columbarium and a website.

European Places

Because the Frey family immigrated from what is today Germany, some places are described here by way of background.

Mannheim

Margaret Anne Frey was born about 1811 in Mannheim, a city in Baden, now Germany. Mannheim is situated at the confluence of the Rhine and Neckar rivers, in the northwestern corner of modern Baden-Württemberg.

From 1720–1778, Mannheim was the dignified Residence of the Elector of the Palatinate. In the early 1700s Mannheim was one of the most important cities of the era, in the latter half of that century it was a trend setter on the music scene. Mozart visited the town four times.

It was the first German city intentionally laid to waste in World War II. Beginning on December 16, 1940 Mannheim was bombed more than 100 times and was the goal of over 150 air raids.

Baden

Baden is a state in the southwest of Germany. It came into existence in the 12th century as the Margraviate of Baden and subsequently split into different lines, which were unified in 1771. It became the much-enlarged Grand Duchy of Baden, a sovereign country, through the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1803–1806. In 1803 Baden gained the entire palatinate east of the Rhine, including Mannheim. It joined the German Empire in 1871, remaining a Grand Duchy until 1918 when it became part of the Weimar Republic.

The ruler first became known as the Grand Duke of Baden in 1806, that being Karl Friedrich. In 1863 the Grand Duke was Friedrich I.

Nassau

Nassau was first a town founded in 915 in the lower Lawn river valley of what today is Germany. The modern state encompassing the city is Rhineland-Palatinate.

The state of Nassau was formed within the Holy Roman Empire. After an initial division in 1255, Nassau became a united duchy again in 1806. In 1866 it was annexed by Prussia and incorporated into the province of Hesse-Nassau.

Margaret Anne Frey is believed by her descendants to have married a son of the famous Heinrich Friedrich Karl, Baron vom und zum Stein; this is in doubt because I have not found any record of a son of this man. The Baron was a German statesman. His family belonged to the order of imperial knights of the Holy Roman Empire. The family seat lies in the center of the town, the so-called Steinische Hof, which is today still in the possession of the descendants of the Baron.

Prussia

The Kingdom of Prussia was an independent kingdom from 1701 until 1867 or 1871. It became the largest constituent kingdom of the united German Empire until its dissolution in 1918 at the end of WW I. It was predominantly a northern and eastern German state. Baden did not become a part of Prussia until after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.

Le Havre

Le Havre is a city in Normandy, northern France, on the English Channel, at the mouth of the Seine. It was the port-of-call for French ocean liners making the Transatlantic crossing. Le Havre, known as "La Porte Océane," is the second largest city in Normandy after Rouen and is the second largest export port in France.

The port of Le Havre was mainly used by emigrants from southern Germany during the period from about 1830 to 1870. One sea route was Le Havre to NY, another Le Havre to New Orleans. I have as yet to find a route to Charleston. However as Le Havre imported cotton from the US and sent "passagers d'entrepôt" back to the US, it is likely there was shipping between Charleston and Le Havre.

Contact

Please contact me with corrections and additions or if you're a relative!