Jacob Ratzlaff emigration

The green Jacob Ratzlaff family history book mentioned earlier indicates that there were 21 people traveling together in the Ratzlaff party aboard the SS Polaria.  Since the Polaria’s manifest lists Andreas and Maria among the Jacob Ratzlaff family, I feel fairly confident saying these folks were all travelling together.  The manifest can be seen in its entirety here: http://collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/passenger/001045-119.01-e.php?&sisn_id_nbr=3134&interval=20&&PHPSESSID=9spml0cqkh6h5jtp2mdde4jle4

It’s hard to say which other travelers were with the Ratzlaffs.  Immediately above Maria Ratzlaff’s entry are names that appear to be a Nightengale widow and her son.  I can’t tell what the first names are though.

The Jacob Ratzlaff family did have ties to Nightengale (Nachtigal) families in Russia, and there were many Nightengales living in the Karolswalde area.

According to the CMHS GRANDMA database, there was a married couple by the name of Andreas and Maria Ratzlaff who were both born in 1833, making them 60 years old in 1893.  This could very well be the Ratzlaff couple in question.  GRANDMA indicates that Andreas became deceased in 1892.  GRANDMA does indeed indicate that Maria travelled aboard the Polaria in 1893 so maybe the 1892 death date for Andreas is incorrect.  Otherwise, the information GRANDMA has for this couple is quite sketchy.  Maria’s maiden name was Janzen and the couple had eight children total.  They lived in Alexanderkrone and Fuerstenau in the Mennonite Molotschna Colony when their youngest children were born.  GRANDMA doesn’t list any further information for them.   The youngest two children, Johann and Heinrich, were born in1859 and 1861, respectively, in the Molotschna Colony.  Neither Johann nor Heinrich ever left Russia; both dying there in Mennonite Colonies years later.  No children are listed for Johann.  Heinrich, however, had several children.  Some of these are listed as having emigrated to the Fernheim, Paraguay, Mennonite Colony probably in the 1920s.  Andreas and Maria may have been the only members of this family to ever make it to the U.S.A.