His family experienced the privations of pioneer life, having gone to bed after making a meal of stewed pumpkins, their only food. The early settlers of Erie found many Indians, but they were friendly and traded with the settlers fish and game. With the exception of their thievish habits, the Indians were not bad neighbors.
In 1875 Mr. Freek emigrated to Kansas, where he now resides. Children: William, born March 10, 1834 - died December 13, 1859; John Jr., born in Erie in 1837 - resides in Kansas; Samuel, born January 13, 1839 - died January 17, 1860; Ann, born July 4, 1843 - married Joseph Guthrie; Thomas E., who was in the 8th Illinois cavalry regiment - died January 15, 1865.
Bent & Wilson History of Whiteside County Page 152
John Freek was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1806; emigrated to America in 1830, and settled at Geneva, N. Y., but subsequently went to New Jersey, where he was married. In October, 1835, he settled in Erie, with his brother-in-law, Joseph Fenton. Their settlement was near the present town line. He was instrumental in establishing religious services and Sunday schools in Erie and Newton townships, and did much to develop the new country which he found a wilderness upon his advent here forty-two years ago.
