b. _____ d. 1871
Married - _____
Valentin Ratz was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany and come to Waterloo in 1828. He had been apprenticed as a blacksmith in his native country, and on his arrival in Waterloo he started one of an early shop in the village. He is credited with constructing the first brick home in Waterloo on the corner of King N. and Dupont Sts. where the Post Office was erected in 1912. In 1840 he gave up blacksmithing and bought a farm one mile west of what would later become the village of St. Jacobs. When Jacob C. Schneider moved to this early settlement on the Conestoga River in 1855 he obtained permission from Ratz to build the dam that would provide power to his grist mill. Later Ratz moved to Wilmot Centre where he died in 1871.
Sources:
1. Herbert C. Ratz – From Forge to Farm, WHS, Vol 79, 1991.
2. Ezra E. Eby, A Biographical History of Early Settlers in Waterloo Township and their Descendants, Eldon D. Weber, Editor, 1971.
3. Virgil Emerson Martin, The Early History of Jakobstettel St. Jacobs Printery, 1979.
4. Waterloo Chronicle, Ratz Reunion, July 8, 1909.
Valentin Ratz Biography
Description
- Creator
- Little, Ellis, Author
- Media Type
- Text
- Item Type
- Articles
- Description
- This is a handwritten biography of Valentin Ratz from the Ellis Little Papers. This biography has been transcribed exactly as written. Ellis Little was a local historian, who was the principal of Elizabeth Ziegler Public School.On his retirement, he invested much of his time in researching and writing about Waterloo's history. The Ellis Little Papers consist of extensive notes, papers and historical works.
- Notes
- Please scroll to the bottom of the page to see the transcribed text. To see the original document, please visit the Ellis Little Local History Room at the Main Branch of the Waterloo Public Library
- Date Of Event
- 1798-1871
- Subject(s)
- Personal Name(s)
- Ratz, Valentin ; Schneider, Jacob
- Local identifier
- ELP 51.160
- Collection
- Ellis Little Papers: Men and Women of Our Past
- Language of Item
- English
- Copyright Statement
- Copyright status unknown. Responsibility for determining the copyright status and any use rests exclusively with the user.
- Location of Original
- Ellis Little Papers
- Contact
- Waterloo Public LibraryEmail:askus@wpl.ca
Website:
Agency street/mail address:35 Albert Street, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 5E2
- Full Text
