Sacramento County
Biographies
JOHN H. WENTZ
A comprehension of the baffling
intricacies connected with financial affairs forms a conspicuous attribute of
Mr. Wentz, who in becoming identified with the banking business has entered a
field of activity for which his natural tastes as well as his mental training
admirably qualify him. While his residence in Folsom and his
identification with the substantial institution known as the Bank of Folsom
cover a comparatively brief period only, already he has established himself among
the permanent, progressive citizenship of the thriving town and also has
acquired an enviable reputation for skilled financiering. The confidence
of business men has been with the bank from the first and the list of
depositors grows with assured steadiness. Since the organization, during
the autumn of 1910, of the Bank of Folsom it has been under the personal
supervision of Mr. Wentz as cashier and manager, while Isaac Henkle has officiated in the capacity of president.
The directors include a number of sagacious business men, who guide the
investments and guard the safety of the loans with intelligent judgment.
In studying the personal history of Mr.
Wentz we find that he traces his lineage to Germany. His father, Capt. Abial Livingston Wentz, was born in Ohio and moved to Iowa,
settling in Burlington, where he entered into railroad work. At the
beginning of the Civil war he enlisted as a private in the Twenty-fifth Iowa
Infantry, which he accompanied to the front, taking part in numerous engagements
of great importance to the final results. After the expiration of his
first enlistment he re-enlisted in the Twenty-ninth Iowa Volunteer
Infantry. In recognition of his valor in battle he was promoted and
commissioned captain of his company and served in that capacity until the close
of the war, when he was honorably discharged. Returning to Burlington, he
entered the employ of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad and with
them rose to be a conductor, which position he filled until he met death in a
railroad accident. For years he had been identified with the subordinate
lodge of Odd Fellows in Burlington, being Noble Grand of Washington Lodge, No.
1, that order, at the time of his death; and he was also a member of the
Grand Army of the Republic. He was known throughout the city as an
upright man, a patriotic citizen and an efficient railroad official. He
is survived by his wife, who in maidenhood was Ida Elizabeth Grennough, and she still makes her home in
Burlington.
In his native city of Burlington the
excellent public schools afforded John H. Wentz fair educational advantages in
both the ordinary branches and in a commercial course, and later he had the
further advantage of pursuing his studies in Drake University at Des Moines.
These opportunities did not come to him unsought and undesired, but were the
direct result of his own efforts. From the age of eleven years he had
been self-supporting and thus he learned self-reliance, determination and
perseverance in the great school of experience. For a considerable period
of his young manhood he was employed by Swift & Co., in their offices at
Chicago, St. Louis and Omaha. While in the real estate business in Des
Moines, Iowa, he was married at Mount Ayr, Ringgold
county, Iowa, on August 9, 1902, to Miss Edna Pearl Roby, a native of Mount Ayr. They have an only son, John Roby Wentz.
The family came to California in 1904, and bought property at Sacramento, where
Mr. Wentz later engaged in the real estate business, also being interested in
the promotion of the Sacramento Trust Company. It was in 1910 that he
organized and established the Bank of Folsom, which he has since managed with
characteristic fidelity, genuine intelligence and keen foresight. The
increase and development of the bank's business has been most gratifying to the
stockholders, and the community as well, and it is
undoubtedly destined to fill a longfelt want and to
aid very materially in the upbuilding as well as
adding prestige to the commercial worth of Folsom, which it would have been
impossible to acquire without its influence.
Transcribed by Sally Kaleta.
Source: Willis,
William L., History of Sacramento County,
California, Pages 711-715. Historic
Record Company,
© 2006 Sally Kaleta.