Wedding Day

Sadie McBride - 18 years old, on her wedding day.

George Peter Frey - 22 years old.

George Peter Frey and Sadie McBride were married the 20th of May 1916 in Tooele, Utah. Does anyone know the details of this wedding day?

Wedding Pictures...

Sadie McBride 1916

George Peter Frey 1916

Linda Kaer sent me photos of the wedding pictures and hers were not the cropped version that mine were. Here they are - thanks Linda!

George Frey Family - Fruitvale, Colorado

Sadie is holding Charlotte, next to George. Mae is standing in front of George. Next to Mae is Lloyd and Bill. Is that Carolyn second from the right? Who are the man in the back and the girl on the end?

Frey Family Reunion around 1930

I sat down last week and had my Dad look at this picture. Gradually he was able to identify some of the people. Click on the picture to enlarge it.

Front row - He thinks Carolyn is the girl second to the left with her feet sticking out.
Third row - Mae is the second girl in from the left with a thin face, white shirt and light hair.
The three little boys are Richard Derryberry, Bill and Lloyd Frey.
Sadie is just above Bill and Lloyd in the dark dress.
George Peter Frey is on the left in the white shirt leaning against the rail about half way up.
Aunt Ruth, George's sister is the woman in the white blouse with the scarf kitty corner to George. (Maybe)
Max Derryberry is behind George
Uncle John Donahue and Charlotte May Frey Donahue are sitting on the top two stairs on the right.

The following suggestions came from Margret Rudd K.

"In the Frey Reunion picture, I think that Lottie is sitting on a step to the right, with John Donohue behind her. The top row up on the porch has to be Carl Frey, and probably his wife Willa. On the steps, to the far left is Max Derryberry. I can't sort out the kids, but would assume that the 3 older girls are Carl and Willa's daughters and Ruth's Dorothy. The older boys would be Bill & Dick Derryberry and Mable's son. The rest would then be Carolyn (behind) Georgiana (left front) Lloyd, Charles and Charlotte. As to the other adults, I think Grace is closest to Max, then Mabel and Ruth. I never met your grandparents (George and Sadie) so I may have scrambled them up with other adults."

"My first visit to the ranch was when I was 8 yrs. old. - summer of 1937. Your grandfather (William Frey) was very hard of hearing, so he was fitted for a hearing aid by a traveling salesman. Nothing fancy. There was a metal bandeau to go over the head with a receiver to be positioned on the bone behin d the ear. The bone conducted and magnified the sound. Anyway, he decided that I did the best job of helping him get it positioned just right, so all summer he would call for "that kid" to find and adjust his hearing aid."

Thank you so much for the information Margret!

George Peter Frey

George Peter Frey was born 11 Nov 1893 in East Syracuse, Onondaga, New York. He died 9 May 1936 in Syracuse, Hamilton, Kansas. I read the following newspaper article on his death for the first time a few months ago. He must have been a dynamic person and a mover and shaker in the community. I wish I could have known him. I wonder what he would have done with the rest of his life if he had lived until a natural death. I am hoping some other family members have stories about him to share. I would like to know more. I have thought about trying to research the legislative archives in the state of Colorado and the Denver and Grand Junction newspaper for further articles on his tenure as a State Representative for Mesa County. Click on the image below to enlarge the article.



My Dad writes in his life story about his father's death:

"(When my Father died) I was a lad of 13 years, 10 days short of my 14th birthday. Right after the funeral my Grand Father Charles R. McBride took me to one side and told me, because I was the oldest son, I would be expected to take the place of my Father in the family. As a young lad I didn't understand the magnitude of such a responsibility however, I took the charge from my grandfather seriously."

"Shortly after my 14th birthday I recall a visit one day by the Sheriff Charles Lumley, sheriff of Mesa County. He came to visit Mother concerning my Father's death. I was helping Mother in the kitchen when he knocked on the door. I recall the news he had was very disturbing to Mother and shocking to me. It left a stinging memory deep into my soul. He told Mother that Dad had been murdered by unnamed persons he knew but said there was no way the police officers were able to prove it. There was only one witness of the death and that was the driver of the truck. He reported that Dad had stepped out onto the running board of the moving truck to turned on the auxiliary gas tank and slipped and fell under the wheels of the truck. This news was very disturbing to Mother. I clearly remember her saying, "You mean they took my husband from me. I'll see that every one is punished." Her statement was something to that effect. The sheriff then said, "Sadie, we know who they are but there is no way in the world we can prove it.' Words to that effect.

"I don't know if my family knows of the above story or not. I don't know if Mother talked to them about it. I know she never discussed it with me in all these years except years later I asked her if we should pursue an investigation. She said she did not want to open everything up again."

"The pain of not being able to bring justice to those who took the life of my Father and the weight of trying to fill his shoes has been a great burden to me all of these years."

Posted by Lloya:

I found this bio of Sheriff Lumley online:

Charles Lumley (1929-1941) Described as a "philosopher sheriff," Charles Lumley was known and beloved throughout western Colorado as a man who took pride in keeping troubled young people outside of prison walls. Quoted in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, Lumley believed that "if a person can save one boy out of a dozen he has done more for humanity than he would do if he sent all 12 to jail." Also known to federal investigators for the "fine grapevine" he kept on criminal networks, Lumley was known to have saved the community from the cost and turmoil of major crimes diverted by his able management of situations and the philosophy he inspired in his officers. Lumley died in office from an attack of meningitis and his funeral in 1941 was attended by more than 1,000 residents and colleagues from around Colorado, one of the largest funerals ever known in Grand Junction.

Frey Family Farm - Fruitvale, Colorado

George Peter Frey's death

Linda Kaer (Mae's daughter) sent me this account of George's death.

"I just read on the blog what you had about Grandpa Frey's death. All I know is what Mom told me through the years. She always said she didn't want to influence us any when it came to politics but we needed to know what she did. She said Grandpa Frey was killed by the Democratic Party because he was fighting against the sale of Colorado water to California. They knew that his mind could not be changed and he wouldn't sell out his beliefs. So they took care of it about the same way they did with Pres. Kennedy. The other man in the truck was found later with $500 in his pocket and that was the amount of money Grandpa had left home with.
Mom also said through out his life he had the same dream over and over. It was about a huge monster chasing him and he knew when it caught him he'd die. She always said the monster was his own truck."

Sadie McBride Frey

I don't have many pictures of my grandmother Sadie McBride Frey. I think this must be her professional photo. She looks official and dignified. Sadie was born the 23 Dec. 1879 in Tooele, Tooele, Utah. She was the 12th of 15 children, 9 of which were girls. From the information I have she met George when he came to Utah to work on the railroad. They were married in Tooele by Charles McBride who was a Stake President (I think) and also her Dad. Sadie was Mormon and the granddaughter of a well-known Mormon apostle. George was from a staunch Catholic family. I wish I knew something about their courtship. It must have had it's "interesting" moments. After marrying, they lived on a 20 acre fruit farm in Fruitvale, Colorado just east of Grand Junction. After George's death in 1936 she was left to run the farm and raise five children. She also became a probation officer and worked with juvenile offenders. In her later years she owned a dress shop in downtown Grand Junction, Mode-o-Day. I remember one of her favorite phrases was "Isn't that grand!" or "Isn't he (or she) grand." She always said it with a smile in her slightly husky voice.

Lloyd and Bill WWII

Charles William Frey (Uncle Bill) and his WWII bomber...

These photos were probably taken around or a little before 1940. My Dad (Lloyd) told me the Chevy was a 37 and the dog's name was Queenie. He thinks he was 16 or 17. I would vote more 17. The younger boy with lighter hair is Bill Frey. The older boy with dark hair is Lloyd Frey. Charlotte Frey is the girl. The photos were taken at the family home in Fruitvale, Colorado.

Lloyd's baby pics

Lloyd was born May 19, 1922. These were taken to celebrate his first birthday. The handwriting on the middle photo is Virginia's (Lloyd's wife.)

Lloyd G. Frey

My cousin, Don Heiner sent me a few pictures of my Dad some of which I had never seen before. Thanks Don!

CRICKETS IN THE GRAVE FLOWERS

by James. G. Goode

When an old man dies,
A library burns to the ground…”
Sometime, somewhere,
Someone repeated that African proverb to me.
I think of that and feel
The hollowness in the sound
Of these crickets hiding in the grave flowers.
Homeless,
I wander across desolate plains…
Fatherless now,
I must realize that he will not step from behind the barn;
That when I hear a strange noise and turn quickly
To see him there
I will never be quick enough;
I will no longer touch the bristles on his face.


His hands were strong and veined.
I see them now,
At once, gone…
Once again, everywhere.
They touched this cabin wood,
This Chestnut sprout,
This Hickory bark,
These rough sawed boards.

Here, they rested on my youthful head
And firmly grasped my hand as a young man.
They touched this earth,
Raking in toil across the stones.


Say goodbye,
The Hemlocks whisper…
Say goodbye,
The Oaks echo.
His eyes will never again see Pink Lady’s Slipper bloom in May.
Say goodbye,
Say goodbye…
I cannot say goodbye.
I cannot say goodbye these Autumn days
When I ache from the loss.
I cannot say goodbye


As my symbol shuffles through the Maple leaves
Washing across this gray Earth.
He laughed,
But I never saw him weep.
He walked where flowers bloomed;
Spoke native languages in Haiku…
Brief messages of complexity found in simple things.


I studied him like the university he was…
Earned several degrees under his thick eyebrows ---
Sometimes eagerly lapping the lesson,
Sometimes resistant.
But a well disciplined student who listened with him
To Pheasant wings beating a woodland drum;
To Crickets under his hearthstone;
To the angry bee buzzing out of the Catalpa bloom;
To the music made by leaf colors falling…
A student who watched small birds search the snow;
Tall ridges comb the clouds;
Roses strive in vain;
Cloud ships in the sky;
Mules thinking of oats;Dogwood blooms falling on blue pond waters…

Today the library burned
And I felt it useless to start another.
But he would have demanded it.
“Look at the volumes you already have!” He’d say.
“Rebuild, rebuild, rebuild!”

This beautiful poem was sent to me upon the death of my father, Lloyd G. Frey, by Carolyn Frey Rasmussen's daughters, Lenore Robbins, Laura Jean Frey and Dearwyn Woodbury.

The Charles Reuben McBride and Rhoda Alice Lyman with their family

Charles Reuben McBride (right bottom) and Rhoda Alice Lyman McBride (left bottom) family gather for a picture. I believe that Sadie is the one with the bow in her hair, top left.

Charles Reuben and Rhoda Alice Lyman McBride

Special To The Tribune

TOOELE--Mr. and Mrs. Charles R. McBride, well known residents of Tooele, celebrated their sixtieth wedding anniversary at their home here Wednesday with a quiet family gathering, recalling many of the incidents that have filled lives full with accomplishments and happiness.

Mr. McBride

Mr. McBride was born at Fillmore October 1, 1856. He was the son of Reuben A. and Harriet Columbia Williams McBride. His youth was spent on the cattle ranges surrounding that territory.

Mrs. McBride was the daughter of the late Francis M. and Rhoda Ann Taylor Lyman. She was born at Beaver April 20, 1859. They were married at Fillmore November 20, 1875. At first they made their home at Fillmore, but when her father came to Tooele to preside over the Tooele L. D. S. stake they moved also in 1882.

Mr. McBride has been a successful stockman and farmer in this locality, as well as a business man and community leader. He served as sheriff of Tooele county for some time, and was also county attorney during this time. He served in the state legislature as representative from Tooele county.

Mrs. McBride

Mrs. McBride has also been active in community and church affairs, as well as taking care of a large family. Most of her activities were in the Tooele Relief society of which she was president for nine years, and a counselor in the presdency for seven years previous.

During the war she supervised he work of the Red Cross workers n her ward. It was during this time hat she received a letter from England from a woman who had received a quilt made by Mrs. McBride to send to sufferers in the San Francisco earthquake, but which had been stored and shipped to England when the war broke but. A note asking acknowledgnent of the quilt was still attached, and the answer was the result.

Of the 14 children born to them, nine are living. They are Dr. Lyman A. McBride, W. Grover McBride, Mrs. Peter G. Droubay, Mrs. Jack Kirk and Mrs. Sheldon Gray, all of Tooele; Mrs. George C. Chase, Payson; Mrs. George Snow Gills, Salt Lake City; Mrs. John Brotheron, Stockton, Cal., and Mrs. George P. Frey, Grand Junction, Colo. There are 43 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

Nov 24-35

The above pictures as you can see were at one time a single photo. For some reason it has been cut in half.

Rhoda and her girls...

The photo I have indicates on the back that Sadie is on the top left. The picture was taken about 1916. The listing is as follows:
Sadie, Nellie, Iva, and Ruth along the top.
Echo, Sula, Vera LaVerne surrounding Rhoda Alice Lyman McBride.
Sadie was two years older than Ruth and Sula two years older than Sadie. If anyone has other info. please let me know. (Click on picture to enlarge.)

Rhoda McBride and her girls once again...

I found another picture of Rhoda and her girls. They must have been take an the same time as the clothing is the same.

Rhoda's girls just a litte older....

Not all of the girls are pictured here but we have a few of them. Left to right: Lavern McBride Gibbs, Iva McBride Chase, Vera McBride Gray,
John Brotherton (odd man out), Sula McBride Brotherton, Sadie McBride Frey.


Mrs. Charles R. McBride (Rhoda) and Her Daughters About 1916

Sadie McBride Frey, Nellie McBride Droubay, Iva McBride Chase, Ruth McBride Duffin
Rhoda Alice Lyman McBride
Echo McBride Kirk, Sula McBride Brotherton, Vera McBride Lodge Gray, LaVerne McBride Gibbs