John Freiman

John Freiman (Jānis Freimanis, John Freeman) was born August 9, 1885, in Rīga.¹ He arrived in the United States in 1910 and by 1920, according to the federal census, was living at 894 N. 42nd Street in Philadelphia. He had married Constance Schwanke and they had an infant daughter, Martha. Living with them was his mother-in-law, Caroline Schwanke, and a boarder, Robert Strum, also a Latvian immigrant. John Freiman worked as an engineer in an ice plant.

In 1940, the couple lived in rural Haverford in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. By then the family had grown to include two more daughters, Vera and Alma, as well as a son, Leon. Caroline Schwanke also was still living with the family.² Leon was born in 1935 and died in 2001, according to his obituary.