Columbia County PA Archives Biographies.....KURTZ, Jennings U. 1856 - living in 1899
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  HON. JENNINGS U. KURTZ, whose portrait is shown on the opposite page, is
  efficiently serving in the capacity of associate judge of the Twenty-sixth
  Judicial District of Pennsylvania, and is a prominent business man of Berwick,
  being proprietor of the Berwick Marble & Granite Works, one of the largest
  establishments of its kind in this section of the state. He is a son of Levi and
  Elizabeth (Schlabach) Kurtz, and was born at Summer Hill, Briarcreek township,
  Columbia County, July 3, 1856.
  
    His grandfather was Henry Kurtz, who was born in the state of -Pennsylvania
  and came of German parents. He took up the occupation of a farmer and at an
  early day located in Northampton County, Pa., where he died in 1830, at the age
  of sixty-five years. He was also a soldier in the War of 1812. He married
  Charity Snyder, and their union resulted in the birth of ten children : Andrew:
  Levi; Henry; Millie, the wife of Frederick Ullmer; Jeremiah; William; Samuel;
  and three who died in childhood.
  
    Levi Kurtz, the father of our subject, was born in Forks township, Northampton
  County, March 25, 1825, but in 1843, at the age of nineteen years, he moved to
  Columbia County, Pa., with his brother Andrew, who is now deceased, and there he
  followed fanning. After a time, he took up the cigar-maker's trade and followed
  it with considerable success at Washingtonville; while thus engaged he saved a
  sufficient sum of money to purchase a farm at Summer Hill, which he did at about
  the time of his marriage. Following farming a short term of years, he then
  traded his farm for a store at Foundryville, where he engaged in mercantile
  pursuits. He followed that line of business there and at Evansville until 1863,
  when he relinquished it to engage in the insurance business. In 1870 he
  purchased the Marble & Granite Works of William Ruch, and started in business in
  a very small way. He was an energetic man and as success attended his efforts,
  he enlarged the business and in 1879 took his son, our subject, into the firm as
  a partner. They were located on Market street at first, but as the enterprise
  grew in size, they moved to larger quarters on Front street. He continued in
  business until his death in 1888, at the age of sixty-two years. He was united
  in marriage with Elizabeth Schlabach, a daughter of Daniel and Annie (Moore)
  Schlabach, and they became the parents of twelve children, six of whom are still
  living, namely: C. Louise, the wife of S. H. Ruch; Jennings U., the subject of
  this sketch; Daniel Morris, who has charge of the reading notices of the New
  York World; Annie S., a teacher in the public schools of Brooklyn, N. Y.; Kittie
  E., the wife of Arthur Lewis of Wilkesbarre, Pa.; and S. Burton, an accomplished
  artist of New York City. Levi Kurtz was originally a Democrat in his political
  affiliations, but from 1856 until his demise was a Republican. In religious
  attachments he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, whilst socially
  he was a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge. Mrs. Kurtz, who was born in 1830, died
  in August, 1898, in Brooklyn, N. Y., and was brought to Berwick and interred in
  the family plot in Pine Grove Cemetery in that town.
  
    Jennings U. Kurtz attended the public schools until he reached the age of
  fourteen years, when he entered his father's business, and continued in his
  employ until twenty-three years of age, when he was taken in as a partner, the
  firm becoming L. Kurtz & Son, which has been the firm name up to the present
  time. They established a reputation for good reliable work and erected many
  handsome monuments throughout the county. They acquired an extensive patronage
  and the prestige, which the firm enjoyed prior to the death of the senior Mr.
  Kurtz, is still in evidence as our subject does work for the leading men in this
  section of the state. He has always labored for the best interests of the
  borough and by his connection with many worthy enterprises may be classed among
  its first citizens. He has been a member of the school board and was a trustee
  on building at the time the beautiful addition to the Market Street School was
  erected. He was also on the building committee for the erection of the present
  opera house. He served with credit as school director for six years, three years
  of which he was president of that body. He was associated in building the block
  on Market street now owned by C. C. Evans, Esq. In 1889 he purchased of C. A.
  Becker what was known as the Pottery, which was one of the first industries of
  the place. This property, located at Pine and Second streets, he rebuilt for his
  business and there he has a large spacious salesroom, office and yard. necessary
  for his business. He is a man of excellent qualities and is respected and highly
  esteemed by all with whom he is acquainted.
  
    Mr. Kurtz was united in the holy bonds of wedlock with Fanny M. Suit, a
  daughter of Daniel Suit, who was a patternmaker by trade, and they are the proud
  parents of five children: Pearl Elizabeth; Ruth Suit; Claude Morris; Nellie
  May;, and Katherine. Politically he is a stanch Republican. In March, 1897, he
  was appointed associate judge to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Hon.
  Mordecai Millard, and was re-elected in 1897. Socially he is a member of Knapp
  Lodge, No. 462, F. & A. M.; Berwick Castle, No. 249, K. of G. E., of which he is
  past chief; Washington Camp, No. 105, of which he is a past president; and W. T.
  Sherman Commandery, No. 23, P. O. S. of A., in which he has held many of the
  offices.
  
  
  Additional Comments:
  Extracted from:
  
  Book of Biographies of the Seventeenth Congressional District
  Published by 
  Biographical Publishing Company of Chicago, Ill. and Buffalo, NY (1899)
  
  
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