My Genealogy Hound

WILLIAM H. BRETZ, Carlisle’s oldest and most successful liveryman, is of German descent. His great-grandfather, Jolian Wendel Bretz, landed at Philadelphia from the ship “Royal Union,” Aug. 15, 1750, accompanied by his brothers, Ludwig and Henry, and at the time the vessel reached port Ludwig was on the sick list. According to a family tradition a brother Jacob also was with the party but his name does not appear upon the ship’s official list.

Wendel Bretz first settled somewhere in the eastern part of Pennsylvania, but the exact locality is not known. His descendants at an early date appeared in Clark’s Valley, Dauphin county, where a son lived and engaged at farming. This son had a son Jacob, who owned and lived upon a farm in Clark’s Valley, which he afterward sold, moving to Harrisburg, where he engaged at coach and cabinetmaking. He also worked at carpentering, and helped to build the famous camel-back bridge across the Susquehanna at Harrisburg. This Jacob Bretz married a Miss Boyer of Dauphin county and by her had the following children: Mrs. Catharine Horn, of Danville; Mrs. Elizabeth Wiley, of York; Jacob; Dr. George Z., of Brooklyn, N. Y.; and William.

Jacob Bretz, the third child of Jacob, was born at Harrisburg, Sept. 26, 1806. He learned the coachmaking trade, as did his father before him, and engaged at that avocation for many years. He married Mary Dipple, a daughter of Michael and Elizabeth (Bell) Dipple, of Carlisle. The Bells were Scotch, and the Dipples were of Irish descent. Shortly after his marriage Jacob Bretz moved to Gettysburg, and there for several years worked at coachmaking. From Gettysburg he removed to Carlisle, which place was his home all the rest of his long lifetime. On coming to Carlisle he first worked at coachmaking for the late Jacob Sener, but later went into business for himself, and was Carlisle’s principal coachmaker for many years. About the year 1855 he quit coachmaking, and gave his time and attention to other enterprises, one of which was brick making. When the Carlisle Gas and Water Company put in its works, he obtained the contract to furnish the brick work for its reservoir, which he manufactured a short distance north of where the reservoir is located, upon a farm now owned by Mrs. Gill. While in his prime Major Jacob Bretz, as he was familiarly known, was a man of great activity and enterprise, widely known and well-acquainted with public affairs. He was interested in politics and mingled freely with the people, which, in 1844, resulted in making him the Whig nominee for Register of Wills. He was elected and discharged the duties of the office with credit to himself, and to the satisfaction of the general public. After settling at Carlisle, his father, Jacob Bretz, the elder, then well advanced in years, came from Harrisburg and made his home with him until his death. He died in 1846 aged about seventy-six years. His remains were first interred at Carlisle, but in after years removed to Harrisburg.

Major Jacob Bretz was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as was his father before him. He also belonged to the Masonic fraternity, and at the time of his death was the oldest Mason in Carlisle. He died in March, 1898. His wife, Mary (Dipple) Bretz, died in 1883, at the age of seventy-four, and their remains lie interred in Ashland Cemetery. Major Jacob and Mary (Dipple) Bretz had the following children: Eliza Jane, wife of Abraham Focht, of Schuylkill county; William H., the subject of this biography; Annie, married to William H. Corman, of Carlisle; Margaret Amelia, married to the late George C. Boyer, of Harrisburg; George M., late a photographer of Pottsville; Fannie, married to Sylvester Garwood, of Philadelphia; and Edward, who died in June, 1878, aged twenty-seven years.

William H. Bretz, the second child of Major Jacob and Mary (Dipple) Bretz, was born in Carlisle Sept. 2, 1832. He received his education in the schools of his native town and in the preparatory department of Dickinson College. On leaving college he embarked in the drug business, and for about six years conducted a drug store where now is the Cumberland Valley Railroad passenger depot. He next became interested in dentistry, studying with his uncle. Dr. George Z. Bretz. In 1866 he entered the livery business, purchasing stables on Pitt street, Carlisle, only a step removed from the corner on which he formerly engaged in the drug business. Here he has continued ever since, and he is now the oldest, best known and most successful liveryman in Carlisle. Among with his livery business he finds some time for other enterprises. He has been operating some in real estate, and at present owns a farm in North Middleton township, and another on the western borders of Carlisle. He also takes an interest in the show and theatrical business, and for some years has successfully managed the Carlisle opera house. In matters of religion he affiliates with the Protestant Episcopal Church. In politics he is a Republican, but not a biased partisan or in any sense an office seeker. He has served one term in town council to which he was elected without any desire or effort on his part. He is a Mason, a Knight Templar and an Elk. He has traveled extensively, is a good judge of human nature, a practical business man and a worthy citizen.

In 1868 Mr. Bretz was married to Martha Jane, daughter of Peter and Barbara Stambaugh, of Adams county. She died Nov. 7, 1898, leaving no children, and on July 13, 1904, Mr. Bretz married Mrs. Annie M. Ritter, widow of the late Charles Ritter, of Carlisle, and a daughter of Jeremiah Reep, of Dickinson township. He lives quietly in a pleasant home on West North street, where he now spends all his leisure hours, and where he expects to spend the declining years of his life in comfort and contentment.