Walter Hill

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-124068

Notes:

The death of the infant daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Hill, born on the 16th inst., occurred on Monday morning last after a brief illness.

Wellesley Maple Leaf, January 23, 1902

Other Events:

• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/156026965
• Occupation: undertaker
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-51544
• Residence: 1871, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; E. Methodist
• Occupation: 1901, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Farmer

Notes:

Dissolution of Partnership.

NOTICE is hereby given that the partnership heretofore subsisting between us,the undersigned Menno Bechtel and John Hill, as Sawmillers, Undertakers and Furniture Dealers, under the firm name of M. Bechtel & Co., has this day been dissolved by mutual consent. The business will from this date be conducted by the said John Hill, to whom all debts due to the said partnership, are to be paid, and who will also assume the liabilities of the said partnership.

Witness: Eckhart Reiner.

MENNO BECHTEL & JOHN HILL

Dated at the Village of Wellesley, this 6th day of February, A. D., 1896.

Waterloo Chronicle, 27 Feb 1896, p. 8

___________________

Hill & Ratz.

Here is a firm that conducts as large a business as any other two men in the county. They have a large saw and planing mill, furniture factory and undertaking establishment. They also manufacture sash, doors, blinds, etc. In fact, they are prepared to turn out everything in the wood line required in the building of a house and furnishing it. They also manufacture cheese boxes. Their establishment is equipped with the most modern and up-to-date machinery. Their large wareroom, a short distance from the factory and saw mill, is filled to its utmost capacity with parlor and bedroom sets and other household furniture. They have probably as large and fine a display of the latest styles of furniture as you will find anywhere in the county. In the display is a bedstead that particularly attracted the attention of the writer It was made entirely by Land by one of their workmen. It is an exquisite piece of work, the carving especially showing the taste of a skilled mechanic The undertaking department is supplied with everything necessary for the proper burial of the dead. Messre. Hill & Ratz are energetic young business men, and in the course of a year turn out a vast amount of lumber and furnish the material for a large number of residences throughout this section They also have a fine trade in the furniture line They also deal in shingles, of which they sell many thousands. Mr. Ratz, who was formerly a school teacher, came in as a partner with Mr. Hill last January, has just about completed a handsome, commodious residence in the immediate neighborhood of their works. In locking over their premises I became somewhat surprised, as I was under the impression that a village of not more than eight hundred inhabitants could not afford a manufacturing industry of the extent of that of Messre. Hill & Ratz The saw mill was established by Menno Bechtel in 1876, and who also operated a steam mill. The saw mill still has a large patronage and thousands of logs are annually converted into timber.

Waterloo County Chronicle, 14 Jul 1898, p. 8

_________________

Wife of Mayor Ratz Bereaved in Death of Brother, J. Hill

Word was received wife of Mayor Henry E. Ratz Waterloo, announcing her brother, John Hill, his home in Toronto Monday evening following a short illness. He was in his 69th year.

There survive his wife, one son, Lorne Hill, of Beamsville, and one daughter, Mrs. M. K. Morrow, of Buffalo; one brother, Jacob Hill of Spokane, Wash., three sisters, Mrs. H. G. Ratz, Waterloo, Mrs. Charles H. Schwalm, Buffalo, and Mrs. M. S. Wilhelm of Wellesley.

The funeral will take place on Friday afternoon at two o'clock from the undertaking parlors of Ratz & Bechtel, Queen St. S., Kitchener. Interment will be made in Mount Hope Cemetery, Waterloo.

The late John Hill, who was well and favorably known in Waterloo County, was born in Wellesley, a son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Henry Hill. For some years he conducted a retail shoe store in Wellesley. Later he moved to Caledonia and then to Canboro where he was engaged in the real estate business. He later moved to Texas where he lived for ten years, returning to Canada two years ago. Owing to a heart condition, he has lived retired, the past few years. Mr. and Mrs. Hill made their home with their daughter, Mrs. Walter Morrow, at Buffalo, the past two years and were spending the winter with his sister- in-law, Mrs. H. Schmidt, at Lansing, rear away Toronto, where he passed.

Waterloo Chronicle 27 Feb 1936, p. 5

John married Adeline Ratz 5 Dec 1893, , Perth Co., Ontario, Canada. Adeline (daughter of Henry Ratz and Christina Eidt) was born 10 Oct 1870, Gadshill, North Easthope Twp., Perth Co., Ontario; died 1953; was buried , Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/156026930
• Name: Adeline Hill
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-51545

Other Events:

• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/79690028
• Misfortune: committed suicide
• Name: Henry Hill
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-108569
• Occupation: 1861, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Shoemaker
• Residence: 1861, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1861, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1861, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Wellesley Village
• Occupation: 1871, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Shoemaker
• Residence: 1871, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; E. Methodist
• Occupation: 1881, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Shoemaker

Notes:

Mr. Henry Hill, an old and respected resident of Wellesley village, committed suicide by hanging on Sunday morning. He had been very despondent of late and it is said much worried by heavy financial losses. He carried on a shoe store in that village for many years. His wife was killed in a runaway about nine years ago.

Waterloo County Chronicle 5 Jul 1894, p. 5

Heinrich married Elizabeth Bender 29 Jul 1861, , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Elizabeth (daughter of Frederick Bender and Fredericka) was born 1840, , Germany; died 12 Jul 1885, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Lisbon United Cemetery, Lisbon, North Easthope Twp., Perth Co., Ontario. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/79690247
• Name: Elizabeth Hill
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-108570
• Residence: 1861, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1871, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; E. Methodist
• Misfortune: 1885, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; killed in buggy accident

Notes:

Fatal Accident in Wellesley

On Sunday morning, July 12th, Mr. Henry Hill, of Wellesley Village, started with a one horse carriage for the Evangelical meeting at Lisbon. The load consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Hill, their child, a servant girl, and a lad named Lips, an apprentice as shoemaker in his shop. When a little on the south side of the village, the horse started to kick, and turned to one side, throwing the occupants over an embankment about 15 feet high. Mrs. Hill fell on her head and shoulders, and when picked up it was found that her neck was broken, and that her death had been instantaneous. The rest of the party were bruised, some of them quite seriously, but nothing serious anticipated.

Galt Reporter Jul 17 1885 pg 1

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-165523
• Residence: 1851, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Evangelist

Notes:

Henry Ratz owned and operated a sawmill at Gads Hill, north of Stratford. He had been born during the voyage of his parents to Canada in 1828, from Hessen, Germany. When his parents arrived in Waterloo County his father, Valentine Ratz, opened a blacksmith's shop in Waterloo and his mother, Anna Gertrude, contributed to the family income by knitting items of clothing to sell to her neighbours. The first small family sawmill was opened at St. Jacobs, and then a larger mill at Gads Hill which in time was operated by Henry....


Woman of Waterloo County edited by Ruth Russell

Henry — Christina Eidt. Christina (daughter of Johannes "John" Eidt and Maria Christina "Christina" Stiebing) was born 30 Jun 1834, , Hesse-Cassel, Germany; died 31 Oct 1887, Gadshill, North Easthope Twp., Perth Co., Ontario. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Christina Ratz
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-74146
• Residence: 1851, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Mennonite

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-130820 
• Occupation: 1861, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Shoemaker
• Residence: 1861, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Christian married Catharina "Catherine" 1827. Catharina was born 1794, , Germany; died Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Catharina "Catherine" Hill
• Name: Catherine
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-225676
• Residence: 1861, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1871, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-272702
• Occupation: 1861, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Laborer
• Residence: 1861, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Evangelical Methodist

Frederick — Fredericka. Fredericka was born CALC 25 Sep 1805, , Germany; died 17 Dec 1890, Elmira, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Calvary Conservative Mennonite Cemetery Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Fredericka Bender
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-130823
• Residence: 1861, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Evangelical Methodist
• Residence: 1881, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-43182
• Birth: CALC 19 Aug 1798, , Germany
• Occupation: 1851, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Farmer
• Residence: 1851, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Evangelist
• Occupation: 1861, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Farmer
• Residence: 1861, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Evangelist
• Occupation: 1871, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Blacksmith
• Residence: 1871, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Wesleyan Methodist

Notes:

...Valentine Ratz, opened a blacksmith's shop in Waterloo and his mother [wife], Anna Gertrude, contributed to the family income by knitting items of clothing to sell to her neighbours. The first small family sawmill was opened at St. Jacobs, and then a larger mill at Gads Hill which in time was operated by Henry....


Woman of Waterloo County edited by Ruth Russell

___________________________

Valentine Ratz, the forebear of numerous millers, built a sawmill west of the village on the Conestoga River in 1844. Jacob C. Snider, in 1848, bought a farm on the south side of the Conestoga and after constructing a dam across the river, erected a saw-mill, a flour-mill, and a woollen-mill. Those industries attracted more mechanics and stores. In 1852 the village was named St. Jacobs after Mr. Snider. The "Saint" was added to his first name "for the sake of euphony." He sold the mills to his son Jacob in 1855. From 1856 until 1870 there were five different owners. In December of 1870 E. W. B. Snider purchased the flour-mill and operated it till 1917, when he sold the enterprise to W. W. Snider, who incor-porated the business as the Snider Flour Milling Company. The latter later sold the business to Walter J. Snider of Conestoga, whose heirs still operate it.


Waterloo Hitorical Society, Annual Volume 1933 pg 20

________________________

It is reported that Valentine was born in Grebenau, Vogelsbergkreis, Hessen, Germany, no source yet

Valentine — Anna Gertrute "Gertrude" Lanz. Anna was born 2 May 1798, , Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany; died 14 Jul 1872, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Wilmot Centre (Geiger) Cemetery, Wilmot Township, Waterloo Region, Ontario. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Anna Gertrute "Gertrude" Ratz
• Name: Garhutte Lanz
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-43183
• Residence: 1851, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Evangelist
• Residence: 1861, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Evangelist
• Residence: 1871, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Wesleyan Methodist

Notes:

Gertrude's mother died on board the ship coming to North America in 1828. Her name was Anna Gertraud Fleischauer wife of Jacob Lanz

Other Events:

• Birth: , Hesse-Cassel, Germany
• Birth: , Hesse-Cassel, Germany
• Name: John Eidt
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-124686
• Occupation: 1851, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Farmer
• Residence: 1851, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Mennonite

Notes:

John is reportedly born in Hatterode, Hessen, Germany, documentation needed

Johannes — Maria Christina "Christina" Stiebing. Maria was born 1800, , Hessen, Germany; died 7 Sep 1883, Ellice Township, Perth Co., Ontario, Canada; was buried , Oetzel Evangelical Cemetery, Ratzburg, North Easthope Twp, Perth Co., Ontario. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Christina Stiebing
• Name: Maria Christina "Christina" Eidt
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-124685
• Residence: 1851, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Mennonite
• Occupation: 1861, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Yeoman
• Residence: 1861, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Evangelical Methodist

Notes:

Maria Christina reportedly was born in Hatterode, Hessen, Germany, documentation needed.