LEVI BORTZ, farmer, post-office Greenville, was born on the site of
Shenango August 7, 1830. His father, Henry Bortz, was a native of
Lehigh County, Penn., where he grew up and married Magdalena
Litzenberger, of that county, who bore him four sons and two daughters:
Salome, deceased wife of Henry Miller, deceased; Mary, widow of John
Shoemaker; Solomon, of Crawford County; Charles, of Greenville; Mandis,
of Pymatuning Township, and Dennis, deceased. His wife died, and he
married Susannah Litzenberger, a sister of his first wife, who bore him
one son, Reuben, of West Salem Township, prior to their coming to
Mercer County. In 1828 they crossed the Mountains, and settled on the
site of Shenango in West Salem Township, where three children were born
to them: Levi, of West Salem Township; Eli, deceased, and Tilghman, of
Greenville. The parents died in West Salem Township in the Lutheran
faith. Like all the pioneers they underwent the trials and hardships of
early days, and did their full share toward the development of Mercer
County.
Our subject grew to manhood on the old homestead, and
learned the shoemaker’s trade, which he followed about fifteen years.
He then engaged in farming, and has since followed that vocation. Mr.
Bortz was married April 28, 1853, to Miss Eliza, daughter of George S.
and Mary (Reichard) Eisenhart, natives of Lehigh County, Penn., who
came to this county in 1851, where the father died June 23, 1870, and
the mother July 17, 1888. Mrs. Bortz is a native of Lehigh County, and
is the mother of five children: Marietta U., wife of Frank Taylor, of
Shenango; Alice R., wife of W. H. Wilkerson, of North Vernon, Ind.:
Louisa, deceased; George. deceased, and Carrie A. P. Mr. Bortz and
family are members of the Reformed Church. Politically he is a
Republican, and takes a deep interest in the public affairs of his
native township.
Source: History of Mercer County, 1888, page 1168
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