[1] The family returned to Honolulu in 1870, where his father was pastor of the Fort Street Church until 1881.

On March 7, 1893, he was promoted to serve on the Supreme Court of the Provisional Government.

After the death of Albert Francis Judd,[5] on July 5, 1900, he became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of what was then the Territory of Hawaii.

[6] Frear was appointed governor after George R. Carter by President Theodore Roosevelt on August 15, 1907.

After the election of Woodrow Wilson, Frear was replaced by the first governor from the Democratic Party of Hawaii, Lucius Pinkham in November 1913.

[8] The aging structure was demolished in 2006, to make way for a new dorm facility also called Frear Hall completed in the Summer of 2008.

It is a classroom building of Hawaii Pacific University, and was designed for information systems and computer science courses.