William Miller Frantz and Me

When I was a young teenager I decided one day that I wanted to know more about my family history. I called my great grandmother Wilma Vawdrey (the family historian in the family) who lived in Utah and asked her to send me some family stories and family history. One week later I received by mail packets about the Frantz family. At that point in time I didn't know exactly who they were but I enjoyed their written histories. Sadly after reading through the information once, I stuck it away and forgot about it until recently when I declared my major to be genealogy. During my first project I found the Frantz family again.

I learned that William Miller Frantz was born on 4 June 1856 in Berwick, Columbia, Pennsylvania. This was where two generations earlier the Frantz line had settled after moving to the United States from Wuerttemberg, Germany. He was the third son of twelve children born to Michael Frantz Jr. and Martha Jane Reudy, Roody, or Rudy. When he grew to be an adult he crossed the county line into Luzerne County where he met and married his sweetheart Francis Helen Brandon (Ella). They had nine children almost divided evenly with four sons and five daughters. However two of their boys, Michael and Loyd died young. With hundreds of descendants from their remaining seven children and a personal interest in this specific family I thought it would be helpful to post the records, memories, and photos found concerning the Frantz family to this blog.

Harrison Brandon Frantz the oldest surviving son of William and Ella is the child that I descend from. He was born 28 July 1879 in Berwick, Columbia, Pennsylvania. As a young man he moved out to Park City, Utah to work in the Silver Mines. Shortly after moving there he met his future wife Mary Alice Pace at the boarding house where he was staying. Together Mary Alice and Harrison had five children, Lawrence Theodore, William Miller, Albert, Virgil and Eva.

Pictured Below: Mary Alice Pace with her children. (Back Left: William Brandon Frantz, Front Left: Virgil Wayne Frantz, Back Right: Lawrence Theodore, Front Right: Albert James Frantz, and Eva Grace is sitting on her mother's lap) (1)

Pictured Below: Harrison Brandon Frantz and Mary Alice Pace with their first three sons. (Far right is the oldest son Lawrence Theodore Frantz, in the middle is William Harrison Frantz, and on Mary's lap is Albert James Frantz) (2)

1. Wilma Vawdrey, Family Photographs, Atkinson Family Collection; supplied by Maurnie Smith

(Aunt), Lehi, UT 84043, 2015; Family Group Folder for the Family of William Miller Frantz and Frances Helen Brandon. Given by Grandmother.

2.Wilma Vawdrey, Family Photographs, Atkinson Family Collection; supplied by Maurnie Smith

(Aunt), Lehi, UT 84043, 2015; Family Group Folder for the Family of William Miller Frantz and Frances Helen Brandon. Given by Grandmother.