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Below is a family biography included in the Biographical Annals of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania published in 1904 by T. S. Benham & Company and The Lewis Publishing Company; Elwood Roberts, Editor.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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JOHN MATZ, a well known citizen of Springfield township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, where he is engaged in the milk business, is of German descent, his ancestor in the paternal line having come to this country about the middle of the eighteenth century, and settled in Berks county, Pennsylvania. He was born at Reading, Pennsylvania, November 19, 1852.

David Matz (father) was born near Reading on the family homestead. He was educated in neighboring schools, and on reaching the age of manhood, in addition to farming, engaged very extensively in lime burning, at that time a profitable occupation. He followed that business for some years, and then removed to Montgomery county, locating in Springfield township, at Flourtown, in 1864. Mr. Matz married Susan Hofmaster, who is now deceased, and had the following children: Gustav, David, James, Catharine, Susan, Hannah, Esther, another who died in infancy, and John, the subject of this sketch.

John Matz removed with his parents to Flourtown when he was twelve years of age, attending thereafter the neighborhood schools. On leaving his school studies he engaged in farming, and followed that occupation very successfully for a number of years. He then engaged in the milk business, which he has pursued very profitably since 1873. December 25, 1878, he married Miss Emily Harner, born July 25, 1857, daughter of Charles and Mary Ann (Scheetz) Harner, a farmer of Whitemarsh township. The couple have had two children, Sarah G., born April 4, 1880, who married Daniel Nash; and George, born January 17, 1882, married Mabel Goodwin.

Mr. Matz is an earnest Democrat, exerting himself in order to secure party success at the polls. He is a member of the Patriotic Order of Sons of America, and also of the Junior Order of American Mechanics. He and his family attend Zion Evangelical Lutheran church in Whitemarsh township.

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This family biography is one of more than 1,000 biographies included in the Biographical Annals of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania published in 1904 by T. S. Benham & Company and The Lewis Publishing Company.  For the complete description, click here: Biographical Annals of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

View additional Montgomery County, Pennsylvania family biographies here: Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Biographies

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