Frantz, Ezra A.

Ezra Allen Frantz (1875-1964) was born to Michael and Barbara Brubaker Frantz in Pleasant Hill, Illinois.

In 1896, he married Mary Lavanna Buckley, with whom he had five children, including historian Joe B. Frantz. After dissolving his manufacturing partnership with his brother Peter, Frantz and his family moved to Texas in 1900. He soon acquired the Standard Bale Wire Buckle Company, which manufactured cotton-bale wire buckles. Frantz also patented a piston ring, a scratcher for oil rigs, and other inventions. During World War II, he served as general superintendent of the American Manufacturing Company.