My Genealogy Hound

URIAH KURTZ, a prominent business man of Catasauqua, is proprietor of the flouring-mill at this place, and has been active in the upbuilding of the city. His birth occurred in Hanover Township, Lehigh County, February 11, 1842, he being a son of Henry Kurtz, whose history appears in the sketch of Milton Kurtz, to be found elsewhere in this work. Uriah Kurtz is a farmer’s son, and was reared on a farm and there inured to agricultural pursuits, his education being such as was afforded by the district schools of the neighborhood. At the age of seventeen he commenced an apprenticeship in the milling business with the firm of Berger & Younger, in the same mill which he now operates. At the end of eighteen months he was obliged to leave the business on account of poor health and return to the old homestead. In 1863 he enlisted as a member of Company B, Thirty-eighth Pennsylvania Militia, being sent to Gettysburg, and on the expiration of his term of service he was mustered out at Reading.

On returning from the war Mr. Kurtz went back to the farm, and for a year and a-half was employed again in a mill. However, it seemed best that he should turn his attention to carrying on a farm, which he did for a number of years, the old homestead, comprising one hundred and sixty acres, being still in the possession of the family. From 1875 to 1891 Mr. Kurtz conducted a successful dairy business, selling milk in this city during a period of fifteen years, and acquiring a comfortable competence. In 1891 he leased the mill which he now runs and returned to the trade he had learned in his youth. The mill is run by water-power from the Lehigh River, and the improved processes of the day are used, the capacity of the mill being eighty barrels per day. The special brands known as “Pride of the Valley” and “Safe Harbor” have a wide reputation for purity and uniformity of quality. Four men are employed in the mill, and the trade is constantly increasing.

The old home which adjoins the city is still operated by Mr. Kurtz, and in 1871 he laid out forty acres in borough lots, of which he has sold all but twelve acres. He has himself built five houses on this land on Howertown and Bridge Streets. Kurtz Street was named for the family. In 1893 our subject laid out the whole farm in lots, of which he is sole agent, and the property is meeting with a ready sale.

In 1870 Mr. Kurtz was married in Allentown to Miss Catherine, daughter of William Ruch, a farmer, whose death occurred in 1893. Having no children of their own, Mr. and Mrs. Kurtz have taken two children of the latter’s brother to bring up, their names being Jennie and Harley R. A member of Fuller Post, G. A. R., our subject is also affiliated with the Republican party. He has been Assessor for two years of Catasauqua, and has served on grand and petit juries. A leading member of the German Reformed Church, he has served in the offices of Deacon and Trustee, at one time was Sunday-school Superintendent, and is now an Elder in the church. He is a man of strict integrity, honorable and upright in all his business dealings.