Born in Hudson, Wisconsin, in Saint Croix County, Wisconsin, Frear attended the public schools, and Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin, in 1878. He graduated from the National Law University, Washington, District of Columbia, in 1884.
He served in the Signal Service, United States Army from 1879 to 1884. He was admitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice in Hudson, Wisconsin. He was city attorney of Hudson in 1894 and 1895.
He served eleven years with the Wisconsin National Guard, retiring with the rank of colonel and judge advocate.
He was elected district attorney of Saint Croix County from 1896 to 1901. He then served in the Wisconsin State Senate in 1905.
Frear became the Secretary of State of Wisconsin from 1907 to 1913. Frear was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-third and to the ten succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1913 – January 3, 1935).
On April 5, 1917, he voted against declaring war on Germany.
Foreign his first ten terms in office he represented Wisconsin"s 10th congressional district, but for his last term in office, the 73rd Congress, he redistricted and represented Wisconsin"s 9th congressional district. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1934. He resumed the practice of law in Washington, District of Columbia, where he died May 28, 1939.
He was interred in Arlington National Cemetery.
He was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1903.
