My Genealogy Hound

JOHN O. FRANTZ. Through the energy and enterprise of such men as Mr. Frantz, the town of Fayette, Seneca County, has won an enviable reputation as a farming community. He is prominently identified with all worthy movements in the community, and is one of its most useful men. The property which he resides upon lies on the Old Reservation Road, and is just two and a-half miles south of the village of Seneca Falls.

Our subject is a native of this town, and was born in Bearytown, August 5, 1845. His parents were Lewis S. and Sarah A. (Hoster) Frantz, the former of whom was born near Canoga, also in the above town, January 6, 1820. The first of the family to locate in this section was Grandfather John Frantz, who made the journey hither from Pennsylvania, where nearly all of his ten children were born. Of this household it is supposed the father of our subject was the first born after the family came to New York. The grandfather became the owner of a large tract of land, and in addition to its cultivation established and operated a large flouring, saw and carding-mill. He was a very enterprising and useful citizen and won prosperity.

John Frantz departed this life when his son Lewis S. was a lad of eight or nine years, and his good wife kept the family together until they were old enough to embark in life for themselves. They were all given such educations as could be obtained in the schools of the district, and without exception became good and useful members of the community.

When seventeen years of age Lewis S. Frantz left home and was apprenticed to learn the trade of a harness-maker, his mother during this time keeping him in clothing. The second year he was given $24 in money by his employer, and the following year received a small increase. The fourth and last year, however, he was rewarded by the gift of $50 for his good services. Soon afterward he established himself in the mercantile business, carrying on a good trade for two years. This was prior to his marriage, and after that event he again confined his attention to working at his trade in Bearytown, and in this manner accumulated a considerable amount of money. He continued to be thus occupied until 1851, when he disposed of his harness-shop and invested a part of his capital in one hundred acres of land. The property was only partially cleared, but Mr. Frantz went energetically to work building fences, cutting down the timber, and erecting a good line of buildings. He found farming to be a very pleasant as well as lucrative business, and added more land to his farm, until he was the possessor of three hundred acres. For the remaining years of his life he followed the active and industrious life of a farmer and met with substantial results. In his political views he supported the Democratic party. His name was always to be found at the head of the list when any worthy movement was on foot, but in no sense of the word was he an office-seeker.

The parents of our subject were married in Auburn, Cayuga County, N. Y., June 29, 1843. Mrs. Sarah A. Frantz, who was born December 31, 1824, is a very intelligent lady, and is now living with our subject. She became the mother of three children, of whom Mary E. was born July 8, 1844. She married Warren E. Lerch, February 24, 1873, and to them were born two children, one of whom is now deceased. Mrs. Lerch departed this life in September, 1888, and her remains were laid to rest in the cemetery at Canoga. John O., of this history, was the second-born. Millard F., three years his junior, was born October 31, 1848. He married Miss Louisa Southwick, of Junius, and they are now living at Tobias, Saline County, Neb., where he is a very prominent citizen, and for two years served as a member of the Legislature. He owns a section of land in that state, and carries on farming on an extensive scale. To himself and wife there have been granted two sons: Arthur H., born February 12, 1876; and Lewis S., born November 25, 1877.

The subject of this sketch was six years of age when his parents moved upon the estate which he now occupies. Here he grew to manhood, and after attending the district school for a time carried on his studies in the academy at Seneca Falls. In 1 865 he completed a business course in the Commercial School at Oswego, N. Y., and then returned to the old homestead, remaining until the winter of 1869, when he went to the World’s Fair City. There he was employed until May of the following year, when we find him at work for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company, running between North McGregor Iowa, and Minneapolis, Minn. In September of that year he returned home and followed farming until December, 1873. That year he again went to the Prairie State, this time his destination being Aurora. After traveling about through Illinois and Michigan until the spring of 1874, he went further west, to Exeter, Neb., where he formed a partnership with W. H. Taylor, and for a year carried on a good business as general merchant. On the dissolution of the partnership Mr. Frantz went to Friendville, that state, and opened up another store for the sale of general merchandise. In 1877, however, he took in as his partner a Mr. Brickley, and they continued together until 1887, when the junior member of the firm retired from the business. The next year our subject sold out the stock, and in 1889 returned to New York.

The marriage of Mr. Frantz and Miss Lila J. Sanders, of Friendville, Neb., was solemnized on Christmas Day, 1877. She was the daughter of John and Mary (Stickney) Sanders, and was born in Waukegan, Ill., March 31, 1858. To our subject and his wife four children have been granted, namely: Nona, born in Nebraska, April 30, 1879; J. Lewis, September 8, 1880; Ruth L., August 8, 1882; and Leon C., born June 10, 1895.

Mr. Frantz is a Democrat in politics, and cast his first Presidential vote in 1868, at which time he was a member of a well known glee club. He received the nomination of his party in Nebraska for the State Assembly, but as the district was overwhelmingly Republican, he was defeated, although he ran far ahead of his ticket.