BIOGRAPHY: John D. WENTROTH, Cambria County, PA 

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From Wiley, Samuel T., ed. Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Cambria 
County, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Union Publishing Co., 1896, p. 201-2
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JOHN D. WENTROTH, one of the most successful hotel proprietors of Cambria 
county, and the popular manager of the elegant and modern Vintondale Inn, is a 
son of George and Elizabeth (Huether) Wentroth, and was born in Hesse Cassel, 
Prussia, May 27, 1841. George Wentroth was of the farming class in Hesse Cassel, 
where he was born November 14, 1809. He came to this country in 1851, and 
settled at Summerhill, where he followed agricultural pursuits during the 
remaining years of his active life. He was an exemplary member of the 
Evangelical Lutheran church, a man of industrious habits, and his life 
pilgrimage on earth closed January 14, 1895. Mr. Wentroth married Elizabeth 
Huether, of his native place. Mrs. Wentroth was born in the year 1799, and 
passed away April 4, 1865, leaving three children: George, a farmer and merchant 
of Wilmore; John D., and Mary, widow of Victor Voegley.
     John D. Wentroth received his education in the government schools of Hesse 
Cassel and the common schools of Cambria county, and then learned the trade of 
shoemaker, which he followed for eight years after leaving the farm. Leaving the 
shoemaker's bench he was in the saw-mill business for some time, and then opened 
a store and a hotel at Summerhill, conducting the one for twelve years and the 
other for fifteen years; also filled the office of postmaster during the twelve 
years he was engaged in the mercantile business.
     Successful as a merchant, yet his greatest popularity was as a landlord, 
and in 1895, he was offered and accepted his present position as manager of the 
Vintondale Inn, a large and elegant three-story structure, complete in all its 
appointments with steam heating and electric light. Up to every requirement of 
modern travel and well fitted for a fashionable summer resort, the hotel has 
grown rapidly in public favor under Mr. Wentroth's administration.
     On February 26, 1864, Mr. Wentroth wedded Mary Ann Patterson, a daughter of 
James A. Patterson, of Summerhill, and grand-daughter of Thomas Croyle, one of 
the first settlers on the Alleghenies. Their children are: Lorena E., wife of P. 
S. Fisher, or Johnstown; George J., engaged in the hotel business; Clara M., 
married J. H. Luke, of South Fork, and Anna P., Robert P., Donald, Clyde and 
Nellie, who are still at home.
     In politics Mr. Wentroth has always been a staunch republican. He is a 
member of Mountain Lodge, No. 281, Free and Accepted Masons, of Altoona, this 
State. Mr. Wentroth is a courteous gentleman and very patriotic citizen. He was 
one of the first to respond to President Lincoln's call for troops in the dark 
April days of 1861. He enlisted on April 15th, of that year in a Company of the 
Third Pennsylvania three months' men, but was taken sick in June and sent to the 
Hagerstown hospital, where later he was discharged for disability and sent home. 
He afterwards sought to enlist, but was rejected on the same grounds on which he 
had been discharged that of physical disability. He was one of the first sixty-
five thousand men who went fourth to sustain the life of the nation and to 
preserve an undivided country.