HUGO FREER, the ancestor of the numerous families of that name now settled along the shores of the Hudson River. Little is known of his origin and ancestry, save that he was a Huguenot, and perhaps came from Normandy as the name of his first wife, “Marie Haye,” might indicate. He must have come to the New Netherlands about 1665, and immediately gone to Kingston, N. Y., where there was a large Huguenot settlement. He soon, however, removed to New Paltz, N. Y., where he died. The earliest records concerning him are contained in the Paltz church register and run as follows:
“1683, Jan. 22. Mr. Pierre Daillie, Minister of the Word of God, arrived at New Paltz, preached twice on the Sunday follow- ing, and proposed, at a social gathering of the families to elect by a majority of votes of the heads of families, an elder and a deacon. This was done and the following named were elected
Louis Dubois, as elder, and Hughe Frere, as deacon
to assist the minister in managing the affairs of the congregation assembled at New Paltz, and who were afterwards installed in the said office of elder and deacon.”8925