Jacob Ratzlaff family travels to USA

The Jacob Ratzlaff family left Russia in 1893 bound for the U.S.A.  Many of the Mennonites in the Karolswalde villages, including elder Tobias Unruh, had left for America in 1874.  The Mennonites from Volhynia settled mainly in Hutchinson and Turner Counties, South Dakota and Marion and Harvey Counties, Kansas (http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/volhynia_ukraine/?searchterm=volhynia).  Perhaps because the Ratzlaffs' traveling fare was donated by Bernard Jantz of Durham, KS, the family were bound for Kansas.

At this point I don’t know much about the Ratzlaffs' voyage from Volhynia to America.  There were train stations near Ostrog; at Kriwin, near Wilbowno at Badowka and Mohylany, and at Ozenin.  These locations are all north and east of Ostrog. 

In the 1890s, they probably would have crossed the border into Austria-Hungary near Brody. 

The train ran from Ozenin to Dubno to Radziwilow which was the last stop in Russia.

From Radziwilow, they would have continued on to Brody and Lemberg (L’vov). 

From there they would have been bound for the German border, at either Myslowice or Oswiecim.  In Germany, the typical immigrant route was Breslau (Wroclaw), Liegnitz, Frankfurt, Berlin, Stendal, and finally Hamburg. 

From Hamburg they sailed on the SS Polaria (SS stood for SteamShip) of the Hansa Line, Hamburg America Line, setting sail on June 10, 1893.  The ship stopped at Antwerp, Belgium, on June 14, 1893, and then progressed on to Montreal, Canada, where it arrived in port on June 27, 1893. 

From Montreal, they would have proceeded on to Chicago, where they would have boarded a train to Kansas.  They probably would have travelled via the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad.  This map from 1891 shows the Santa Fe’s stops.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atchison,_Topeka_and_Santa_Fe_Railway)

Florence was the main Marion County stop in the 1890s.  There was a branch line that ran from Florence – Marion – Canada – Hillsboro – Lehigh – Canton – Galva – McPherson, so they would have detrained at one of these stops.  This shot shows the Florence depot in 1904.