William Holtz, a carpenter, contractor and builder, of Williamsburgh, was born May 10, 1837, a son of Jacob and Sarah (Cole) Holtz. The father was a native of Pennsylvania, of German descent, born in 1815. The mother was of German descent, a native of Pennsylvania, born in 1820. The father emigrated with his family to Ohio in 1848, where he remained about twelve years, thence to Brown County, Ind., in 1859, where he is now living. The mother died September 20, 1858. To our subject’s father and mother, the following children were born: William, our subject, May 10, 1837; Sarah E., December 10, 1839, deceased; Margaret, February 20, 1840; Lavina S., October 2, 1842, deceased; Jacob D., December 25, 1846, deceased; Emanuel, February 19, 1847; Mariah, March 31, 1849; Charity E., April 2, 1850; Mary E., March 4, 1853; Ingaba J., July 8, 1855; Catharine E., March 24, 1858. The mother of these children died September 20, 1858. Our subject’s boyhood and youth were spent in Pennsylvania and Ohio, on a farm, until the age of thirteen years, when he entered an apprenticeship at the carpenter’s trade; served his time in Ohio and came to Indiana, June 26, 1860, and settled in Brown County, where he worked at his trade until August, 1862, when he answered his country’s call, and enlisted in Company D, Eighty-second Indiana Volunteers, under Capt. W. W. Browning; he served three years, and participated in all the battles with his company, among which may be named Chickamauga, Mission Ridge, Perryville, Stone River, and many others; was discharged at Nashville, Tenn., 1865. He received a common school education, and at the age of twenty-one years he began life for himself, following his trade, in connection with which trade he gave some of his attention to farming. August 18, 1862, he was united in marriage with Mal Victoria Wilson, a daughter of Kalib and Catharine (Johnson, nee Clift) Wilson; they were both of German descent; the father a native of Pennsylvania, born in 1815, the mother born in Philadelphia, Penn., in 1818, and died in 1881. This union was blessed with the following children: Andrew E., born June 23, 1867; John B., July 18, 1869. The mother of these children was born August 7, 1847, a native of Belmont County, Ohio. He and wife are members of the Christian Church, also their children. He is a member of the Masonic order. In politics, he was formerly a democrat, casting his first presidential vote for Buchanan, but since the war has been identified with the republican party. He now owns twenty-two acres of land joining Williamsburgh, which is in a high state of cultivation.