Catherine Freyer (or Fry) Koerner

Quick Facts

Significance:

Grandmother to Orville & Wilbur Wright

Place of Birth:

Hillsboro, Virginia

Date of Birth:

November 30, 1796

Place of Death:

Fairfield, Indiana

Date of Death:

January 20, 1889

Place of Burial:

Fairfield, Indiana

Cemetery Name:

Old Franklin Cemetery

Susan Koerner Wright’s mother, was born near Hillsboro in Loudon County, Virginia, to John Philipp Freyer and Dorothea Boger. While little is known of her early life, she was the tenth of twelve children. Catherine married Johann (John) Gottlieb Koerner in Loudon County on April 10, 1820; they had five children.

Catherine and John moved from Virginia to a farm in Union County, Indiana, in 1832, an area where several of Catherine’s relatives already lived. The Koerner farm, which covered nearly 180 acres, earned a description by Catherine’s descendants as having enough buildings to comprise a small village. After her husband’s death in 1876, Catherine Koerner lived in Richmond, Indiana, with her daughter and son-in-law. Milton Wright often visited her when in Richmond on business for the United Brethren Church. Catherine Koerner died in Richmond and is buried in the Franklin Church Cemetery near Liberty, Indiana.