Grandma called him Leonard. He was born in Utah and came with his family to help settle the Gila Valley.
He saw his wife Charlotte (Lottie) the first time when the Gila river was flooding and everyone had come to watch the water, which was a rare thing in Arizona. Wanting to impress this beautiful girl he rode his horse across the raging river, and to make sure she was properlly impressed he rode back again. When he did this Lottie turned to her friends and said " If he makes it I am going to have him".
They were married for 4 years before Lillian was born.
He went on a mission, after he was married, leaving Lottie with a baby.
They farmed for several years then they moved their family to Los Angeles where He started a driving school The first in the world. This was when not very people had cars. After living in Los Angeles for several years he decided to move back to Arizona and farm. One night he had a dream where he saw himself in Mesa. He saw two real estate men whom he contacted concerning a farm property. They took him to see the property. They went through a small town that had a railroad running diagonally through the center of town. They corssed over the railroad, went a short distance and turned east. Next they crossed over the same railroad again and after a short distance came to two separate acreages of farmland. This is where he brought him family. Lottie had told him when he went to look at it to make sure it had a nice house on it. When he returned he couldn't remember if it had a house. The house turned out to be an adobe house with a dirt floor and cloth for a ceiling. Lottie cried when she saw it.
He developed an abscess on one of his kidneys. When it broke it sent poison through out his body and he nearly died. He went back to Mayo Brothers Hospital in Rochester Minnesota. The poison had settled in his lungs. They removed one of his lungs. He was in pain and discomfort most of the rest of his life. Lottie was always seeking ways to help him. When she found something that increased his health nothing would do but the whole Freestone family had to take it.
He was always scared to die. Shortly before his death his father James Fall came to him and told him, "Leonard, death is not what you think".

We called him "Papa"


1900 Census Arizona
Name: George L Freestone
Residence: Maricopa, Arizona
Estimated birth year: 1873
Age in years: 47
Birthplace: Utah
Relationship to head-of-household: Self
Gender: Male
Race or color (on document): White
Marital status: Married
Father's birthplace: England
Mother's birthplace: Denmark
Film number: 1820048
Digital GS number: 4294344
Image number: 00818
Sheet number: 11