Johann Ratzlaff (b1726) of Neu-Dessau

Johann Ratzlaff (Retzlaff) was born 02/01/1726 and died 11/27/1805.  His first wife’s name was unknown and she died in about 1770, probably in Driesen, after giving birth to six children.  His second wife’s name was Sarah Voth (1757 – 1805).  Sarah and Johann had 14 children.  Johann may have had a third marriage as well, to a woman with the last name of Funck, but GRANDMA doesn’t give us any further information about this union.  For perspective sake, Johann Ratzlaff was a contemporary of George Washington.

Records indicate that Johann was born in Kolm.  GRANDMA tells us that this location is actually Holm, which lay immediately SE of the city of Driesen, Brandenburg.  Other records (http://reidgen.com/familygroup.php?familyID=F14402&tree=ReidFamilyTree) indicate that he was born in Holm, Grosswerder, West Prussia.  I would guess this location may refer to Culm (Chelmno), West Prussia, which lies just south across the Vistula River from Schwetz.  Culm, West Prussia, is close to the Grosswerder, West Prussia, whereas Holm near Driesen is not.  Furthermore, Holm near Driesen should not be referred to as West Prussia in this time period as it was more correctly located in Neumark, Brandenburg.  In this circumstance, the Ratzlaff family lived near two towns with very similar names and it appears this may have led to some confusion over the years.  I feel Johann may have been born in Culm, West Prussia, as Mennonite records indicate that Mennonites began to appear in the Driesen area in 1738 (http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/N478.html/?).  Johann was born in 1726, twelve years prior to this date.

Regardless of his birth location, Johann came to own a dairy farm and his family was among the first Mennonite families in the marshy Netze River valley known as the Netzebruch.  Driesen is today known as Drezdenko, Poland, and lies about 25 miles east of Gorzow Wielkopolski.  Neither Holm nor Neu Dessau appear on today’s maps but this is how the area was mapped in the late 1800s:

Johann owned a dairy near the village of Neu-Dessau and his name can be found in the Court Records regarding land ownership: http://www.mennonitegenealogy.com/prussia/court1.htm.  Johann sold his estate in Neu Dessau in 1782 to a George Piepcke.  GRANDMA tells us that Johann died in 1805, in Driesen.  Other records indicate that Johann died in Volhynia.  Whether he died in Driesen or Volhynia, it’s fairly clear that at some point in the very early 1800s, this Ratzlaff family moved from the Driesen area into Volhynia.

According to GRANDMA, Johann had the following children:

            Spouse: Unknown name:

1)      Jacob, born 09/15/1748

2)      Johan, born 09/01/1756

3)      Eva, born 09/011759

4)      Anna, born 11/05/1762

5)      Jacob, born 06/20/1765

6)      Sara, born 02/06/1769

Spouse: Sarah (Sarcke) Voth (05/11/1757 – 04/09/1805):

7)      Anna, born 01/19/1771

8)      Katarina, born 10/14/1772

9)      Andreas, born 11/02/1775

10)  Maria, born 11/12/1777

11)  Anna, born 02/24/1780

12)  Bernhard, born 07/31/1782

13)  Heinrich Hans, born 12/12/1784

14)  Helena, born 03/01/1785

15)  Eliesabeth, born 01/12/1787

16)  Tobias, born 03/21/1788

17)  Susanna, born 03/11/1791

18)  Peter, born 06/11/1793

19)  Abraham, born 08/17/1795

20)  Heinrich, born 07/23/1798

GRANDMA lists sources for this information including “Franklin Voth Family Records” (http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=bobstrong&id=I116341)

and “Ancestors of Abram Peter Thiessen” (http://reidgen.com/familygroup.php?familyID=F14402&tree=ReidFamilyTree).

“Retzlaff Roots from the Scroll” by Evangeline Neuschwander lists similar information.  I’d question the indication that Johann continued to have children into his 70s, but the information from three different sources shows this to be the case.  Neuschwander, listing information found in an old scroll in an attic in Canada doesn’t list #13 Heinrich Hans at all and attributes his birth date to #20 Heinrich.  Neuschwander’s elimination of the duplicate name makes sense, but information for a 20^th child exists in other records.  According to Abe J. Unruh (Helpless Poles), information for these families living in the Netzebruch is sparse and they began to be cut off from the other Mennonite groups in Prussia.  Later when they moved into Volhynia, they were further cut off from their brethren in South Russia.  Finally, church records which were taken from Brenkenhoffswalde (Neumark) to Karolswalde were lost in a fire.  These are among the many reasons that records for the Netzebruch Mennonites, including the Ratzlaffs, are scarce and difficult to piece together. 

Neuschwander indicates that Andreas Ratzlaff, born 1833 (the man I feel travelled with Jacob Ratzlaff to U.S.A. in 1893) was the son of #20 Heinrich Ratzlaff, while GRANDMA lists him as a son of #13 Heinrich Hans.  Neuschwander also doesn’t list two Heinrichs at all.  If two Heinrich’s did not exist, my theory of Jacob Ratzlaff being a descendant of Johann Ratzlaff becomes less likely.  Jacob probably was not the son of #13 Heinrich Hans as none of the sources list him thus. 

GRANDMA feels that two Heinrichs did indeed exist, although further investigation is needed regarding the duplicate name.  If #20 Heinrich’s name was actually Jacob, as the green Jacob Ratzlaff genealogy book may indicate, it could help solve the problem of the duplicate name.