Notes:
Data source is David Coulon Burns. E-mail dcb1995@comcast.net
AMOS M. RETTEW, master-painter for the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Co., was born in Cordelia, West Hempfield township, Lancaster county, April 20, 1848, and is still a resident of the village. George Rettew, father of Amos M., and also a native of West Hempfield township, was a teamster by vocation, and also served many years as constable. He died in 1866, aged forty years, and was buried in the Brookhart cemetery in West Hempfield township; his widow died in 1898, when seventy-two years old, and her remains were interred in the United Brethren cemetery, at Cordelia. To the marriage or George Rettew with Elizabeth Mumaw were born nine children, namely: David, who died young; Elizabeth, who died in infancy; Amos M.; George, who died young; Henry, a farmer in West Hempfield township; Adeline, wife of John Eiker, a carpenter in Cordelia; Harriet, unmarried; Elizabeth, wife of Samuel Kidinger [Kissinger], of Stark [Clark] county, Ohio; and Andrew, who died young. The paternal grandparents of Amos M. Rettew were David and Mary (Kellar) Rettew, of French extraction, the former a farmer in West Hempfield township, who passed his latter days in retirement and died in Marietta; his wife died in Maytown. The maternal grandparents were Peter and Catherine (Metzgar) Mumaw, the former being a wood-cutter, living in Lancaster. Amos M. Rettew began making his own livelihood at the age of fourteen years by hauling ore in the banks, and five years later went to work in the smelting furnaces, where he remained four years, when he entered the employ of the R. & C. R. R. Co., as fireman. After two years, he returned to work in he furnaces, and a few years later opened a tavern in Cordelia, which he successfully conducted four years, and then became a painter for the P. & R. R. R. Co., and was advanced by degrees until, in 1892, he was made foreman - the position he still holds. In August 1868, at Lancaster, Amos M. Rettew married Mary Hoffman, and to this union have been born three children, viz.: George, who married Mary Strictmater, and is a laborer in Cordelia; Lizzie, deceased wife of Albert Bard, also a laborer in Cordelia; and Frederick H., deceased. Mrs. Mary (Hoffman) Rettew was born in West Hempfield township Dec. 12, 1850, a daughter of Frederick and Magdelena (Snyder) Hoffman, who were born in Germany, but who were married in Lancaster county, Pa, and who died in West Hempfield township - the father in 1889 at the age of seventy-one years, and the mother in 1885, when sixty-seven years old. They were members of the German Lutheran church, and their remains were interred in the Lutheran cemetery in West Hempfield township. Their children, five in number, were as follows: Peter, a conductor on the Pennsylvania Railroad; Mary, wife of Amos M. Rettew; Gertrude, wife of Albert Harthorn, a farmer of Conoy township; Kate, married to George Stubenfoll, a carpenter in Philadelphia; and Lena, deceased. Amos M. Rettew is a member of the P. & R. Relief Association, and in politics is a Republican. He has led an industrious and strictly honorable life, and his present prosperous condition is the result of his integrity and good management, as well as of his unfailing courtesy toward all with whom he had business transactions or social relations.
1860 census, PA, Lancaster Co., West Hempfield, page 64, 22 June 1860
George Rettew, 33, laborer, $1500 real estate, $235 personal, b. PA
Elizabeth " , 34, b. PA
Amos " , 12, b. PA
Mary " , 9, b. PA listed as "blind"
Henry " , 3, b. PA
Adaline, 1, b. PA
1870 census, PA, Lancaster Co., West Hempfield, (name transcribed as Ratean), page 486-487
*** dwelling 373, family 393 ****
Ratean, Elizabeth, 44, keeping house, $1000 real estate, b: PA
" , Elizabeth, 6, b: PA, attends school
" , Andrew, 3, b: PA,
*** dwelling 373, family 394 ****
Ratean, Amos, 22, works in mine, b: PA
" , Mary, 18, keeping house, cannot read or write
" , George, 1, b: PA
1880 Census, PA, Lancaster Co., West Hempfield, ED 124
*** dwelling 54, family 57 ***
Rettew, Elizabeth, 53, widowed, keeping house, b: PA/PA/PA
" , Mary, 29, daughter, single, at home, blind, b: PA/PA/PA
*** dwelling 54, family 58 ***
Rettew, Amos, 33, married, laborer, b: PA/PA/PA
" , Mary, 29, wife, keeping house, b: PA/Germany/Germany
" , George, 10, son, b: PA/PA/PA
" , Lizzie, 9, dau, b: PA/PA/PA
" , Frederick, 8, son, b: PA/PA/PA