BIO: HARRY M. BRETZ, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Joe Patterson OCRed by Judy Banja Copyright 2004. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cumberland/ _____________________________________________________________ >From Biographical Annals of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Chicago: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905, pages 523-525 _____________________________________________________________ NOTE: Use this web address to access other bios: http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cumberland/zeamer/ HARRY M. BRETZ. In August, 1750, there landed at Philadelphia from the ship "Royal Union," from Rotterdam, a Wendel Bretz, whose descendants, as is shown elsewhere in these annals, reached Cumberland county. With Wendel Bretz on the "Royal Union" came a Henry Bretz, who was noted on the ship's list as being sick. According to tradition Henry Bretz, was a brother to Wendel, and his descendants reached Cumberland county at an earlier date than did those of Wendel. Henry settled in the part of Lancaster county which has since become Lebanon county and so far as is known died in that part of the country. The first appearance of the Bretz name in Cumberland county was in 1773, when a Simon Pratz was assessed in East Pennsboro township with 200 acres of land. In 1774 he was assessed with 166 acres of land, two horses and one cow, and thereafter with practically the same amount of land until 1805, in which year he died. This Simon Pratz was a son of the aforenamed Henry Bretz, the name simply being misspelled by the assessor. He settled on the north side of the Conedoguinet in East Pennsboro, upon a tract of land, which, although regularly assessed in his name, did not actually belong to him until Dec. 9, 1790, when the executors of James Whitehill, of Salisbury township, Lancaster county, for the sum of £16o, formally conveyed it to him, as appears by the records. From the earliest entry of the name upon the Cumberland county records down for more than fifty years it is spelled Pratz, or Pratts, but more recently nearly all branches of the family have adopted the form of Bretz. Simon Pratz made his will Feb. 10, 180, and it was probated Aug. 17, 1805, From it it appears that he by occupation was a blacksmith; that his wife's name was Catherine, and that he had the following children: Frederick, Abraham, John, Simon, Conrad, Philip, Jacob, Daniel and Elizabeth. Of the eight sons, Abraham was dead when his father's will was made, but had left surviving him the following children: Jacob, Catherine, John and Abraham. Simon Pratz died in August, 1805, and his remains are buried in a private graveyard on his farm, where those of his sons Abraham and Simon, and his daughter Elizabeth are also buried. After their father's death, Daniel, Conrad and Philip emigrated to Seneca county, in the State of New York, where Philip died leaving children, and some of his descendants are yet living in that section. Conrad removed to Canada, where he died leaving two daughters. Daniel Bretz did not like the new country to which he and his brothers had removed and in a short time returned to his old home in Pennsylvania, never again to wander from his native heath. He married Susanna Ritter, and on May 7, 1812, he and his brother Jacob, for the sum of £1,000, 524 CUMBERLAND COUNTY. bought the farm which their father bought from the Whitehills in 1790, and which was his home from the time he settled in Cumberland county until his death. Jacob never married, but with Daniel occupied the old homestead while he lived. He died April 28, 1850, in the sixty-third year of his age, and his remains are buried in the graveyard of the "Brick Church" near West Fairview. From the circumstance of his brother Daniel having a son named Jacob, who grew to manhood in the same home, the uncle came to be known as Jacob Bretz, Sr., and the nephew as Jacob Bretz, Jr., and they were in this way distinguished on the public records for years. Daniel and Susanna (Ritter) Bretz had the following children: Abraham, Sarah Eliza, Jacob, Anna, and a daughter who died very young. Abraham married Miss Sidle; Sarah Eliza married John Henry Longsdorff; Jacob married Catherine Lantz; and Anna married Samuel Grier, and afterward Isaac Smith. In February, 1842, Abraham was thrown from a horse and killed, at the age of thirty-four years, leaving surviving him four children, viz: Jacob, Daniel, Abraham and Susan. Sarah Eliza died in May, 1843, and her husband died in May, 1845, leaving surviving them four children, viz: Jacob, Susannah, John and George. Anna died in 1904, leaving surviving her by her first marriage one child, a daughter, who married David Lightner. Jacob Bretz, "Junior," was born Oct. 9, 1818, on the farm which his grandfather, Simon Pratz, purchased from the Whitehill heirs. Here he spent all his days. When yet a babe of seven months his mother carried him in her arms a distance of five miles to Friedens Kirch, near Shiremanstown, and had him baptized in the Lutheran Church by Rev. Benjamin Keller, one of the early pastors of that denomination in Cumberland county, and all through life he proved true to the principles of this early consecration. He followed the avocation of farming cm the homestead until the infirmities of advancing years compelled him to retire. In person he was very tall and erect and his height was often referred to to distinguish him from other Bretzes who bore his name. He was a man of the strictest integrity and stood high in the estimation of everybody who knew him. He died on July 28, 1896, in the seventy-eighth year of his age; his wife died April 13, 1888, aged seventy years, and their remains are buried in the graveyard of "Brick Church." To Jacob and Catherine (Lantz) Bretz the following children were born: William, Susan, Augustus, Sarah, Jacob and Ellen M. William Bretz, the eldest son, in 1865 married Catherine Renninger, daughter of John Martin Renninger and Margaret, his wife. The Renningers are also an old representative family of Cumberland county, and were among the early settlers of East Pennsboro township. John Martin Renninger and wife had other children as follows: Mary A., who married Francis Trumbaurer; Elizabeth, who married Simon Bretz; and John M. Renninger. John Martin Renninger died in February, 1883, in the seventy-seventh year of his age; his wife died in April, 1881; and their daughter, Mrs. Trumbaurer, died in July, 1873, in the twenty-third year of her age. Their remains are buried at the "Brick Church." Simon Bretz, husband of Elizabeth Renninger, died July 22, 1900, and is buried at St. John's Church, near Shiremanstown. William Bretz, soon after his marriage, began farming on his own account and engaged successfully at that vocation in East CUMBERLAND COUNTY. 525 Pennsboro township until his death, highly respected and esteemed by all who knew him for his integrity and good neighborly qualities. He was a member of the Lutheran Church, and especially devoted and kind as a husband and father. He died Feb. 24, 1899, in the fifty-ninth year of his age, and is buried in the graveyard of the "Brick Church," the burying-place of many of the Bretz family. His widow survives him and with her children, Grace V., Anna M., William R. and Edna B., lives in East Pennsboro township, near Camp Hill. William and Catherine (Renninger) Bretz had a family of eight children, viz: Harry M., Charles E., James M., William R., Grace V., Anna M., Edna B. and Maggie G., the latter having died in infancy. Harry M. Bretz, the son whose name heads this biographical sketch, was the eldest child and was born Nov. 17, 1866, in West Fairview. He was reared on the farm and obtained his early education in the public schools of that section. Subsequently he had the benefit of a thorough normal school training, graduating from the Cumberland Valley State Normal School in 1885. For six years he taught in the public schools of East Pennsboro, but relinquished teaching for an appointment as railway mail clerk, which position he resigned after rendering more than twelve years of continuous and satisfactory service. Mr. Bretz early directed his attention into professional channels and utilized the time he had to spare from his regular duties in reading and studying law. In 1894 he removed to Harrisburg, where he continued his legal studies with Hon. Thomas S. Hargest as preceptor, and where he was admitted to practice in the Dauphin county courts on Jan. 28, 1898. He is also a member of the Cumberland County Bar and has an office in West Fairview. He is in love with his profession and devotes himself assiduously to its practice. On June 6, 1894, Harry M. Bretz was married to Sarah A. Martin, by Rev. Edwin A. Pyles, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church at West Fairview, who has since married E. Sylvania Martin, a sister of Mrs. Bretz. Mrs. Bretz is a daughter of Frank and Laura C. (Bowman) Martin, who reside in West Fairview, Mr. Martin being one of the well known and substantial citizens of the lower end of Cumberland county. Mr. and Mrs. H. M. Bretz have two children, Marion S. and Laura M., and live in a pleasant home at No. 224 Reily street, Harrisburg.