In 1834, Henry Wentz Sr. brought his family to Cass Township, Ohio from Perry Co., PA where Henry Jr. was born on Dec. 9, 1839. Henry worked on the family farm until age 18 when he began to learn the carpentry trade. At age 21, he moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana where he worked in the railroad car assembly shops.
At the start of the Civil War, on July 11, 1861, Henry enlisted as a private in Co. E., 11th Ind. Vol. Inf. and he served throughout the war in various capacities in campaigns including – Vicksburg, Winchester, Fisher Hill and finally Cedar Creek on Oct. 19, 1864.
After the war Henry returned to Crestline, Ohio. On June 8, 1865, Henry married Abraham Bushey’s oldest daughter Sarah and entered the lumber business. After a year, he sold the business and began a hardware store that he ran until about
1875. In 1875 he began an interest in the fire insurance business which he followed until 1880 when he became the secretary the Underwriter’s Mutual Fire Insurance Company, which would become the Shelby Mutual Insurance Company. Also during the mid 1880s, Henry served as the clerk for the Sharon Township Trustees and was a member of the Crestline city council.
Henry and Sarah were the parents of two sons and a daughter.
Submitted by Lisa Wentz-Steiner