Boltz, Henry Jefferson, 1855-1949
Biography
Rev. Henry Jefferson Boltz (1855-1949) was born in Camden, Alabama. He was the son of Michael
and Lieuticia Daly Boltz. H. J. Boltz worked as an itinerant minister in North Louisiana for the
Louisiana Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He was licensed to preach in 1879,
became a deacon in 1883, was admitted into full connection in 1887, and became an elder in 1889.
Boltz served seventeen different pastorates and built seven new churches and five parsonages. He was
appointed to congregations at the following locations (some dates are approximate): Many and Sabine
circuit (1879-1881), Sugar Town circuit (1883-1884), Many and Sabine circuit (1885-1888), Provencal
circuit (1889), DeSoto circuit (1890-1893), North Bossier circuit (1894-1896), South Bossier circuit
(1897-1899), Grand Cane (1900), Lanesville (1901-1902), Jonesboro (1903), Winnfield station (1904),
Keatchie circuit (1905-1906), Pleasant Hill (1907-1908), Texas Avenue in Shreveport (1909), Grand
Cane mission (1910-1912), Bayou Lachute circuit (1913-1915), Vivian (1916-1917), Elmore circuit
(1918-1921), Simsboro circuit (1921-1924). These circuits included the following congregations:
Bayou Scie, Pelican, Plain Dealing, Concord, Haughton, Ebenezer, Benson, Vivian, and Trees.
In 1880, H. J. Boltz married Amanda Louise Vidler (1856-1913) of Sabine Parish, Louisiana. The
Boltz’s had five children: Dessye Marle Boltz Bannerman (1882-1963), Emma Lieu Boltz
(1884-1886), Terresser May Boltz (1886-1888), Willie Henry Boltz (1889-1930), and unknown.