SHURTZ
Nathan – (1818-1902) owner of N. Shurtz & Co.'s Empire Spoke Works on the south bank of the Little Nishisackawick. He lived at 3 Third Street and was the father of William and grandfather of another Nathan.
William R. – (1850-1930) was mayor in 1883. He was a manufacturer of wagon spokes and wheels, in partnership with his father, Nathan. He was also a member of the Frenchtown Cornet Band.
In 1882 he bought the lot on the southeast corner of Second and Harrison streets that had been cleared by the fire of 1878. According to Frenchtown historian Clarence Fargo, Shurtz's first wife, Ella, told the builder, “I want the biggest house you can build out of brick for $4,000.” As it turns out, that sum bought the lovely three-story mansion pictured here.
Nathan – (1878-1942) son of William, was a wheel maker, too. When local supplies of hardwood ran out, he operated a wheel factory in Indiana where cheap hardwood was still available. But he retired to Frenchtown and was living in the brick mansion in 1932. He was chancellor of the Knights of Pythias in 1934.
He sold his mansion to the phone company, which had its switchboard and operators there in the '40s and '50s before tearing it down in 1961.
From "Rick's Frenchtown Encyclopedia"