Margretha was born in Altnau, Thurgau, Switzerland a daughter of Hans Georg Nageli and Anna Margretha Schilling. She came to America for the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ as she had embraced the teachings of Mormon missionaries a few years before. She was 30 years old and single when she emigrated to Utah. In Salt Lake City, she met a 25 year old Swiss convert named Johann Rudolf Frei. After a short courtship, they were married in the Endowment House in SLC in 1861. Later that same year they were called on a colonizing mission to the extreme southwest corner of Utah on the Santa Clara River. They made the 3-4 week journey and endured many hardships in settling this new community. They lived for a time in their wagon box, then a dugout, then a few years later they built a log home. Margaret worked hard along side her husband and often went hungry with him. She bore seven children. Only 3 lived to maturity. They built an adobe home where they lived their remaining years. Margretha died in Santa Clara in 1911.
Margretha was born in Altnau, Thurgau, Switzerland a daughter of Hans Georg Nageli and Anna Margretha Schilling. She came to America for the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ as she had embraced the teachings of Mormon missionaries a few years before. She was 30 years old and single when she emigrated to Utah. In Salt Lake City, she met a 25 year old Swiss convert named Johann Rudolf Frei. After a short courtship, they were married in the Endowment House in SLC in 1861. Later that same year they were called on a colonizing mission to the extreme southwest corner of Utah on the Santa Clara River. They made the 3-4 week journey and endured many hardships in settling this new community. They lived for a time in their wagon box, then a dugout, then a few years later they built a log home. Margaret worked hard along side her husband and often went hungry with him. She bore seven children. Only 3 lived to maturity. They built an adobe home where they lived their remaining years. Margretha died in Santa Clara in 1911.
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