The Families of Bob & Nila Frei

Weston Picture

Drew and Katy Wedding

Evan's Wedding

The Families of Bob & Nila Frei

Bob and Nila on their wedding day - June 6, 1970

Researching the following families:
CARLSON + COMPTON + CORYELL / CORIELL + DAVID / DAVIDS
DOANE + FREI + GERKEN + GEORGIA + MABEE / MABIE
MORROW + ROBERTS + RUSSELL + SEVERANCE + TEEPLE
WINTER + WITTE + WOLFF - and many associated families
Currently focusing on the FREI family of Futak, Yugoslavia (Serbia)

Can You Say Donauschwäben?

   Since I began my family quest in ernest in 1996 I have suspected that my Frei family was not simply German as we had long supposed. I found that at least three generations were born in Futtak - a town now called Futog in present-day Serbia which before 1916 was part of Hungary, later became part of Yugoslavia, and is now a suburb of Novi Sad in Serbia. My grandfather, Frank Frei, was born in Neu Futtak, Hungary on July 03, 1905. His father, Josef Frei, was born in the same place and baptised at the Catholic church there February 26, 1876. Josef's baptism record reports that his father, George Frei, was also born there.
   I also found records from the same Catholic Church which indicated that the Marx and Fischler families also lived there. Aunt Anna, Frank's sister, was said to have been born in Ennigerloh, Germany, and her family has a birth certificate which appears to support that claim. There was much evidence to contradict that fact, however: first was the 1911 immigration record of their arrival at Ellis Island which listed her birthplace as Hungary. The same record indicated that their last address was in Hungary, not Germany, and it listed next of kin as Mary Frey (Josef's mother)and gave her address as Futtak. In addition, knowing that the family had come to Futtak 100 years earlier, it was unlikely they would have had a place to return to in Germany. Investigation of the Ennigerloh area showed no sign of our Frey/Frei family except for that baptism record at the Catholic church -- very circumstantial.
   Now, thanks to two cousins of Steve Fischler, the husband of Anna Frei, I have come to learn a new word: Donauschwäben - Danube Swabian. The term refers to the Catholic people of German origin who settled the eastern Danube valley in the early to mid 1700s at the encouragement of the Habsburg monarchs of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Many of the early settlers were from the Schwäbish are of Germany, thus the term Schwäben - but the term came to apply to all German Catholics in the region.
   Mary and Rosina Forhans, cousins of Steve Fischler, were born in Futog, Yugoslavia, and came to Canada early in their lives, but returned to Futog in 1938 -- just in time to be caught in World War II. They shared the fate of many Donauschwäben after that war and were disposessed of their property and their freedom. They were placed in concentration camps, but managed to escape to Hungary, and finally to the English sector of Austria where they sought asylum as British subjects because they had lived in Canada. These sisters remember Futog very well, and have much information about it. I will certainly post more information as it becomes available.

FAMILY DATA REPORTS    The following reports were produced by Robert Frei. They may contain material copyrighted by myself or others. Of couse, facts cannot be copyrighted, but the presentation of the facts may be. Re-publication may be only with permission of the copyright holders.   In addition, sources for material contained in these reports is available -- please contact me.
   If you send a copy of this information to anyone else, please be sure to include information identifying this source within the text. This is not just a courtesy, but is neccessary to prevent contamination of data. When data is passed without proper attribution, it may be found by other researchers and construed as supporting this data instead of quoting it.
   Some reports have been placed on the Family Tree Maker site so they appear in FTM indexes. The reports which include dates do not cover generations which may still be living. Researchers may contact me for information on living generations.

**Family Links**

The links below are the same as the buttons above

Frei Family	http://www.ejourney.com/~bfrei/frei.html
Kinship Chart	http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/f/r/e/Robert-W-Frei/COLKINO15-0001.html
John David	http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/f/r/e/Robert-W-Frei/ODT11-0001.html
David Coryell	http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/f/r/e/Robert-W-Frei/ODT10-0001.html
Frederick Gerken	http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/f/r/e/Robert-W-Frei/GENE14-0001.html
Peter Teeple	http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/f/r/e/Robert-W-Frei/ODT16-0001.html

More links to family related sites
Comptonology - A Compton Family forum and newsletter
A DAVID Family Album - Pictures of interest to the West Branch Davids
Bob & Nila's Lineages - our progenitors to the fifth generation.
.Teeple People - Anne Rahamut's excellent Teeple Family Newsletter.
Bill & Nancy Frei - 50th Anniversary Picture
Aimee & Dave Miller - Wedding Pictures
Alpha and Mary David - Family Group Sheet
Teeple Journal - http://www.ejourney.com/~bfrei/tpljourn1a/tpljourn1a.html

Other Links with Family Significance:

Michigan Death Records: GENDIS
The Maybee Society Home Page The Maybee Society
Gladwin County Michigan (David Family) Gladwin County WebGen
Ionia County Michigan (David Family) Ionia County WebGen
Sanilac County Michigan (Teeple Family) Sanilac County WebGen
Norfolk Ontario GenWeb Norfolk Genweb Site
Norfolk County, Ontario (Teeple / Mabee) Eva Brook Donley Museum
Hoyt Library: Genealogy Resources
Association for Gravestone Studies www.gravestonestudies.org

HEY!!! You're not going to leave without saying hello, are you?
Please email - we really want to know everyone who looks at this page. We
are interested in information on ALL of the descendents of ALL our ancestors.

bfrei@ejourney.com

Site designed and maintained by Bob Frei, Beaverton, MI - last updated on 10/21/2003

FastCounter by LinkExchange