Fryda Family
Transcribed by Michael R.Reilly
Last Revised 07/21/2008
WORKING Betty Fryda, Lisbon town clerk for 25 years, performed the unglamorous chore of operating the farm’s manure spreader.
FRYDA FARM GOES BACK 76 YEARS
by Fred H. Keller, Staff Writer, Sussex Sun, June 8, 2005
Mike Fryda graduated from St. John’s of Lannongrade school and was part of the Hamilton class of 1975 where he earned athleticletters in football and wrestling.
He married Penny Zubella from the Hamilton class of 1979 in 1995. They areraising two boys (Jessie, 6, and Mike Jr., 8) and two girls (Taylor, 5, and 6month-old Jordan) besides many calves and cats.
Their Hillside Road farm is now 28 acres, but Mike works 350 rented acres, two 100 acres of corn, 125 acres of hay, 100 acres of soybeans and 25 acres ofoats.
The corn, hay and oats will go through the cows to produce milk in the pail, andsome cows and calves for the beef trade. The soybeans are a cash crop, usuallysold at harvest time.
The herd is something of a rarity: Jersey cows, a registered purebred. These relatively small cows originally came to the United States in 1850 from the Isle of Jersey in the EnglishChannel, according to the World Book Encyclopedia.
Although they are small in size, their milk is known for its high protein andcream levels, which tend to bring higher prices.
The Frydas are often kidded that Jersey cows areso small that one of the farm chores is to go out to the pasture and see thatall the gopher holes are filled, or a Jersey cow might fall in and disappear.There’s also the story that Jersey cows are so small that mother farm cats haveoften adopted them.
The reason the Fryda farm has Jersey cows is that its original owner in 1929,Hugo Siewert, had Jerseys, and the Fryda family has run with them ever since.
Jersey cows are gentle and friendly. There are few to no problems with thebulls, as they have a kinder side to them, too.
The Fryda farm is now in its 76th year, and the third and fourth generations arerunning it with help from the second, Bob and Betty.
Old Ernest Fryda was born in Prussia, Germany, on June 21, 1898, missing WorldWar I service. He came to the United States in 1919 and worked in a Milwaukeefoundry.
He married Viola Connell on June 20, 1925, a Colgate girl who went back to theearly Colgate pioneers.
Ernest and Viola bought out the 80-acre Hugo Siewert farm in 1929 and raisedthree children there: Bob, Marge and Blaine. Marge lives in Louisiana and Blaine in Georgia.
Bob and his wife, Betty, took over the farm in 1963. Forty years later, theyturned it over to their son Mike.
Old Ernest died May 20, 1982, at age 84. Viola died June 25, 1980, at age 80.
Parts of the original 80 acres became two homes across Hillside Road for thegrowing Fryda family, but today all the Frydas live in one humongous house onthe west side of Hillside Road, after a massive remodeling in 1996.
Betty still does a lot of the milking and also baby-sits the grandchildren.
Of Bob and Betty’s four children, Vicky still lives in Lisbon. Vicki was an outstanding member of the Sussex Robinettes, a baton, drum and color guard corps.
Betty served as the Lisbon town clerk for nearly 25 years. It was something of afamily tradition, as her mother-in-law, Viola, also held that post.
Bob graduated from the two-year Sussex High School in 1945 and then WaukeshaHigh in 1947. Betty was from Cedarburg High School, class of 1952. She spenttime in her youth on a Cedarburg area farm, then married soon after graduation.
After the barn burned down in 1992, the farm was converted to milking parlors and loose housing. Milking starts at 6:30 a.m. andthen again at 5:30 p.m. Milking of the 75 milkers takes 2-1/2 hours each time.Each cow’s average production each day is 46 pounds of milk about 5-3/4gallons.
Mike is reviving June Dairy Month’s Father’s Day on the Farm this year. It willbe from 3 to 7 p.m. Sunday, June 19.
©Sussex Sun 2005
Descendants of ? Fryda
Generation No. 1
1.
?1 FRYDA
Children of
? FRYDA are:
2. i. ERNEST ADAM
2 FRYDA, b. 21 Jun 1898, Prussia, Germany (Austria); d. 20 May 1982.
3. ii. GEORGE FRYDA, b. 1887, Austria.
4. iii. PAUL FRYDA, b. 25 Oct 1901, Austria; d. Jan 1973, Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Generation No. 2
2. E
RNEST ADAM2 FRYDA (?1) was born 21 Jun 1898 in Prussia, Germany (Austria) (Source: 1920 Federal Census, WWI Draft Registration; 1920 Fed Census lists Austria; while 1930 lists Poland.), and died 20 May 1982. He married VIOLA M. CONNELL 20 Jun 1925, daughter of GEORGE CONNELL and RACHEL PETERSON. She was born 09 Mar 1900, and died 25 Jun 1980.
More About E
RNEST ADAM FRYDA:
Emigration: 1919 (Source: 1920 Federal Census, 1920 Federal Census shows 1913 as does the 1930.)
Occupation: Sep 1918, Concrete work – silos (Source: World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918.)
Residence 1: 12 Sep 1918, Rte. 3, Randolph, Dodge county, Wisconsin (Source: World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918.)
Residence 2: 1920, Elba, Dodge, Wisconsin
More About E
RNEST FRYDA and VIOLA CONNELL:
Marriage: 20 Jun 1925
Children of E
RNEST FRYDA and VIOLA CONNELL are:
i. MARJORIE MAE
3 FRYDA, m. STANLEY NICE, 11 Jun 1955, St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Lannon, Menomonee, Waukesha, Wisconsin (Source: Waukesha Daily Freeman, June 20, 1955, page 8 of 12.).
More About MARJORIE MAE FRYDA:
Residence: Oct 1954, Madison, Dane, Wisconsin (Source: Waukesha Daily Freeman, Thursday, Oct. 14, 1954, page 11, col. 2.)
More About STANLEY NICE and MARJORIE FRYDA:
Marriage: 11 Jun 1955, St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Lannon, Menomonee, Waukesha, Wisconsin (Source: Waukesha Daily Freeman, June 20, 1955, page 8 of 12.)
ii. ROBERT ADAM FRYDA, b. 1928; m. ELIZABETH “BETTY” ?.
iii. BLAINE FRYDA, m. SALLY ?.
3. G
EORGE2 FRYDA (?1) was born 1887 in Austria. He married MARGARET?. She was born 1891 in Wisconsin.
More About G
EORGE FRYDA:
Emigration: 1907 (Source: 1920 Federal Census.)
Children of G
EORGE FRYDA and MARGARET? are:
i. ALFRED
3 FRYDA, b. 09 Mar 1912, Wisconsin; d. May 1975, Dixon, Lee, Illinois.
ii. GERTRUDE FRYDA, b. 1916, Wisconsin.
iii. FRANKLIN FRYDA, b. 03 Nov 1917, Wisconsin; d. 30 Jun 1988, Fond Du Lac, Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin.
iv. GEORGE A. FRYDA, b. 01 May 1922, Wisconsin; d. 27 Feb 1989, Fond Du Lac, Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin.
v. VALESCA FRYDA.
4. P
AUL2 FRYDA (?1) was born 25 Oct 1901 in Austria (Source: 1930 Federal Census.), and died Jan 1973 in Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He married VIVIAN?. She was born Abt. 1908.
More About P
AUL FRYDA:
Emigration: 1920 (Source: 1930 Federal Census.)
Children of P
AUL FRYDA and VIVIAN? are:
i. EUNICE
3 FRYDA, b. Abt. 1928, West Allis, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; d. Abt. Feb 1930.
ii. GERALD LEROY FRYDA, b. Aft. 1930, West Allis, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.