John H. Freer, well known among El Monte’s early settlers, was the son of William H. Freer, who settled in El Monte in the seventies, a separate review of whom is given in this work.
John Freer was born in San Jose, California in 1852, and in 1874, came to El Monte and located on a tract of land in the Mountain View district and engaged in general farming. He later moved to the ranch known as the Old Tibbet Place, which his father had acquired. He lived here until 1887, when the place was sold, and then moved to Oregon for three years. The remainder of his life was spent in Chino, Redondo Beach, El Monte, and Redding, where he lived at the time of his death in 1928.
In 1874, Mr. Freer was married to Miss Lucy Moody, a native of North Carolina and daughter of W.H. Moody. To this union were born seven children: James, deceased; Charles, of Los Angeles; Edna, (Mrs. McDonald) and Enoch, of Berkeley; Bryan, residing in Oregon; and William and Alfred, whose residences are unknown.
Source: C. D. Mayon, F. Brow, L. Stoddard, and C. Mudd; El Monte from the Pioneer Days. WPA Project No. N-5740, 1936. In record 19-187072. (California Historical Landmark No. 765: El Monte). On file at the SCCIC, CSU Fullerton.