I20 



HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY 



commander-in-chief of tlic G. A. R. of 

 the United States in 1904. 



He married Rachel Ann Blaker, who 

 died in January, 1895, leaving four chil- 

 dren, their eldest child having died in 

 her eighteenth year; those who survive 

 are: Elizabeth, wife of George R. Luff, 

 who resides with her father at New- 

 town, with her five children, William, 

 Ruth, Mabel, Katharine and Rachel. 

 Katharine, who married (first) Henry 

 C. Wylie, who died six years later, leav- 

 ing a daughter, Margaret; she after- 

 wards married G. F. Reynolds of Scran- 

 ton, Pennsylvania, and has two sons, 

 William and Arthur. Evelyn, married 

 H. L. Harding, of Scranton. The only 

 son, James .Wynkoop, entered Prince- 

 ton University in 1900, intending on his 

 graduation to study for the ministry 

 but failing health compelled him to re- 

 linquish his studies during his first 

 year at college; he is at present employ- 

 ed in a bank at Scranton, Pennsylvania, 

 with greatly improved health. He is the. 

 only male descendant of the Wynkoops 

 in Bucks county, of the younger genera- 

 tion, that bears their name. He was 

 married in 1904 to Cora B. Gernon, of 

 Scranton. 



Captain Wynkoop is still in active life 

 and health. He is president of the Ex- 

 celsior Bobbin and Spool Company of 

 Newtown, president of the Mutual 

 Beneficial Insurance Association of 

 Bucks county, and a director in six other 

 Bucks county corporations, and has 

 served as secretary of the Newtown 

 Cemetery Company for the last thirty 

 years. He is widely and favorably known 

 in business and social circles, and has 

 traveled extensively both in this country 

 and Europe. 



HON. OLIVER HENRY FRETZ, A. 

 M., M. D., of Quakertown, Bucks coun- 

 ty, Pennsylvania, one of the leading phy- 

 sicians of upper Bucks, was born on his 

 father's farm in Richland township, 

 Bucks county, Pennsylvania, April 9, 

 1858, and is descended from the earliest 

 German settlers in upper Bucks county, 

 whose descendants have been identified 

 with the affairs of that section since it 

 was inhabited by the aborigines, a per- 

 iod of nearly two, centuries. John Fretz, 

 the paternal ancestor of Dr. Fretz, came 

 to Pennsylvania about the end of the 

 first quarter of the eighteenth century, 

 accompanied by two brothers Christian 

 and Mark, the latter of whom is said 

 to have died at sea. John Fretz located 

 for a time in what is now Montgomery 

 county, where he married Barbara Mey- 

 er, daughter of Hans Meyer, an early 

 German emigrant, who had settled in 

 Salford township, now Montgomery 

 county. About 1737 John Fretz pur- 

 chased a tract of 230 acres in Bedniin- 

 ster township, Bucks •county,, and set- 



tled thereon. His wife Barbara died 

 about 1740, and he married a second 

 time. He reared a family of eight chil- 

 dren, five of whom were by his first wife, 

 all except one of which were born in 

 Salford. John Fretz died early in the 

 year 1772. According to the historian of 

 the family. Rev. A. J. Fretz, of Milton, 

 New Jersey, he has to-day 5,000 living 

 descendants. 



Jacob Fretz, second son of John and 

 Barbara (Meyer) Fretz, was born in 

 Montgomery county, in 1732, came with 

 his parents to Bucks county when a 

 child and was reared in Bedminster 

 township. About 1755 he married Mag- 

 dalena Nash, daughter of William Nash, 

 of Bedminster, and settled in Tinicum 

 township, near Erwinna, but later re- 

 turned to Bedminster township, where 

 he purchased a farm and lived and died 

 there. He and his wife as well as all the 

 earlier generations of the family were 

 Mennonites and worshiped at the his- 

 toric old Deep Run Meeting House 

 erected about 1746, and where many of 

 the family are buried. Jacob and Mag- 

 dalena (Nash) Fretz were the parents 

 of six sons and three daughters, only 

 the eldest of the latter having married, 

 viz : Elizabeth, who became the wife of the 

 Rev. John Kephardt, for many years 

 pastor of the Doylestown Mennonite 

 congregation. Abraham the eldest son, 

 located in Hilltown; he was a teamster 

 in the Revolutionary army and endured 

 many hardships. He married and has 

 numerous descendants in Bucks. John, 

 Jacob, William and Joseph Fretz were 

 farmers in Bedminster, where they rear- 

 ed families. 



Isaac Fretz, youngest son of Jacob 

 and Magdalena (Nash) Fretz, was the 

 grandfather of Dr. O. H. Fretz. He was 

 born on the homestead in Bedminster 

 township. June 11, 1781, and on arriving 

 at manhood married Mary Moyer, and 

 followed farming in Bedminster until 

 1822. when they removed to Richland 

 township, where he also followed agri- 

 cultural pursuits until his death on De- 

 cember 27, 1855. His wife, Mary Moyer. 

 was born August 24, 1786, and died 

 March 27, 1855. They were the parents 

 of two children, William and Magdalena, 

 the latter of whom died July i, 1854, 

 unmarried. 



William Fretz. only son of Isaac and 

 Mary (Moyer) Fretz, was born in Bed- 

 minster township, April 9, 1811, and re- 

 moved with his parents to Richland 

 at the age of eleven years. Early in life 

 he learned the trade of a carpenter, 

 which he followed until the death of his 

 parents in 1855, when he returned to the 

 homestead and resided thereon until 

 1866, when he removed to Quakertown, 

 where he lived retired until his death 

 on December 22, 1869. He took an ac- 

 tive interest in local aflfairs and served 

 as supervisor of Richland township for 



