Robert E. Freer

Federal Trade Commission chair (1896–1963)

Robert Elliott Freer (January 30, 1896 – January 6, 1963)^[1] was an Ohio attorney who served as chair of the Federal Trade Commission from January 1, 1939, to December 31, 1939, again from January 1, 1944, to December 31, 1944, and a third time from January 1, 1948, to December 31, 1948.^[2]

Early life and education

Freer was orn in Madisonville, Cincinnati, Ohio. He received an LL.B. from the University of Cincinnati College of Law in 1917.^[3] He received an LL.M. from the Washington College of Law in 1929.^[4]

Career

He entered the practice of law in Cincinnati in 1917.^[4] He served in the United States Army during World War II in the 324th Infantry Regiment, and was deployed to France.^[5]

In 1925, he became an attorney with the Bureau of Valuation within the Interstate Commerce Commission.In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Freer as a Republican member of the FTC.^[1] Freer was reappointed to the FTC by President Harry S. Truman in 1948, but resigned later that year to return to the practice of law.^[1]

In 1960, Freer returned to government service as a hearing examiner for the Federal Power Commission^[1]

Honors

1928: Elected membership by his alma mater, University of Cincinnati College of Law, to the Order of the Coif^[6]

Personal life and death

Freer married three times, first – on October 28, 1919, in Newport, Kentucky – to Hazel Louise Davis (maiden; 1898–1975). He then married – on 11 Apr 1925, in Marion County, Ohio – Olive Roberts (maiden; 1898–1973). Freer then married – on September 7, 1939, in McConnellsburg, Pennsylvania – Alice Elizabeth Barry (maiden; 1905–1979), and adopted her two daughters and one son from her prior marriage to Harold Wadsworth Sullivan (1896–1969), former Assistant Attorney General for Massachusetts.^[7] Together, he and Alice had a son. Alice's father, Edward P. Barry, had been Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts.^[5] with whom he had two sons and two daughters.^[1] Alice, in 1933, earned a law degree from the Portia Law School in Boston.^[8]

Freer died of multiple myeloma at the age of 66,^[1] and was interred at Arlington National Cemetery.

Political offices
Preceded by Garland S. Ferguson Garland S. Ferguson Garland S. Ferguson	Chairmen of the Federal Trade Commission 1939–1939 1944–1944 1948–1948	Succeeded by Ewin L. Davis Ewin L. Davis Lowell B. Mason

Bibliography

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Chicago Tribune, January 7, 1963, p. 42.
^ Federal Trade Commission, October 2021.
^ "Robert Elliott Freer", 1920, pp. 24–25.
^ ^a ^b Martindale-Hubbell. Vol. 1, 1958, p. 743.
^ ^a ^b Cincinnati Enquirer, October 29, 1919, p. 7.
^ American Law School Review, December 1928, p. 385.
^ Boston Globe, September 12, 1939, p. 22.
^ Washington Post, April 22, 1979.

References

American Law School Review (The) (December 1928). "Notes and Personals". . 6 (7): 385. Retrieved May 20, 2022 – via Google Books. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) LCCN 2008-247516; OCLC 76883455 (all editions).

Boston Globe (The) (September 22, 1939). "Ex-Lieut. Gov. Barry's Daughter Weds Freer". Vol. 136, no. 74. p. 22 (column 6, middle). Retrieved May 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.

Chicago Tribune (January 7, 1963). "R. E. Freer, Ex-Chairman of FTC, Dies". Vol. 122, no. 6. p. 42. Retrieved February 21, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
Cincinnati Enquirer (The) (October 29, 1919). "R. E. Freer Wins Bride". Vol. 76, no. 302. p. 7 (column 5, middle). Retrieved February 21, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

Federal Trade Commission (October 2021). Commissioners, Chairwomen and Chairmen of the Federal Trade Commission (PDF) (timeline). . Retrieved January 22, 2021..

Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory. Vol. 1 (of 3) (90th Annual ed.). 1958. p. 743. LCCN 31-6356; ISSN 0191-0221; OCLC 1645529 (all editions).

"Robert Elliott Freer". Memoirs of Miami Valley. . Vol. 3 (of 3). Chicago: Robert O. Law Company. 1920. pp. 24–25. Retrieved May 20, 2022 – via Google Books. LCCN a-40-507; OCLC 478490 (all editions).

Washington Post (The); Joyce, Maureen (April 22, 1979). "Alice Barry Freer, Former City Court Official, Dies". . Retrieved May 20, 2022.

Chairs of the Federal Trade Commission

Member-selected
(1915–1950)

Joseph E. Davies (1915–1916) • Edward N. Hurley (1916–1917) • William J. Harris (1917–1918) • William Byron Colver (1918–1919) • John Franklin Fort (1919) • Victor Murdock (1919–1920) • Samuel Huston Thompson (1920–1921) • Nelson B. Gaskill (1921–1922) • Victor Murdock (1922–1923) • Samuel Huston Thompson (1923–1924) • Vernon W. Van Fleet (1924–1925) • John F. Nugent (1925–1926) • Charles W. Hunt (1926–1927) • William E. Humphrey (1927–1928) • Abram F. Myers (1928–1929) • Edgar A. McCulloch (1929) • Garland Ferguson Jr. (1930) • Charles W. Hunt (1931) • William E. Humphrey (1932) • Charles H. March (1933) • Garland Ferguson Jr. (1934) • Ewin L. Davis (1935) • Charles H. March (1936) • William Augustus Ayres (1937) • Garland Ferguson Jr. (1938) • Robert E. Freer (1939) • Ewin L. Davis (1940) • Charles H. March (1941) • William Augustus Ayres (1942) • Garland Ferguson Jr. (1943) • Robert E. Freer (1944) • Ewin L. Davis (1945) • William Augustus Ayres (1946) • Garland Ferguson Jr. (1947) • Robert E. Freer (1948) • Lowell B. Mason (1949–1950)

Presidential appointments
(1950–present)
Acting chairs italicized

James M. Mead (1950–1953) • Edward F. Howrey (1953–1955) • John W. Gwynne (1955–1959) • Earl W. Kintner (1959–1961) • Paul Rand Dixon (1961–1969) • Caspar Weinberger (1970–1970) • Everette MacIntyre (1970–1973) • Lewis A. Engman (1973–1975) • Paul Rand Dixon (1976) • Calvin J. Collier (1976–1977) • Michael Pertschuk (1977–1981) • David A. Clanton (1981) • James C. Miller III (1981–1985) • Terry Calvani (1985–1986) • Daniel Oliver (1986–1989) • Janet Dempsey Steiger (1989–1995) • Robert Pitofsky (1995–2001) • Timothy Muris (2001–2004) • Deborah Platt Majoras (2004–2008) • William Kovacic (2008–2009) • Jon Leibowitz (2009–2013) • Edith Ramirez (2013–2017) • Maureen Ohlhausen (2017–2018) • Joseph Simons (2018–2021) • Rebecca Slaughter (2021) • Lina Khan (2021–present)

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