BY DAVID COLE
One of the joys (and frustrations) in researching the past is bringing to life Knox Countians that appear to be long forgotten except for a few kinfolks on Ancestry.com. This writer stumbled across an interesting Mountain Advocate newspaper clipping floating around at the Knox Historical Museum. The article was published in April 1915 and announced the death of a George Frederick Bretz, who was known locally in Barbourville as "the Colonel."
According to The Mountain Advocate clipping, which is attached below at left, George F. Bretz was born in Cincinnati in Hamilton County, Ohio on the 23rd of February 1846.The Advocate reported that "Colonel" Bretz died at age 69 from pneumonia after "suffering for a few days." The article cited Bretz's enthusiasm for farming and the fruit growing industry. In addition, Bretz was noted for being a member of John G. Eve Post G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic), and commander of same. He also held positions in the organization at the state and national levels. He was a Union soldier of the Civil War. Also noted was his membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church since he was 13 years old.
The closing paragraph of the clipping mentions Bretz's leaving a wife, sons, daughters and stepsons behind, but none of their names were mentioned. The paragraph also does not mention the burial site. I'll try to address these two issues beginning with the burial site.
The burial site for George Bretz was the Barbourville Cemetery. This is backed up by two sources. One source is the 1921 "Decoration Day" article from the Advocate at bottom right that lists Bretz and other soldiers buried in the cemetery, including Union and Confederate, Spanish War and World War veterans. By the way, they sure honored their veterans in those days, which included major support from Union College and its president and wife and apparently a parade from downtown to the cemetery.
The second proof of Bretz's burial at the Barbourville Cemetery is found via the findagrave website. Once on the website, enter Bretz's full name (George F. Bretz) and year of birth (1846), year of death (1915), and cemetery name and you can read about Bretz and his family as well.
The findagrave website lists two spouses for George Bretz, the first being Nancy A. Field Bretz (1840-1880), buried in Bracken County, Ky., and the second being Martha A. Redden Bretz (1836-1898) m. 1880, buried in Bracken County, Ky. Nancy and George's children include Sarah Ann Bretz Raynor (1871-1948); Charles William Bretz (1872-1930); Joseph Augustine Bretz (1876-1958); and Irene M. Bretz Riley (1878-1899).
Besides the family members listed above, George Bretz apparently had a third spouse. According to my research on Ancestry.com, Bretz married Maggie E. Jarvis on the 30th day of January 1901. At the time, Bretz was 54 while Maggie was 24. The Marriage Bond states that Maggie was born in Knox County and was entering her second marriage. It states that Bretz was in his third marriage.
Apparently Bretz's third wife, Maggie E. Bretz, is also buried in the Barbourville Cemetery, being the same as Margaret Ellen Bretz (1876-1957). Incidentally, Maggie's first husband was W.T. Jarvis. Maggie's maiden name was Hutton. Dock Hutton was her father and signed the marriage bond.
Now, let's take just a peek into George Bretz's earlier years based on data from Ancestry.com.
According to George Bretz's Certificate of Death, his parents were Alfred F. Bretz (1822-1914), who immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1848, according to the 1910 census, and Elizabeth Debruler (1819-1859).
The 1860 census report indicates that the Bretz family, including George who was 14 at the time, resided in Monroe Township in Clermont County, Ohio.
At the age of 18, on 10 September 1864, George F. Bretz joined Company C, 11th Regiment, Ohio Infantry. He mustered out on 10 June 1865 at McDougall General Hospital (a large U.S. military hospital), NY Harbor. It's not clear what health issues George had at the time. Later in life, in 1881, he filed for benefits based on his classification of "invalid." According to the National Park Service, U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865 database, George F. Bretz's rank in was as a private and his rank out was as a private.
After the war, Bretz married, had children and lived for a number of years in Augusta, Brackett County, Kentucky. Eventually, Bretz relocated to Barbourville in Knox County, Ky., where he married in 1901. Bretz was living in Barbourville during both the 1900 and 1910 census reports.
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