Warren Fread

Birth: He was born in 1904 in California.  

Family Information: Son of Walter Fread and Ida May Fread.

Brother of Alberta, Lee and Clarence Fread.

Three other siblings never lived in the colony -- Ivan (who died in 1900 at the age of 2), Clara J., (who died in 1914 at the age of 7) and older brother Charles.

Husband of Vivian Fread.

Father of Clara and Warren, Jr..  

Description: His WWII Draft Card describes him as 6 feet tall, weighing 200 pounds with a light complexion, blue eyes and brown hair.  

Pre-Colony History: In 1910 he was living in California with his parents and siblings.

The family joined the colony during the early days in California and made the move to Louisiana with the colony, but in August 1919 left for Modesto, California.

In 1920, he was again living in California with his parents and brother, Lee.

In May 1922 he returned to the colony with Comrade Yates and his milk goat herd.

Home in Colony:  

Job in Colony: In May 1922 Loutrel, assisted by C. Shutt, Dover Cryer, Warren Fread and Truman Benthal put up electric poles, wires, etc. and prepared to wire the houses to provide electric lights throughout the colony.

In July 1922 he and Goldman were making a body for a new bakery wagon as they expected to soon have two wagons on the road.

In August 1922 he was hauling corn with a Fordson tractor which Darth, Lee and Cryer were cutting for the silo.

In 1927 he was skidding logs with mule power; In 1930 he was listed as a chauffeur for the colony on the 1930 US Census. In 1931 was in charge at the ice plant.

At Christmas time 1928 he and Curly Goble carried a load of building materials to the Rice Ranch; on the return trip they brought sixteen hogs and 38 bales of rice straw. To carry this load, a floor of stout planks and beams had to be constructed over the bottom of the truck and then "the "fun" commenced. The hogs had to be captured and such squealing and grunting of the indignantly protesting porkers was never heard in those parts -- and such pulling of legs and ears you never saw, but after a strenuous hunt and battle the poor beasts were at last safely [loaded] and then the 33 bales of straw were piled upon the floor above the hogs and when that was accomplished you would have seen a truckload about as high as the ranch-house and on of top of that clambered Harold and Ben Hewett, Jr. going to help celebrate Xmas at the Colony's home. Baldwin and little Eugene followed them in Baldwin's Rolls Royce twenty cylinder car which [was] equipped with all the luxuries and trimmings of a modern traveling palace."

In March 1929 he and Curly Goble were looking after the garage work while Hank Stevens was on a trip to Brownsville, Texas.

In July 1930 he and his wife were "smoothly running the domestic machinery, cooking savory meals, baking biscuits, pies and cakes, giving [colonists] iced tea, lemonade and coffee" at the Rice Ranch.

In January 1933 he, Gordon Pickett, Blair Thomas and George Campbell were "wrecking some of the old wrecks that have been wrecking the looks of the place for so long." They were putting up bins in the old shed back of the machine shop to hold the parts that could be saved from the wrecked cars.  

Other Info: In early July 1922 his father sent his violin to Warren from their home in Ceres, California; Warren was soon making good use of it in the Junior Orchestra.

In May 1928 two visiting musicians -- W.L. Ferris and O.L. Owens of Leesville -- collaborated with the colony orchestra which consisted of: Robert Snyder, leader; George T. Pickett, Roedemeister, Ben Roe, Raymond Faussel, Joseph Gaddis, Louise Gaddis, Billy DeBoer, C.C. Mickey, Peter Borg, Max Beavers, Warren Fread, Guy Rogers, Florence Roe and Anna Besse, pianiste.

In February 1929 the colony orchestra consisted of Violins: Guy Rogers, William Bingham, Albert Wichmann, Warren Fread, Joseph Silberman, Rhea Baldwin; Flute: Clyde Mickey; Clarinets: Frank Rahn, William DeBoer, William Newman; Saxophones: Raymond DeFausell, Florence Roe, Arthur Goble; Trumpets: Louis Reodemeister, Benjamin Roe; Horn: Benjamin Couchman; Trombone: George Pickett; Tuba: Fred Hamel; Pianist: Mary Erma Wilson.  

Post-Colony History: In 1940 he was living in Colorado with his parents, along with his wife and their surviving children while working as a farmer on his own account.  

Death: He died in 1968 in Colorado.  

Sources: Photo Archives; "Vernon Parish Democrat": August 9, 1919; "Llano Colonist": May 6, 1922, May 27, 1922, July 1, 1922, July 29, 1922, August 19, 1922, October 29, 1927, May 19, 1928, January 5, 1929, February 16, 1929, March 23, 1929, July 19, 1930, August 30, 1930, October 10, 1931, January 28, 1933; US Census: 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940; US WWII Draft Cards 1940-1947; FindAGrave.com