Frank W. Fries

Who was Frank W. Fries?

Frank William Fries was a U.S. Representative from Illinois.

Born in Hornsby, Cahokia Township, Macoupin County, Illinois, Fries moved with his parents to Gillespie, Illinois, in 1904. He attended the public schools. Coal miner 1915-1917. During the First World War served as a sergeant in the Thirty-seventh Company, One Hundred and Fifty-third Depot Brigade, United States Army, from April 1918 to December 1918. Coal mine operator in 1920 and 1921. He engaged in the insurance business 1922-1927. He moved to Carlinville, Illinois, in 1930 and engaged in the wholesale produce business. Sheriff of Macoupin County 1930-1934. He served as member of the Illinois House of Representatives 1934-1936.

Fries was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-fifth and Seventy-sixth Congresses. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1940 to the Seventy-seventh Congress. He was an arbitrator in the coal industry from 1941 to 1969. He was a resident of Gillespie, Illinois, until his death on July 17, 1980. He was interred in Holy Cross Cemetery.