Frayer Family History & Genealogy

Summary

Many of the decendants using the Frayer surname originated in the United States as an evolution from original surnames of the early settlers and their country of origin. Some of the refugees from Europe were originally named Frere, but upon landing to an English governed New York in 1675 adopted the english spelling of Freer. For a hundred years at the small village of New Paltz and surrounding areas, as the decendents of the family grew and with the introduction of the revolutionary war and the requirement of an oath of allegience, variations in the spelling formed into Frear, Frier, and Frayer. After the revolutionar war, the different spellings typically indicated the migration of a family member into different parts of New York and the colonies. The Frayers migrated mainly to north of New Patz, and then to Ohio and Pennsylvania and every where else. The Frayer is an American name symbolizing a break from the old world clans.

History

For the Frayers of New York, the first generation to the New World was Hugo Frere, born ~1640 in Herly of the Spanish Netherlands, north of Paris, by way of a refugee with several other families from a small town near Mainheim Germany. Many of the decendants using the Frayer surname originated in the United States as an evolution from original surnames of the early settlers and their country of origin. Some of the refugees from Europe were originally named Frere, but upon landing to an English governed New York in 1675 adopted the english spelling of Freer. For a hundred years at the small village of New Paltz and surrounding areas, as the decendents of the family grew and with the introduction of the revolutionary war and the requirement of an oath of allegience, variations in the spelling formed into Frear, Frier, and Frayer. After the revolutionar war, the different spellings typically indicated the migration of a family member into different parts of New York and the colonies. The Frayers migrated mainly to north of New Patz, and then to Ohio and Pennsylvania and every where else. The Frayer is an American name symbolizing a break from the old world clans.

Name Origin

Frere means brother in French, and Hugo was French speaking. In Hebrew, it means sucker.

Spellings & Pronunciations

Freer, Fier, Frear, Frere

Nationality & Ethnicity

The Spanish Netherlands is the last origin known, for Hugo Frere in ~1640. It had not been reconquered by the French at that time. The family also had  relatives in England and France under the Frere and Freer name. Hugo Frere was a huguenot from the Spainish Netherlands. They spoke French but were persecuted by the Roman Church.

Famous People named Frayer

Lee Frayer, use to run the Frayer-Miller Automobile factory. He hired Eddie Richenbacher as a mechanic and drove in the first few indianpolis 500 races. His engines were used for fire engines since they were air cooled and could stand cold weather. He is the reason we sit on the left side in our car; he invented the shifter, the displaced wheel, the air cooled engine, and the first 6 cylinder engine.

Early Frayers

These are the earliest records we have of the Frayer family.