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Walter F. Frear

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Walter Francis Frear
3rd Territorial Governor of Hawaii
In office
August 15, 1907 – November 30, 1913
Appointed byTheodore Roosevelt
Preceded byGeorge R. Carter
Succeeded byLucius E. Pinkham
Chief Justice of the
Hawaiʻi Supreme Court
Personal details
Born(1863-10-29)October 29, 1863
Grass Valley, California
DiedJanuary 22, 1948(1948-01-22) (aged 84)
Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii
Political partyRepublican
SpouseMary Dillingham Frear
OccupationLawyer, Judge
Signature

Walter Francis Frear (October 29, 1863 – January 22, 1948) was a lawyer and judge in the Kingdom of Hawaii and Republic of Hawaii, and the third Territorial Governor of Hawaii from 1907 to 1913.

Life

Frear was born October 29, 1863 in Grass Valley, California. His father, Reverend Walter Frear, was born in Poughkeepsie, New York August 16, 1828, graduated from Yale in 1851, came to the Kingdom of Hawaii as a missionary, and then lived in California when he was born. His mother was Frances Elmira Foster.[1] The family returned to Honolulu in 1870, where his father was pastor of the Fort Street Church until 1881.[2] He graduated from Punahou School in 1881, Yale with a B.A. in 1885, and Yale law school in 1890.[3] On August 1, 1893 he married Mary Emma Dillingham, the daughter of industrialist Benjamin Dillingham. They had two daughters: Virginia (1900–?) and Margaret (1908–?).[4]

He was appointed as circuit judge on January 1, 1893 by Queen Liliʻuokalani. On March 7, 1893 he was promoted to serve on the Supreme Court of the Provisional Government. After the death of Albert Francis Judd,[5] on July 5, 1900 he became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of what was then the Territory of Hawaii.[6]

Frear was appointed governor after George R. Carter by President Theodore Roosevelt on August 15, 1907. Alfred S. Hartwell replaced him as chief justice. He was a member of the Republican Party of Hawaii. After the election of Woodrow Wilson, Frear was replaced by the first governor from the Democratic Party of Hawaii, Lucius Pinkham in November 1913.[7] He died January 22, 1948 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The Frears founded the Mary D. and Walter F. Frear Eleemosynary Trust to sponsor educational projects. Frear Hall, a dormitory building built in the 1950s on the University of Hawaii at Manoa campus, was named after Governor Frear's wife Mary Dillingham Frear, a member of the University's Board of Regents from 1920–1943.[8] The aging structure was demolished in 2006, to make way for a new dorm facility also called Frear Hall completed in the Summer of 2008.[9]

The Frear home, known as “Arcadia,” was located at 1434 Punahou Street. It was built in 1907. Upon Mary's 1951 death it was donated to Punahou School.[10] The property is currently occupied by Arcadia, a retirement residence.

The Frear Center, located at 1132 Bishop Street,[11] was named after Walter and Mary Frear. It is a classroom building of Hawaii Pacific University, and was designed for information systems and computer science courses. The trust also supported Chaminade University of Honolulu.[12]

Personal life

Frear's father died on May 25, 1922 in Oakland, California. His mother was Frances Elmira Foster (January 29, 1836 in Boston, Massachusetts-February 7, 1924 in Oakland, California), and he had five siblings: Lizzie Lavina Freer, Hugo P. Frear, Henrietta Frear, Philip Foster Frear, Caroline Frear. Lizzie married Edward Frederick Woodward, who served as Mayor of Santa Rosa, California and as a California State Senator from 1903-1906. He was also named the Surveyor of the Port of San Francisco in 1909.

Frear descends from the initial Freer immigrant to the United States, Huguenot refugee Hugo Freer, who was a patentee, or founder, of New Paltz, New York. He also descends from Louis DuBois (Huguenot), another patentee of New Paltz. His 2nd great-grandfather, Colonel Johannes "John" Freer, commanded his own regiment during the American Revolutionary War (4th Ulster County Regiment).

His 4th cousins, once removed were J. Allen Frear Jr., a United States Senator from Delaware (1949-1961), and Romeo H. Freer, United States Congressman from West Virginia (1899-1901).

Works

  • Frear, Walter Francis (1922). "Hawaii" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica (12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company.
  • Frear, Walter Francis (1947). Mark Twain and Hawaii. Lakeside Press.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Walter F. Frear.
  1. ^ John William Leonard; Albert Nelson Marquis (1903). Who's who in America. Marquis. p. 516.
  2. ^ Proceedings respecting the resignation of Rev. W. Frear as pastor of the Fort Street Church, of Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands: Farewell discourse of the Pastor. Hawaiian gazette office. 1881.
  3. ^ Memorials of eminent Yale men: a biographical study of student life and university influences during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Yale University Press. 1914. p. 398.
  4. ^ Frear, Mary Emma Dillingham (1934). Lowell and Abigail: a realistic idyll. Yale university press. p. 307.
  5. ^ "Supreme Court, Chief Justices of office record" (PDF). state archives digital collections. state of Hawaii. Retrieved 2010-03-11.
  6. ^ "Frear, Walter F. office record". state archives digital collections. state of Hawaii. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
  7. ^ Melendy, H. Brett (1983). "The Controversial Appointment of Lucius Eugene Pinkham, Hawaii's First Democratic Governor". Hawaiian Journal of History. Vol. 17. Hawaii Historical Society. pp. 185–208. hdl:10524/373.
  8. ^ "Frear, Mary Dillingham office record". state archives digital collections. state of Hawaii. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
  9. ^ Gima, Craig (June 30, 2008). "New dorm is pride of UH: A school official says the $71 million facility is a "dramatic step in the right direction"". Retrieved 2010-04-25.
  10. ^ "Frear Hall (1951)". The Punahou74 Experience. July 3, 2020. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  11. ^ "FC Building - Frear Center - 1132 Bishop Street". Hawai'i Pacific University official web site. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
  12. ^ "Mary D. and Walter F. Frear Trust Honored for its Support of Chaminade University's New Introductory Wet Lab". press release on Chaminade University of Honolulu web site. February 26, 2007.
Political offices
Preceded by Territorial Governor of Hawaii
1907 - 1913 		Succeeded by
Legal offices
Preceded by Chief Justice of the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court
1900–1907 		Succeeded by
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