William John Motz

Other Events:

• Name: W. J. Motz
• Occupation: Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; newspaper publisher - Berlin Journal
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-138211
• Residence: 1871, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; RC
• Residence: 1881, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Roman Catholic
• Occupation: 1891, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Editor
• Occupation: 1891, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Student
• Residence: 1891, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Roman Catholic
• Public Service: 1906, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Berlin Public Library Board

Notes:

John Motz retired as editor of the Berliner Journal in 1899, and the business was continued by the founders' sons, William John Motz and John Adam Rittinger.

Lynn E. Richardson

William — Rosalia "Rosa" Huck. Rosalia (daughter of Chief George Huck and Maria "Mary" Spielmacher) was born 10 Jul 1875, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 1950; was buried , Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

1. John George Motz was born 6 May 1906; died 23 Jan 1908; was buried , Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada.
2. John E. Motz was born 29 Mar 1909, , Ontario, Canada; died 1975; was buried , Woodland Cem., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada.

Other Events:

• Interesting: business, politics, news
• Occupation: Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; newspaper editor
• Possessions: 56 Weber St. W. Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 107 Young St., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-30658P
• Immigration: 1848, , Ontario, Canada
• Immigration: 1849, , Ontario, Canada
• Occupation: 1852, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; tailor
• Naturalization: 1858
• Occupation: 1861, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Printer
• Residence: 1861, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Roman Catholic
• Residence: 1868, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Elected Office: 1871, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Mayor - Councillor - Kitchener
• Occupation: 1881, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Publisher
• Residence: 1881, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Roman Catholic
• Occupation: 1891, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Printer
• Residence: 1891, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Roman Catholic
• Occupation: 1901, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Sheriff
• Residence: 1906, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Occupation: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Sherriff
• Residence: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Catholic
• Hall of Fame - Waterloo Region: Bef 2012, , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; newspaper editor, politician, sheriff

Notes:

MOTZ, JOHN (baptized Johannes), tailor, newspaperman, politician, and office holder; b. 5 June 1830 in Diedorf (near Wanfried, Germany), son of Johannes Motz clerk of Diedorf, and Margaretha Schroeter; m. 17 Feb. 1868 Helena Vogt in Berlin (Kitchener), Ont., and they had three daughters, one of whom was adopted, and two sons; d. there 29 Oct. 1911.

In 1846 John Motz's sister, Regina, and her husband, Friedrich Noll, immigrated to Upper Canada. Knowing his elder brother would inherit the family property in Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Motz decided to join them. The 18-year-old arrived in Quebec City in June 1848 and travelled on to Berlin, where the Nolls had settled. He initially worked as a farm-hand and a shingle cutter. In 1850 he apprenticed himself to Christian Nahrgang, a tailor; he subsequently established his own tailoring business in Petersburg and St Jacobs.

Within a few years the lure of the west seized Motz's imagination. In 1857 he worked in Rock Island, Ill., and Davenport, Iowa. The following year, however, he returned to Berlin. He attended the local grammar school, where he mastered English.

Motz's plan to become a teacher was abandoned when he established a friendship and business relationship with Friedrich Rittinger, printing manager of the Deutsche Canadier and the Telegraph in Berlin. In 1859 they founded what would become the largest and most important German-language newspaper in Ontario, the Berliner Journal. Motz acted as writer, editor, and business manager; Rittinger was the printer and technical manager. By 1867, of all Germans in Canada, 60 per cent lived in Waterloo County. In close touch with this German Canadian community, Motz provided thorough coverage of its news and activities and presented views that reflected the attitudes of his subscribers. As a result, the paper succeeded while those of many competitors, including non-German journals, failed. By 1896 the firm of Rittinger and Motz held approximately $100,000 in property. Throughout his career in journalism Motz was active in the German Canadian Press Association - he became its president in 1872 - and the Canadian Press Association. Beyond his newspaper, Motz sat on the boards of several businesses, including, during the early 1880s, the Economical Mutual Fire Insurance Company.

As editor of the Berliner Journal Motz wrote about and encouraged the growth and prosperity of Waterloo County. His community commitment can also be seen in his political activities. In 1870 he was first elected to the Berlin Town Council; he later served as deputy reeve and, in 1880-81, mayor. He was appointed sheriff of Waterloo County in 1890, a position he would hold until his death. On the national level, he was active in the Reform party for many years, serving as vice-president and president of the Reform Association of North Waterloo. During the late 1890s and early 1900s he exchanged cordial letters with Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier, many on patronage matters.

Motz's interest in community affairs extended well beyond politics. He was a member of both the Concordia Club, which was devoted to the cultivation of German tradition through language, custom, and song, and the Horticultural Society. While on the high school board and the separate school board (1881), and through his newspaper, he promoted German-English bilingualism in the schools of Waterloo; he had strenuously opposed attempts by county school officials in the 1860s and 1870s to abolish German-language education. In 1889 he was appointed chairman of the board of management of the Berlin Free Library. As well, he participated in the organization of the local Children's Aid Society. Motz approached spiritual affairs with equal vigour. A member of St Mary's parish, he belonged to the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association and was the founder and, until 1911, president of the St Boniface Sick Society.

John Motz retired as editor of the Berliner Journal in 1899, and the business was continued by the founders' sons, William John Motz and John Adam Rittinger. Motz's 40-year newspaper career, however, was only one facet of this public-spirited man who, the Daily Telegraph recorded at his death, "possessed the respect and esteem of his fellow citizens in the highest degree." He was a hard-headed businessman and a community activist. This combination ensured that the German Canadians of Waterloo had a spokesman whose voice was heard at home and in Ottawa.

A devoted family man, Motz died at the age of 81 in 1911. As a tribute to his accomplishments, he was inducted into the Waterloo County Hall of Fame in 1975.
Lynn E. Richardson

A more extensive study of John Motz and the newspaper he founded is provided in the author's thesis, "A facile pen: John Motz and the Berliner Journal, 1859-1911" (ma thesis, Univ. of Waterloo, Ont., 1991).
AO, RG 22-214, no.5608; RG 80-27-2, 76: 47. Kitchener-Waterloo Record, Library (Kitchener, Ont.), Hist. files. Univ. of Waterloo Library, Doris Lewis Rare Book Room, Paul Motz coll., Motz family papers, esp. "Chronicle from the local area of the Diedorf municipality, district of Muehlhaufen, administrative district of Erfurt, realm of Prussia (Prussian Kingdom), drafted by the regional mayor, Johannes Mom in the year 1844," trans. Sonja Kroisenbrunner. Berliner Journal (Berlin, later Kitchener), 29 Dec. 1859-1918 (name changed to Ontario Journal on 10 Jan. 1917). Daily Telegraph (Berlin), 31 Oct. 1911. Kitchener-Waterloo Record, 31 Dec. 1947-1991, esp. Ernie Ronnenberg, "John Motz: pioneer country newspaperman, public servant," 8 July 1975. News-Record (Berlin), 31 Oct.-1 Nov. 1911. W. H. Breithaupt, "President's address: some German settlers of Waterloo County," Waterloo Hist. Soc., Annual report (Berlin), 1 (1913): 11-15. Dorothy Grigg and B. M. Dunham, "The Kitchener Public Library," Waterloo Hist. Soc., Annual report (Toronto), 16 (1928): 71. H. K. Kalbfleisch, The history of the pioneer German language press of Ontario, 1835-1918 (Toronto, 1968). K. H. Lamb, "The sheriffs of Waterloo," Waterloo Hist. Soc., [Annual report] (Kitchener), 72 (1984): 119-27. Gottlieb Leibbrandt, Little paradise: the saga of the German Canadians of Waterloo County, Ontario, 1800-1975 (Kitchener, 1980). The mercantile agency. reference book . . . (Montreal), September 1896. A. O. Potter, Let's reminisce (Kitchener, 1954). Recollections of 125 years, [ed. Wendy Collishaw and Barry Preston] (Kitchener, 1979). W. V. Uttley, A history of Kitchener; Ontario (Kitchener, 1937; repr. [Waterloo, 1975]).


Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online 2000 University of Toronto/Université Laval

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Rittinger & Mots, printers and publishers Berlin Journal. Mr. Motz was formerly Deputy Reeve, and is now a member of the Town Council. Both gentlemen are Germans, and settled here Mr. Rittinger in 1847, and Mr. Motz in 1848.

Illustrated Atlas of the County of Waterloo, H. Parsel & Co., Toronto - 1881

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John Motz, Mayor 1880-81

The late John Motz was elected mayor of Berlin at an election necessitated by the. death of Louis Breithaupt, Sr., in July 1880 and re-elected in January 1881. Previous to this he sat in the council for a number of years. He took a deep interest in the welfare of Berlin, being a member for some time of the High School Board, Free Library Board, Separate School Board, and St. Mary's Church Board. He was appointed Sheriff of Waterloo County in January, 1900. He was founder of the St. Bonifice Benefit Society, which today has 400 members and which is the largest local Benfit Association in the Province.

Official souvenir of the celebration of cityhood, July 17th 1912, Berlin, Ontario, The German Printing and Publishing Co

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Friederich Rittinger and John Motz, then young men, issued on the 29th day of December, 1859, the first number of the "Berliner Journal," a weekly newspaper, which soon became, as it remains to this day, in the second generation of the firm of Rittinger & Motz, the principal German newspaper in Canada.

Friederich Rittinger was born in the Grand Duchy of Baden in 1833. His mother died early. In 1847 he came with his father, two brothers and a sister, to Canada, landing in Quebec, and soon made his way to the German settlement in Berlin, Canada West. Here, when still under fourteen years of age, he became printer's apprentice to Henry Eby, the publisher of the 'Deutche Canadier." For several years part of the boy's work was the delivery of this paper to subscribers in Waterloo and Wilmot townships. As printer and general assistant Rittinger remained with the " Deutche Canadier " until the " Journal " was begun, this becoming his life work. He died in 1897.

John Motz was a native of Prussia, where he was born in 1830. Having lost his father and mother early in life he decided in 1848 to join his sister and her husband who had emigrated to Canada some years before. He first arrived in Berlin in June, 1848. For three years, from 1850 on, he was apprentice to C. K. Nahrgang, a tailor. Later he was in various places in the county and for a year in Davenport, la., and Rock Island, 111. Returning to Berlin in 1858 he entered the Grammar School with intent to fit himself as teacher. His former acquaintance with Friederich Rittinger was renewed, and the resolution to publish a German newspaper gradually took shape. Messrs. Rittinger and Motz sought at first to buy the " Deutche Canadier." Not succeeding in this they projected, and duly launched, the " Berliner Journal." Of public spirit, John Motz was Town Councillor, Deputy Reeve, and in 1880 and 1881, Mayor of Berlin. In politics he was active in the Reform party for many years, was Vice-President and later President of the Reform Association of North Waterloo. He was appointed Sheriff of Waterloo County in December, 1900. This office he retained until his death in 1911.

First Annual Report of the Waterloo Historical Society 1913

_____________________________

BERLINER JOURNAL WAS ESTABLISHED IN DECEMBER 1859

Rittinger & Motz Continued In Publishing Business With Same Members Until 1897; Successors Acquired Controlling Interest In News Record Limited 1919.

SOUND PRINCIPLES IN PROSPECTUS

The first issue of the Berliner journal, published by Rittinger & Motz, Berlin, Ontario, made its appearance on December 29, 1859. The prospectus reads as follows:

"The publishers undertake to meet all requirements from week to week by way of placing before their readers all important news in a fair, open and impartial manner. Their efforts are directed to promote the life and activity, growth and progress of Canada, and particularly that of Berlin and Waterloo county.

"In regard to religion the publishers will strictly adhere to I the principle of tolerance in all matters pertaining to faith and freedom of conscience. Each one expects to gain salvation in his own particular manner, and it is a comfort to him to be treated with indulgence.

"Politically the paper will take an independent stand. Each of the two existing parties in Canada, Conservative and Reform, has its own particular good and evil inclinations and therefore we cannot give an unrestricted decision. In general the paper will favor the Reform party, without, however, obliging itself to sing the praises of those belonging to that party, whether merited or not.

"In 'matters of public concern we will at all times express our views in an unconcealed manner, but will also be ready to learn from others, and our paper will be at the disposal of those who wish to discuss rationally matters of public interest.

"And thus today we pass into the hands of our honored subscribers our first issue with the assurance that we will honestly endeavor to justify the confidence placed in us. Wishing our readers a happy New Year, we commend ourselves to their kind disposal and well-wishing.".

Newspaper clipping date and paper unknown

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Queen Street South, West Side.

A frame building used as a tavern by Phineas Varnum and later the kitchen of the Gaukel Hotel.

A frame building erected by Frederick Gaukel about 1833 as shelter for the considerable number of immigrants coming to Berlin at that time. In 1837 it was made into a dwelling for John Stroh, uncle of Jacob Stroh. Two children were born in this building, Katie, in 1838, (she married Jacob Oswald, still living, now 93 years of age), and Henry Stroh, born in 1840.

Hall's Lane.

A brick building erected about 1850. John Klein, father of John Klein of Buffalo, was the first occupant. Later the building was used as a printing office, first by the "Berlin Chronicle", William Jaffray editor and proprietor, and later by the "Berliner Journal", Rittinger & Motz. The site is now occupied by the Lockhart garage.

The Franklin Hotel, a handsome, good-sized frame building, erected by Philip Roth about 1856. Successive hotel-keepers were John Klein, Levi Gaukel, Frederick Riegelman, who later moved to Buffalo, and Jacob Weber. Weber was occupant in 1874 when the hotel was burned down. The fire started in the barn at the rear of the hotel. The hotel shed, next south, extended, at right angles, from Queen Street to the barn.

A garden.

A one and one-half story frame building lengthwise with the street occupied by Christopher K. Nahrgang whose parents came from Hessen, Germany, about 1835. He was married to a Miss Zinkann of New Hamburg.

A stone building used as a tailor shop by Mr. Nahrgang who was deaf and dumb. His wife helped him in the business. She lived to be 87. It was in this building that John Motz of the "Journal" and eventually County Sheriff, learned the tailoring trade.

A one and one-half story dwelling, erected about 1857, occupied by George Fischer, barber, who had his shop on King Street. A later occupant was George Lutz, a cabinet maker in Hoffman's factory and after him Henry Schaefer's mother.

A frame building lengthwise with the street, the church of the Evangelical denomination, erected in 1841. In 1866 it was replaced by the brick building still standing, now used as stores and upstairs dwellings.

A one and one-half story frame building with kitchen at the rear erected by William Becking, wagonmaker, about 1848. Becking was noted as a hunter. White hare and passenger pigeons, practically extinct long ago, were abundant at that time.

Becking's wagon-shop and lumber yard at the corner of John Street with the customary incline and stair to the second story of the shop. Up this incline the wagons were drawn to the paint shop. Valentine Gildner, at the corner of King and Benton Streets, did the blacksmith work for Becking's wagons.

John Street.

A one and one-half story house occupied by H. Baedecker in 1860 and later by Adam Doering.

Rev. F. W. Tuerk's residence erected about 1860 by Henry Rothaermel, a carpenter. The matching and planing was all done by hand, slow but thorough work. Window sashes, panel doors and all other requirements were made in the same manner. A skilled workman at that time was expected to he able to do painting as well as carpenter work. A single room in the shape of a square turret on the ridge of the building was Rev. Tuerk's study. The house was up-hill about twenty feet above the street level so that the study on top gave a good outlook. The site is now occupied by the York Apartments.

A frame building one and one-half story high.

Nothing but a building used as an ashery between that and Joseph E. Schneider's house and farm buildings.


REMINISCENCES OF BERLIN (NOW KITCHENER) By JACOB STROH Contributed by Joseph M. Snyder.

Part I. Settlement - Early Villagers and Buildings, Waterloo Historical Society Annual Volume 1930


Possessions:
The plan calls for the demolition of two homes in the Civic Centre heritage conservation district: an 1875 Gothic revival cottage at 50-52 Weber St. W. now occupied by a massage parlour and two rental apartments and the 1889 three-storey brick house at 56 Weber built byJohn Motz, a mayor of Berlin and the publisher of the Berliner Journal, a precursor of The Record.

Thompson, C. (2020). Kitchener development would demolish heritage homes to make way for innovative seniors' housing. Retrieved 5 February 2020, from https://www.therecord.com/news-story/9842755-kitchener-development-would-demolish-heritage-homes-to-make-way-for-innovative-seniors-housing/

Residence:
Heritage backers want to stop demolition
NEWS 06:32 PM by Greg Mercer Waterloo Region Record

KITCHENER '97 Heritage advocates are trying to save a turn-of-the century cottage slated for demolition as part of a new condo project proposed in downtown Kitchener.

The home, at 107 Young St. in Kitchener, is being reviewed by the city's heritage committee Tuesday afternoon as part of a planned redevelopment that would build a six-storey, 42-unit building at the corner of Weber and Young streets.

That project would demolish all buildings at the site, including 50-52 Weber St. W and 56 Weber St. W. But it's the plans to knock down 107 Young St. that has some people most alarmed....

A draft report slated to go before the city's heritage committee says the only property that has "significant historical" value at the site is 56 Weber St. W., which was the 19th-century home of John Motz '97 the former mayor, councillor and sheriff of what was then called Berlin.

The building at 52 Weber St. W, currently occupied by a massage parlour, was built before 1879....

It's in "immaculate shape," she said. It has a corbelled brick chimney top, original, wood-framed bay windows with stained glass, wooden fascia, an original porch, brick walls and a stone and mortar joint basement wall.

"It's unique to the heritage conservation district. This house is a gem. It's one of a kind in this district," Haalboom said. "It's the essence of that Busy Berlin community where our business people lived in the late 1800s."....

Mercer, G. (2018). Heritage backers want to stop demolition . TheRecord.com. Retrieved 13 August 2018, from https://www.therecord.com/news-story/8816372-heritage-backers-want-to-stop-demolition/

Occupation:
Lived with Christoph Nahrgang.

Elected Office:
Years Served: 1871-75 (Deputy Reeve), 1879, 1880-81 (Mayor)

John married Helene Vogt 17 Feb 1868, St. Agatha, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Helene (daughter of Peter Vogt and Maria Anna Naber) was born 11 Aug 1832, , Wuerttemberg, Germany; died Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Nationality: , Canada
• Name: Helene Motz
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-30659
• Immigration: 1848, , Ontario, Canada
• Immigration: 1852, , Canada
• Immigration: 1853, , Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1868, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1871, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; RC
• Residence: 1881, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Roman Catholic
• Residence: 1891, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Roman Catholic
• Residence: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Catholic
• Residence: 1921, 107 Young St., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1921, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Roman Catholic

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: dnf-90920

Johann — Margaretha Schroeter. Margaretha was born Abt 1800, of, Diedorf, Krs. Muehlhausen , Prussia, Germany; died Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Margaretha Motz
• Eby ID Number: dnf-93244

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-138839
• Occupation: 1871, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Gentleman
• Residence: 1871, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; RC

Notes:

King Street, South Side the Berlin (Kitchener)-Waterloo boundary, east of Union Street, the first building was on the corner of Mount Hope Street. This was a small brick building occupied by Andrew Pihale. At the rear of his lot was a small, one-story frame building occupied by Peter Vogt, a laborer.

REMINISCENCES OF BERLIN (NOW KITCHENER)

BY JACOB STROH Contributed by Joseph M. Snyder.

Part I. Settlement - Early Villagers and Buildings, Waterloo Historical Society 1930

Peter — Maria Anna Naber. Maria was born CALC 23 Oct 1791, of, near, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 23 Aug 1863, Near Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Mount Hope Roman Catholic Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Maria Anna Vogt
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-93158