J. Howard Frew

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Husband J. Howard Frew ¹

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           Born: 1870 - Lawrence Co, PA 1
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         Father: James Milton Frew (      -Bef 1908) 1 2 3
         Mother: Alcetha Mershimer (      -      ) 1 3

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Wife

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Children

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General Notes: Husband - J. Howard Frew

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After obtaining an education in the Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, schools, he managed the family farm for his mother until he was twenty years old. About 1890 he went to Pittsburgh, where he worked for one year for the Kaufman Company. Subsequently, he returned to Lawrence County and established himself in New Castle, for two years working for Offutt & Company, a furniture and undertaking establishment. In 1893 he entered a partnership called Dunn, Buffinger, Rice & Frew, which operated a combination furniture store and undertaking establishment. Five years later the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Frew taking over the furniture branch, and two other partners, Mr. Dunn and Mr. Rice, undertaking the conduct of the funeral business. Mr. Frew began the upbuilding of his enterprise at once. The business, in 1901, was incorporated under the name The Frew Furniture Company, with Mr. Frew as president, and Milton Frew as secretary-treasurer, and W. A. Woodworth as a director. In 1924 the business was reincorporated as The Frew Company, J. H. Frew becoming its president and treasurer,
his brother, Milton Frew, vice-president, and R. L. Wallace, secretary. The firm became one of the largest in Pennsylvania, and employed thirty persons. In August, 1924, The Frew Company moved into a new building, which they constructed, located at the corner of Mill and North streets, one of the finest structures in the entire state and probably the best commercial edifice in Lawrence County. The company operated two trucks within a radius of one hundred miles from New Castle and it shipped goods to all parts of the country. It also had an excellent reputation as interior decorators.
Mr. Frew was also a director in the Community Savings and Loan Association of New Castle. He was a Republican in politics, and he belonged to New Castle Lodge, No. 642, Free and Accepted Masons; to the Valley of New Castle Consistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite; to the Sons of Veterans; Sons of the American Revolution, (through Sebastian Mershimer, he received a section in what is now Lawrence County for his services in that war). Mr. Frew was also a member of the New Castle Board of Trade, the New Castle Field Club, and the Lawrence Club. His church was the Highland United Presbyterian, in New Castle.

1 George P. Donehoo, Pennsylvania - A History (SW) (New York, NY; Chicago, IL: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc., 1926), Pg 242.

2 —, History of Butler County, Pennsylvania (R. C. Brown & Co. Publishers, 1895), Pg 1059.

3 Aaron L. Hazen, 20th Century History of New Castle and Lawrence County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., 1908), Pg 510.