The Green Ratzlaff book

In 1958 the descendents of Jacob Ratzlaff produced a genealogy book that listed a short history of Jacob and his children.  The book is a small, light green, hardback volume, entitled History of Grandfather Jacob J Ratzlaff And Descendants; 1958.  Unfortunately it lacks any publication or production information so I am unsure of where it came from or who wrote it. 

The book is a very important resource as it lists Jacob’s children and such details as birth places and some immigration information.  However, two key pieces of information appear to be dubious.  In the book, Jacob’s middle initial is listed as “J”.  In multiple U.S. Census listings, Jacob’s middle initial is listed as “H”.  Furthermore, his father’s name, as can be seen from the Tobias Unruh baptism records, was Heinrich.  The common practice at the time was for a son’s middle name to be his father’s first name.  Therefore Jacob’s middle initial in all likelihood was “H”.  Also, the book lists Holland as the place of Jacob’s birth in 1842 and that’s probably not correct.  The California Mennonite Historical Society (CMHS) has produced the GRANDMA database which lists over a million low-german Mennonites.  The names are taken from a huge number of primary sources which have been used to create family trees (http://www.grandmaonline.org/gw-asp-2/login.asp).  CMHS researchers have found that Jacob’s father, Heinrich, was probably a resident of Karolswalde, therefore making it unlikely that Jacob was born in Holland.

Jacob Ratzlaff, (8/12/1842- 12/21/1926).

Married Anna Foth (05/24/1842-04/08/1912) in 1862.

The family emigrated in 1893 to Durham or Moundridge, Kansas from Volyhnia (probably Menziliski).

Children:

Henry (1863-1916)

(born Zabara, married 1887 to Mrs. Katherine (Base) Unruh (b. 06/30/1860), daughter of Benjamin and Anna ((Nightengale) Base)  emigrated 1893 with father Jacob  (spelled his surname “Ratzloff”)

Eva (1864-1949)

(born Zabara, Volhynia, married John Nightengale (d. 1899) emigrated 08/26/1909, landed in Galveston,TX, bound for Durham, KS)

Andreas (1869-1934) (wife, Susanna Wedel)

(born Leeleva, emigrated 1907, arrived at Hillsboro, KS, 05/29/1907)

Bernard (1871-1952)

(born Menziliski, married Marie Schultz, daughter of Cornelius and Leona (Jantz) Schultz, 1892)

            Adam (1881-1950) (born Volyhnia)

            Lena (1883-1934) (born Volyhnia)

            John (1890-1954) (born Volyhnia)

Also born to Jacob and Anna were 4 children who passed away in childhood.  3 babies died in infancy and another daughter, Elizabeth, passed away at the age of 15 years.  Elizabeth must have been born prior to 1878 since she had already passed away by the year 1893 when the family emigrated to USA.