Romeo Hoyt FREER, Congress, WV (1846-1913)

FREER, Romeo Hoyt, a Representative from West Virginia; born in Bazetta, Trumbull County, Ohio, November 9, 1846; attended the common schools of Ashtabula County, Ohio, where his parents had moved when he was three years old; during the Civil War served in the Union Army as a private; settled in Charleston, W.Va., in March 1866; taught school; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1868 and practiced; assistant prosecuting attorney of Kanawha County 1868-1871; prosecuting attorney of the same county 1871-1873; appointed commercial agent to San Juan del Norte, Nicaragua, January 15, 1873, and served until January 1877; moved to Harrisville, Ritchie County, W.Va., in 1882; member of the State house of delegates in 1891; prosecuting attorney of Ritchie County 1892-1897; judge of the fourth circuit of West Virginia 1896-1899; elected as a Republican to the Fifty-sixth Congress (March 4, 1899-March 3, 1901); unsuccessful candidate for reelection; attorney general of West Virginia 1901-1905; appointed postmaster of Harrisville, W.Va., on October 4, 1907, and served until his death, May 9, 1913; interment in Harrisville Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present