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Jacob S. Kaufman

Jacob S. Kaufman

Male 1847 - 1920  (73 years)

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  • Photos
    Jacob S. Kaufman    		Jacob S. Kaufman
    from Waterloo Region Hall of Fame

  • Name Jacob S. Kaufman 
    Born 1847  , Germany Find all individuals with events at this location  [1] 
    Gender Male 
    Birth , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Birth 15 Jul 1847  North Easthope Twp., Perth Co., Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8] 
    Business 1877  Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    J. Kaufman - planing mill 
    Historic Building 1877  575 King Street West, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [9] 
    Kaufman Industries 
    • Originally built as a planning mill, 3 stories built of brick. In 1978 it was listed as in very good condition.
    Occupation 1877  Gadshill, North Easthope Twp., Perth Co., Ontario Find all individuals with events at this location  [3] 
    lumber dealer 
    Occupation 1877  Gadshill, North Easthope Twp., Perth Co., Ontario Find all individuals with events at this location  [1] 
    lumber dealer 
    Occupation 1881  Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [5] 
    Manufacturer 
    Residence 1881  Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [5] 
    Evangelical Association 
    Occupation 1891  Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [8] 
    Manufacturer 
    Residence 1891  Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [8] 
    Evangelical 
    Business 1892  Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Jacob Kaufman - doors, sashes, blinds, mouldings 
    Map of Berlin about 1892    		 Map of Berlin about 1892
    FindAGrave https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10126900 
    Occupation 1901  Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [2] 
    Manufacturer of Building Supplies 
    Occupation 1911  Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [7] 
    Manufacturer 
    Kitchener-JacobKaufmanLimited-00001-ButcherBlockAdvert.jpg    		 Kitchener-JacobKaufmanLimited-00001-ButcherBlockAdvert.jpg
    Residence 1911  Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [7] 
    Evangelical 
    Died 20 Apr 1920  Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [4] 
    Cause: influenza (10 days) & diabetes (20 years) 
    Hall of Fame - Waterloo Region Bef 2012  , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [10] 
    Industrialist 
    Occupation Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    rubber worker factory owner 
    Residence 621 King St. W., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    1901 Busy Berlin    		 1901 Busy Berlin
    Eby ID Number Waterloo-39421 
    Buried Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I39421  Generations
    Last Modified 12 May 2024 

    Father Joseph Joseph Kaufman,   b. 19 Oct 1809, , Bavaria, Germany Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 19 Oct 1866, , Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 57 years) 
    Mother Anna Stroh,   b. 13 Jan 1821, , Germany Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 2 Sep 1909, , Huron Co., Michigan, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 88 years) 
    Family ID F29946  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Mary Ratz,   b. 14 Dec 1856, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 24 Dec 1943  (Age 87 years) 
    Married 5 Mar 1877  North Easthope Twp., Perth Co., Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [6, 8] 
    Children 
     1. Christina A. Kaufman,   b. CALC 16 Oct 1877,   d. 7 May 1879  (Age ~ 1 years)
     2. Edward Kaufman,   b. CALC 10 Feb 1880, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 2 Jan 1883  (Age ~ 2 years)
     3. Emma Ratz Kaufman,   b. 27 Aug 1881, , Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1979, Toronto, York Co., Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 97 years)
     4. Albert Kaufman,   b. Apr 1883,   d. 1 May 1883  (Age ~ 0 years)
     5. Alvin Ratz "A. R." Kaufman,   b. 11 Feb 1885, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1 Feb 1979, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 93 years)
     6. Matthew Kaufman,   b. 1886, , Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown
     7. Milton Ratz Kaufman,   b. 30 Sep 1886, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 6 Nov 1980  (Age 94 years)
     8. Edna Mary Louise "Mary" Kaufman,   b. 21 Dec 1891, , Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 3 Jun 1983  (Age 91 years)
    Last Modified 13 May 2024 
    Family ID F10299  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • KAUFMAN, JACOB, carpenter and manufacturer; b. 15 July 1847 in North Easthope Township, Upper Canada, son of Joseph Kauffman and Anna Stroh; m. there 5 March 1877 Mary Ratz, and they had seven children, of whom two sons and two daughters reached adulthood; d. 20 April 1920 in Kitchener, Ont.

      Jacob Kaufman's father, a native of Bavaria (Germany), emigrated to the United States in 1827. After working as a baker in New York City, he moved to Upper Canada and acquired land from the Canada Company in North Easthope west of Hamburg (New Hamburg). Kaufman's mother, originally from Alsace, married Joseph Kauffman in 1842. The third of ten children, Jacob worked on the family farm as a youth and could attend school only during the winter; he displayed "splendid natural mental endowment." Still on the farm in 1871 but listed as a carpenter, he left to become a sawyer in the sawmill of Henry Ratz in nearby Gads Hill. In March 1877 Kaufman married Ratz's daughter and a month later they moved to Berlin (Kitchener), a village of strong Germanic background.

      In partnership with his father-in-law, whom he later bought out, Kaufman secured in December 1877 an exemption from municipal taxation and soon thereafter established a planing mill and a sash-and-door factory. Aided as well by linkage to the Grand Trunk Railway, the operation expanded and in 1881 the tax exemption of Ratz and Kaufman was renewed. In 1888 a new brick factory was constructed. When the region's supply of wood began to dwindle, Kaufman bought a large area of forest in Muskoka. From 1902 logs were cut there at mills at Rosseau Falls and farther north at Trout Creek, where Kaufman also produced wood alcohol and charcoal. When Nelson and Milton Good began producing automobiles in Berlin in the early 1900s, the Kaufman plant fashioned about 20 wooden bodies, which apparently were never used. Locally Kaufman's goods were transported by a horse-drawn wagon until 1909, when a motor car was converted into a truck. In 1916 the business was incorporated as Jacob Kaufman Limited.

      In addition to his lumber operations, Kaufman was a founder of the rubberized footwear industry in Berlin, an offshoot of its leather and felt industries. With A. L. Breithaupt and Louis Weber, he became associated with building contractor George Schlee, who had inspected factories in Ohio, and in May 1899 they organized the Berlin Rubber Manufacturing Company Limited. It prospered, but Kaufman fell out with his partners, reputedly because he wanted to give a raise to its aspiring bookkeeper, Talmon Henry Rieder. As a result, in the spring of 1903 he and Rieder started another firm, Merchants Rubber; it made rubberized garments for fishermen and miners as well as footwear. In 1907, after Berlin Rubber and Merchants had been absorbed by Canadian Consolidated Rubber of Montreal, Kaufman and his son Alvin Ratz formed Kaufman Rubber Company Limited, which became one of Canada's largest producers. It continues today as the Kaufman Footwear division of William H. Kaufman Incorporated.

      Although Kaufman had no interest in political office, he was committed to the public development of Berlin. As a member of its light commission from April 1905 to January 1910, he supported municipal expenditure to secure electricity through the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario. Also a member of the water commission, he sat on the committee that established the town's first sewage disposal system. In the fervour of wartime, such progress was overshadowed by the acrimonious, anti-German debate over Berlin's name-change to Kitchener, which Kaufman first supported but then opposed. From a business perspective, at a meeting of the local Employers' Association in March 1916 he observed that his companies had encountered little difficulty selling goods with a Berlin association. Certainly the change, which passed narrowly in a city referendum in May, did nothing to diminish Kaufman's civic devotion: in 1917 he funded the construction of a nurses' home near the general hospital.

      The Kaufmans were lifelong members of Zion Evangelical Church: a trustee for 35 years, Jacob regularly attended the Canadian conferences of the Evangelical Association; Mary headed Zion's women's society. In addition, she was president of the local Children's Aid Society and Young Women's Christian Association, and was a member of the National Council of Women of Canada, the Women's Hospital Aid Association of Ontario, and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Her influence is visible in the career of her daughter Emma Ratz in the YWCA in Japan and Canada.

      Jacob Kaufman died in 1920 and was described in the Kitchener Daily Record as "Kitchener's industrial wizard," whose "career is a most unique one even in our community where men who do things abound. . . . He was prepared to take a dare." Between 1909 and 1919 this "plain spoken sociable man" had gifted his wife and four surviving children with more than $602,000; at his death he left them an estate worth almost $279,000. Milton Ratz Kaufman subsequently assumed control of the planing and lumber mills while Alvin, who would gain attention through his promotion of birth control and eugenics, took over Kaufman Rubber.

      Lynn E. Richardson

      AO, RG 22-214, no.7694; RG 80-5-0-68, no.8940. NA, RG 31, C1, North Easthope Township, [Ont.], 1861, Ward 1: 7; 1871, div.2: 12 (mfm. at AO). Perth Land Registry Office (Stratford, Ont.), North Easthope Township, Deeds, nos.1590-92, 2488, 2500, 2503, 4311, 4313 (mfm. at AO). Kitchener Daily Telegraph (Kitchener, Ont.), 21 April 1920. Berlin, Ontario (Berlin [Kitchener], 1912). W. R. Chadwick, The battle for Berlin, Ontario: an historical drama (Waterloo, Ont., 1992). John English and Kenneth McLaughlin, Kitchener: an illustrated history (Waterloo, 1983). Industrial Canada (Toronto), 21 (1920-21): 158. J. E. Middleton and Fred Landon, The province of Ontario: a history, 1615-1927 (5v., Toronto, 1927-[28]), 3: 185-87. W. V. Uttley, A history of Kitchener; Ontario (Kitchener, 1937; repr. [Waterloo, 1975]).


      Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online 2000 University of Toronto/Université Laval

      ___________________________

      Mr. Jacob Kaufman Dies At Kitchener

      After a brief illness one of Kitchener's most prominent manufacturers, Mr. Jacob Kaufman, died at his home, King Street West, on Tuesday morning, April 20th, in his 73rd year.

      The late Mr. Kaufman was born in North Easthope in the year 1847. For eight years he owned and operated a saw mill at Gadshill, subsequently starting a similar business in Kitchener, which has steadily increased in size until today it is one of the largest in Western Ontario.

      Twenty years ago he became interested in the former Berlin Rubber Company, and three years later sold his stock and erected the Merchants' Rubber Company's plant, which was sold to the Consolidated Rubber Company in 1906. The following year the plant of the Kaufman Rubber Company was erected, of which he was president. He also owned the chemical plant at Trout Creek, the large sawmills at Rosseau Falls and held controlling interest in the Forwell Foundry at Kitchener.

      The deceased was a member of the Light Commission of the city from 1905 to 1910. He had been a trustee of Zion church at Kitchener for 35 years. The new Nurses' Home, in course of erection, an addition to the Kitchener-Waterloo Hospital, was donated by him.

      He is survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters. Mr. Jos. Kaufman, of North Easthope, is a brother of the deceased.

      New Hamburg Independent, April 23, 1920

      ____________________________

      J. Kaufman, Planing Mill, King Street - Among the prominent business houses in Berlin must be mentioned that of Mr. J. Kaufman, builder and contractor, and owner of the planning mill and lumber yards located on King Street. This business was established in 1877, since which time it has rapidly and steadily increased. The planning mill building is 45x70 feet in dimensions and two and a half stories in height. The lumber yards cover one and a half acres of ground, and a switch from the Grand Trunk Railway runs into it, thus affording Mr. Kaufman most excellent facilities for the receipt and shipment of his lumber and other goods, consisting of doors, sashes, window frames, blinds, and all descriptions of builders' materials, as well as the Paragon Fanning Mills, of which he is the manufacturer. He gives employment to 24 skilled workmen in the mill and fanning mill works, the later being 24x65 feet in dimensions and two stories in height. The works contain all the latest and most improved woodworking machinery, and a 20-horse power engine is used. Mr. Kaufman is a native of Canada, and a gentleman of business ability, push and enterprise. He is establishing a business, both in the lines mentioned and as a builder and contractor, that is a credit to himself and a source of prosperity to the town.


      Industries of Canada Historical and Commercial Sketches Hamilton and Environs 1886

  • Sources 
    1. [S721] Vit - ON - Marriage Registration, marriage certificate.
      Jacob Kaufmann, lumber dealer of Gadshill, Ontario, Birth Place: Germany Age: 29 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1848 Father Name: Joseph Kaufmann Mother Name: Annie Kaufmann Spouse Name: Mary Ratz, residence Gadshill, Spouse's Age: 20 Spouse Estimated Birth Year: abt 1857 Spouse Birth Place: Woolwich Ont Spouse Father Name: Henry Ratz Spouse Mother Name: Christian Ratz Marriage Date: 5 Mar 1877 Marriage Place: Perth, North Easthope

    2. [S137] Census - ON, Waterloo, Berlin - 1901, Berlin (Town/Ville) A-12 Page 4.

    3. [S4] Vit - ON - Marriage Registration.
      Jacob Kaufmann Born: Germany Age: 29 Est. Birth: abt 1848 Father: Joseph Kaufmann Mother: Annie Kaufmann married Mary Ratz Age:: 20 Est. Birth: abt 1857 Born: Woolwich Ont Father: Henry Ratz Mother: Christian Ratz married 5 Mar 1877 Marriage Place: Perth, North Easthope

    4. [S116] Vit - ON - Death Registration.
      Jacob Kaufman b. 15 Jul 1857 Waterloo Co.., d. 20 Apr 1920 Kitchener, s/o of Jos. Kaufman (b. Germany) & Stroh (b. Germany) cause: influenza (10 days) & diabetes (20 years)

    5. [S158] Census - ON, Waterloo, Berlin - 1881, Div. 2 Pg. 75.

    6. [S721] Vit - ON - Marriage Registration, marriage certificate 8940 (1877), Jacob Kaufmann-Mary Ratz.
      Jacob Kaufmann, lumber dealer of Gadshill, Ontario, Birth Place: Germany Age: 29 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1848 Father Name: Joseph Kaufmann Mother Name: Annie Kaufmann Spouse Name: Mary Ratz, residence Gadshill, Spouse's Age: 20 Spouse Estimated Birth Year: abt 1857 Spouse Birth Place: Woolwich Ont Spouse Father Name: Henry Ratz Spouse Mother Name: Christian Ratz Marriage Date: 5 Mar 1877 Marriage Place: Perth, North Easthope

    7. [S340] Census - ON, Waterloo, Berlin - 1911, Div. 37 Page 2.

    8. [S1592] Census - ON, Waterloo, Berlin - 1891, Section 1 Page 52.

    9. [S872] Book - Historic Building Inventory - Kitchener.

    10. [S220] Waterloo Region Hall of Fame Waterloo Region Hall of Fame.

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBorn - 1847 - , Germany Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBirth - - , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 15 Jul 1847 - North Easthope Twp., Perth Co., Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBusiness - J. Kaufman - planing mill - 1877 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsHistoric Building - Kaufman Industries - 1877 - 575 King Street West, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsOccupation - lumber dealer - 1877 - Gadshill, North Easthope Twp., Perth Co., Ontario Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsOccupation - lumber dealer - 1877 - Gadshill, North Easthope Twp., Perth Co., Ontario Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarried - 5 Mar 1877 - North Easthope Twp., Perth Co., Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsOccupation - Manufacturer - 1881 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - Evangelical Association - 1881 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsOccupation - Manufacturer - 1891 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - Evangelical - 1891 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBusiness - Jacob Kaufman - doors, sashes, blinds, mouldings - 1892 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsOccupation - Manufacturer of Building Supplies - 1901 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsOccupation - Manufacturer - 1911 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - Evangelical - 1911 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDied - Cause: influenza (10 days) & diabetes (20 years) - 20 Apr 1920 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsHall of Fame - Waterloo Region - Industrialist - Bef 2012 - , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsOccupation - rubber worker factory owner - - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - - 621 King St. W., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBuried - - Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 


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