FREY, FRANZ (FRANK) XAVIER (8 Dec. 1837-13 March 1900), recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor for service during the CIVIL WAR, was born in Zurich, Switzerland, emigrated to the U. S. prior to the war, and settled in Cleveland. He enlisted in the 37th Volunteer Infantry at Cleveland 16 Oct. 1861 and was promoted to corporal 25 July 1862. Frey participated in the campaign to capture Vicksburg, Mississippi, in May 1863 as one of 150 volunteers who stormed the Confederate earthworks north of the city. Although the storming party failed to achieve its objective, party members including Frey received the Medal of Honor 14 Aug. 1894 for gallantry during the assault. He finished the war as a commissary sergeant and was discharged at Camp Cleveland, Ohio, in 1865. He remained in the city after the war, marrying three times. His third wife, Margaret Heinkleman bore him a son, Franz on 23 Dec. 1885. Frey died in Cleveland at age 62 and ultimately was buried at LAKE VIEW CEMETERY.
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