Walter "Walt" H. Fread

Birth: He was born around 1873 in Illinois.  

Family Information: Husband of Ida May Fread.

Father of Alberta, Warren, Lee and Clarence. Three other children never lived in the colony -- Ivan (who died in 1900 at the age of 2), Clara, (who died in 1914 at the age of 7), and oldest son, Charles.

He was also the grand-father of Myrtle Fread (daughter of Charles), who lived for a while with the family in the colony.  

Description:  

Pre-Colony History: In 1900 he, Ida May and their two eldest sons were living in California with his mother, Clara Fread. In 1910 they were living in California with their children.

He joined the colony during the early days in California -- in 1915 when the Pete Kemp family joined the colony, he hauled them out to the colony location.

The family made the move to Louisiana with the colony, but in August 1919 left for Modesto, California. In 1920 they were living in California with their children. In November 1920 George Pickett received a letter that told of the arrival of a nine-pound boy at the Fread home.

Home in Colony: In 1930 he and his wife were living in the colony with their youngest son, Clarence.  

Job in Colony: He was installed as the first postmaster for the colony in June of 1919, when the name of the town was changed from Stables to Newllano.

In 1929 he was the advertising manager of the "Vernon Parish Democrat".

In 1930, he was listed as a chauffeur on the US Census -- he often drove a little shopping bus around the colony.

In September 1931 one hundred fifty sacks of beans and peas were picked in the forenoon by a volunteer crew of men, women and children. The crowd gathered a little after 7 am and was divided into different crews to look after different fields; by 11:30 the job was done. Volunteers included: Killian, Butts, Lloyd, Baldwin, Waters, Doc Williams, Quentin, Fred Busick, Roscoe Busick, Byron Busick, Vivian Busick, Graves, Webb, John Allred, Melvina Hullinger, Fred Levan, Goeke, Eldred, Tom Farrell, Claud Allred, Earl Swenson, Mackie, Frank Collins, George Collins, Boydelatour, Cleve Campbell, Mr. Caves, Clarence Long, Harry Rennick, Dee Kurtz, Pittman, Edminster, Walter Fread, Clarence Fread, Mrs. Herron, Woodruff, J.W. Gilbert, H.M. Wood, Winegar, Bert Moore, Lindwall, Ole Synoground, Rohr, Carnahan, Hoens, Mrs. Wooley, John Neill, Robert Roe, Warren Roe, Nesnow, Bartrum and B. Stevens.  

Other Info:

In 1934 he and Ida May celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary with a party that was attended by many colonists including their sons Clarence and Lee, with Lee's wife Ruby, and son Arthur Lee.

Post-Colony History: In 1940 they were living in Colorado with their son Warren and his family -- at the time Walter was working as a shoe repairer.  

Death: He died in 1957 and was buried in Colorado.  

Sources: "Vernon Parish Democrat": June 7, 1919, June 17, 1919, August 9, 1919, November 18, 1920, February 28, 1929; "Llano Colonist" September 5, 1931, January 21, 1933 (Early Days in California), July 21, 1934;  "Can We Cooperate" by Bob Brown; US Census: 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940; FindAGrave.com