The early Freemans we know –Mary Hall Freeman and her children Jane, Elisabeth and John– emigrated from England in the 1870’s. We have recently discovered more about the Freemans and father George, and his lineage which goes back to the late 1600’s in Cape Cod and Connecticut.The Hall Family has a deep history in England,…
Mary (Maria) Thalmyer married Carl Wittman in 1913 in London. Mary was born in Saafelden, Austria February 19, 1893 and died in Paramus NJ February 12, 1976. (See early photo of her under Carl Wittman Sr. file.) She and Carl had two children, Walter who was born in Dresden, and Robert who was born 15…
A sampling of informal photos of Elizabeth Freeman (daughter of John and Blanche), Caption: Top L-R: Elizabeth with baby (Jane?); Elizabeth on a bike trip; with mother Blanche: Elizabeth, Ruth, Blanche, John, Jeanette, Helen (baby); at Jane’s Suffrage exhibit featuring Aunt Elisabeth Freeman, L-R: Elizabeth, Peg Johnston, Ruth, Jane Vandebogart and Jeanette; Elizabeth at 152…
A sampling of pictures of John Freeman’s children: from his first marriage, Fred (children, Freddie, Dick and Jack) and Frances (husband Walter Watkins). With his second wife Blanche: Jeanette, Ruth, John Jr., Elizabeth, and Helen. Captions: From Top, L-R: On steps: Helen, Elizabeth, John, Ruth, Jeanette; John with Jeanette, John, Ruth; a tired John shucking…
Helen was the youngest child of John F. and Blanche (Bishop) Freeman, b. Dec. 9, 1923, d. Jan. 11, 1990. She joined the Women’s Army Corps and was stationed in March Field in California where she met her husband to be Charles Shipley. They had three children, Lynn, Jan, and Daniel. She was a CPA…
Robert (Bob) Wittman, son of Carl and Mary (Thalmyer) Wittman was Walter’s younger brother. He was in a long term relationship with Gloria Warshaw, a social worker and activist. Bobbie was Managing Editor and publisher for Carl’s weekly paper The Clarion from 1950-53. He spent a couple of years on a tramp freighter exploring South…
Carl Wittman and Mary Thalmyer Wittman had two sons, Walter and Robert (Bob). Walter and Jeanette Freeman Wittman had two children, Jane and Carl. Carl Wittman was born in Germany and came to the U.S. at the age of 14. From 1900-1910 he mined gold in Alaska, traversing the length of the Klondike three times…
Walt Wittman was a supporter of the arts, especially those with leftist expressions. He was close to Ad Reinhardt, an artist and cartoonist known for his incisive cartoons of current event before and leading up the U.S. joining WWII. Jeanette and Walt were also friends with Rockwell Kent and Lynd Ward, who created God’s Man…
Elizabeth Freeman (daughter of John F. and Blanche Freeman) volunteered for service in the Women’s Army Corps during WWII. She collected bits of wartime propaganda and ephemera which her niece Peg Johnston made into a book, actually a double book with pockets attached to a cloth folder.
Carl was six years older than his cousin Peg but there was a mutual admiration and bond, complicated by the great geographical distance between them, and ultimately, by Carl’s untimely death due to AIDS. What follows is a letter from Carl on coming out, a remembrance published in the women’s newspaper Hera (Binghamton NY Women’s…
