The month of June has a reputation for wedding bells, but I seem to be finding a lot of stories these days about people who never married. I have another one to tell today. I just couldn’t resist today’s lifelong bachelor because this would have been his 150th birthday.

Wilhelm Theodore Gratz was born on June 25, 1873, the son of Michael and Theresia (Pilz) Gratz. I wrote the story of William’s parents in the post titled, A Post that Ends with Z’s. William was the 2nd of 5 children born to this Gratz couple, but the firstborn son died before William was born. So, William spent his whole life being the oldest child in his family. He was baptized at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pocahontas. Hopefully, we will soon have the images of actual baptism records from that congregation, but right now, all we have is a St. John’s binder giving details about members lives.

William is found in his first census entry at the age of 7 in 1880. His father was a farmer in the Shawnee Township.

I have every reason to believe that William lived his entire life on his father’s farm. Much later, in 1930, some plat maps were produced for Cape Girardeau County, and we find the land listed as being owned by William. You can see how near it was to the village of Pocahontas.

We have to wait until 1900 to see William in another census entry. By that year, William was the only child still living with his parents. He was a laborer on his father’s farm.

The 1910 census turned out to be the last one in which we find William’s father. We see the same trio of people in the Gratz household.

William’s father, Michael Gratz, died in 1914. Then, in 1918, William had a World War I draft registration completed. The facts that he was already 45 years old, along with him being the only one helping to support his widowed mother, kept him from being drafted.

We find just William and his mother in the 1920 census. William is called the head of the household and was called a farmer.

Another person is found in the 1930 census. Her name was Rosa Seibel. She was 50 years old, described as a servant, and was also single. I believe she was another person who never married.

William’s mother, Theresia Gratz, died in 1932. Then, two years later, William Gratz died at the age of 60, just short of his 61st birthday. William’s brother-in-law, E.R. Schoen, who had married his sister, Louise, is listed on this form as both the informant and the doctor who confirmed his death.

William Gratz is buried in the St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery in Pocahontas. His gravestone shown below calls him a brother.

William Gratz spent all but 2 years of his life living with at least one of his parents. William was dependent upon them during his earlier years, and especially his mother was dependent upon him in his later years. William also lived on the same farm all his life and worshiped at the same church. That may seem like a boring life, but, having spent a good portion of my life as a bachelor, I can assure you that the life of a man who is unmarried is not necessarily dull.