1849 Birth:2498 Birth date of 15 March 1849 and birth place of Oswego, New York taken from 1943 Colorado death certificate. Given that the 1850 census2484 enumeration lists "Francis, age 2 months," it is likely his actual birth year was 1850 rather than 1849.

1850 U.S. Census:2484 Frank enumerated in the household of his father Alvin Frary in the town of Albion, Oswego County, New York as Francis, age 2 months, born in New York. Others residing in the same household were mother Mary Ann and siblings Adelia, Mark, Augusta, Julia, Harrison, Lucy, Ruth, George, and Charles.

1860 U.S. Census:2491 Frank enumerated in the household of his father Alvin Frary in Morris City, Grundy County, Illinois as Francis, age 11, male, born in New York. His mother Mary and brother Charles were also residing in the household.

1880 U.S. Census:2490
Knox County, Illinois (Galesburg, 6th Ward)
Enumerated 3 June 1880
Main Street
Frank Frary •• white, male, 27, single, R. R. conductor, born in New York, father born in Vermont, mother born in New York
Mary •• white, female, 70, mother, divorced, keeping house, born in New York, father born in New York, mother born in New York

1943 Death Certificate:2498 Frank M. Frary; place of death, St. Anthony's Hospital, Denver, Denver County, Colorado; residence, 2555 W. 33rd Avenue, Denver, Denver County, Colorado; date of death, 8 October 1943; male, white, widowed; wife, Addie Frary; date of birth, 15 March 1849; age, 94 years, 6 months, 23 days; birth place, Oswego, N. Y.; occupation, R. R. conductor, Burlington; father, Alvin W. Frary, birthplace unknown; mother, Mary Ann Patton, born in N. Y.; informant, Anker Bergh, 2555 W. 33rd Avenue; place of burial, Berwyn, Illinois.

1943 Death Notice:2503 "Frank M. Frary of 2555 W. 33d Ave. Services and interment Burl, Ill."

1943 Obituary:2502 "Civil War Vet Kept $81,610 in Vest Pocket. Will of Denver Railman Reveals Unexpected Fortune. How the vest pocket of a Civil War veteran who died in Denver recently yielded an unexpected fortune of $81,610 which he had carried concealed on his person for years was revealed Tuesday when his last will and testament was made public.

He was Frank M. Frary, 94, who marched thru Georgia with General Sherman's army as a boy of 15 — a retired passenger conductor for the C. B. & O. Railroad company, who made his home with his niece, Mrs. Bertha Bergh of 2555 West Thirty Third Avenue.

79 $1,000 Bills Wrapped in Paper

Frary's hidden riches were discovered when he suffered a stroke at his niece's home and was taken to St. Anthony's hospital before his death Oct. 8. When the family physician arrived at the home, he and Mrs. Bergh examined the elderly man's clothing and discovered one cache of seventy-nine $1,000 bills wrapped in brown paper, and the remainder of his fortune in bills of smaller denomination. The entire lifetime savings amounted to $81,610.

It long had been suspected the alert and active old gentleman had considerable money, but the full extent of his wealth was not known until the day he became ill. His last will was disclosed shortly thereafter. Twenty-six relatives and friends were made beneficiaries in amounts ranging from $100 to $2,000 plus sums allocated according to percentages of the first specified grants. The additional distribution was made in a carefully worded section of his will which said he wished to give the remainder of his estate at death "seized or possessed, real, personal and mixed, of whatever kind and nature and wheresoever the same may be situated . . .," to the same beneficiaries.

Frary came to Denver from Berwyn, Ill., and worked for the Burlington fifty-one years before his retirement in 1922. In 1941 he stopped briefly in Denver on his way to California to visit a nephew and celebrate his 92nd birthday. Shortly after that he came to Denver to remain. Benjamin C. Hilliard Jr., his attorney, said Frary had received a pension for his service in the Civil War and a pension from the railroad company. He was reported to have put the latter into Burlington stocks and bonds, all of which he converted to cash about two years ago when he apparently realized he was nearing death.

Carried Money Wherever He Went

He was said to have "dabbled" in stocks and bonds thruout his lifetime and to have liquidated all his holdings when he cashed his railroad stocks. He frequently made trips about town, presumably carrying the valuable packet of big bills all the time. The will, made Sept. 2, 1940, named Arthur A. Nelson of Berwyn, Ill., his executor without bond, and gave him full authority over his entire estate. The heirs it was reported Tuesday, have put $75,000 of the estate in United States war bonds."