Mary Ratz

Other Events:

• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/138950357
• Name: Mary Kaufman
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-39422
• Residence: 1881, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Evangelical Association
• Residence: 1891, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Evangelical
• Residence: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Evangelical
• Hall of Fame - Waterloo Region: Bef 2012, , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Charity work

Notes:

Mary Eidt Ratz was born December 14, 1856, the first of five daughters and eight sons born to Christine Eidt and Henry Ratz. 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. As the oldest of Henry and Christine Ratz's large family, independent and practical Mary played an active role in the family business, tromping around the bush to mark the trees to be felled by the men with saws. She was also, like her four sisters, actively employed in the household: the employees at the sawmill usually boarded at the Ratz home, and there were sometimes as many as 20 men to be fed in addition to the many family members.

In 1869, a young man named Jacob Kaufman became one of Henry Ratz's sawyers, living like most of the other workers at the sawmill - in the Ratz family home. Jacob had been born in 1847 to John Kaufman and Annie Stroh Kaufman; John had emigrated from Elbire, Germany to New York some 15 years earlier, and after three years there had moved to New Hamburg where he bought a small farm; Annie arrived from Germany in 1842. Eight years after Jacob Kaufman came to work for Henry Ratz - in March of 1877, when Mary was 20 - Jacob and Mary were married. Shortly after their marriage, Mary and Jacob moved to Berlin, where Jacob established the first of many enterprises to bear his name, this one in co-operation with his father-in-law: the Ratz & Kaufman Planing Mill. Mary and Jacob's first home in the city was half of a yellow frame house situated where the large Kaufman factory at 410 King Street West was later built. During those first years in Berlin, when Jacob was establishing his business and money was tight, Mary provided room and board in their home for workers at the mill.


Woman of Waterloo County edited by Ruth Russell

Mary married Jacob S. Kaufman 5 Mar 1877, North Easthope Twp., Perth Co., Ontario, Canada. Jacob (son of Joseph Joseph Kaufman and Anna Stroh) was born 1847, , Germany; died 20 Apr 1920, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

1. Christina A. Kaufman was born CALC 16 Oct 1877; died 7 May 1879; was buried , Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada.
2. Edward Kaufman was born CALC 10 Feb 1880, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 2 Jan 1883; was buried , Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada.
3. Emma Ratz Kaufman was born 27 Aug 1881, , Ontario, Canada; died 1979, Toronto, York Co., Ontario, Canada; was buried , Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada.
4. Albert Kaufman was born Apr 1883; died 1 May 1883; was buried , Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada.
5. Alvin Ratz "A. R." Kaufman was born 11 Feb 1885, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 1 Feb 1979, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried 4 Feb 1979, Woodland Cem., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada.
6. Matthew Kaufman was born 1886, , Ontario, Canada; died Yes, date unknown.
7. Milton Ratz Kaufman was born 30 Sep 1886, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 6 Nov 1980; was buried , Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada.
8. Edna Mary Louise "Mary" Kaufman was born 21 Dec 1891, , Ontario, Canada; died 3 Jun 1983; was buried , Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada.

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-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.

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-45204

Johannes — Anna Margaretha "Margaret" Thamer. Anna was born 1777, Hatterode, , Hessen, Germany; died Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Anna Margaretha "Margaret" Eidt
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-47951
• Residence: 1851, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Mennonite