Samuel Frey

Samuel Jacob Frey (German pronunciation: [zaˈmu̯ɛl fʁaɪ̯]; 7 September 1850 – 26 February 1934) was a Swiss industrialist, financier and politician. He is best known for founding the Freya Paper Company, today known as Elco AG, in 1884. Frey served as a member of the Grand Council of Aargau from 1901 to 1921 for the Free Radical Liberals.

Samuel Jacob Frey was born 7 September 1850 in Gontenschwil, Switzerland, the eldest of eleven children to Hans Jacob Frey and Elisabeth Frey (née Haller) into a Protestant family. His parents operated a weaving mill and a modest farm on Obere Egg, a small hamlet near the main village. His paternal grandfather, Caspar Frey (1792-1859), had only two sons who reached adulthood. The younger son emigrated with his family to Steinauer, Nebraska, where they did a lot of pioneering work in Pawnee County. From 1866 to 1868 he completed an apprenticeship at Locher & Cie in Aarau, a major construction company which had been under the management of Olivier Zschokke since 1859.

Early professional life

After Frey completed his commercial apprenticeship he initially worked as a bookkeeper for the same employer, until 1875. In 1876, he started to work for the Aargau legislature as a warden at the Cantonal Penitentiary in Lenzburg, where he was first introduced to the manufacturing of paper bags.

Freya Manufacturing Company

In 1883, at 32 years old, Frey decided to start his own paper business and he was able to afford the construction of a simple manufacturing building. In 1884, production started with several dozen women, who glued paper bags for local grocery stores as well as produced packaging for the tobacco industry which was prevalent in the Wynental region at the end of the 19th century. The company grew and the success turned Frey into one of the wealthiest citizens in the Kulm District. His youngest brother, Heinrich Frey-Zschokke, completed a commercial apprenticeship at his company. In 1895, he would become a partner in his own paper manufacturing company, Haeusler Frey & Co AG.

Frey, Wiederkehr & Co AG

In the later years of the 1880s he got introduced to his neighbor Hermann Wiederkehr-Schmid. They became partners for the further development of the company which promised a lot of growth. On August 27, 1892, Frey partnered with Hermann Wiederkehr-Schmid and the new general partnership Frey & Wiederkehr was founded. Following rapid growth the company moved to Zürich in 1904. In 1909, the company was converted from a general partnership to a limited partnership and renamed Frey, Wiederkehr & Co. On July 6, 1917, the company was converted into a stock corporation.

Board memberships, other activities

Frey retired from business life in 1915 but remained a silent partner until his death. He was a member of the board of directors of the Bank in Menziken (1892–1920), president (1904–34), Wynental and Suhrental Railway (1920–1934), and also on the board of trustees of the Oberwynen- und Seetal Health Association (1927–1934), today's Asana Hospital Menziken. Frey also supported the Historical Society of Gontenschwil and represented the village at events throughout Switzerland.

In 1901, Frey was elected to the Grand Council of the Canton of Aargau, serving until 1919. He presided several commissions and was an active member of the cantonal legislature.

Frey married Rosette Frey, a daughter of Wilhelm Frey and Anna Maria Merz, innkeepers near Gontenschwil, on March 25, 1879. The couple had four children. Initially, the Frey family lived in a house on Obere Egg, before commissioning Villa zur Freya around 1890 (completed in 1893) on the premises of the paper mill. The house was one of the most modern at the time featuring bathrooms with running water, electricity and an English architecture-inspired garden with a swimming pool.

Frey died from natural causes on 26 February 1934 at Villa zur Freya. He was buried in the Old Cemetery in Gontenschwil.

• Rolf Bolliger: Die Papierfabrik Frey und Wiederkehr Historical Association Wynental 2005 (in German)
• Karl Obrist: Denkschrift zum 100 jährigen bestehen der Bank in Menziken Bank in Menziken 1952 (in German)
• 50 Jahre Briefumschlag & Papierwarenfabrik Frey, Wiederkehr & Co AG Zürich ETH Library Zürich (in German)
• Andreas Müller: Achilles Zschokke der Sohn des Dichters: Biographie eines Landpfarrers Historical Association Wynental 2007 (in German