My Genealogy Hound

REV. OSWALD RAGATZ was for many years a minister in the Evangelical Association, and is now one of Berrien County’s most successful fruit-growers, owning and cultivating a fine fruit farm on section 2, St. Joseph Township. A native of Switzerland, he was born on the 17th of March, 1833. His parents, Bartholomew and Agnes Ragatz, were of Swiss birth and parentage, and in their native land were united in marriage. They continued to make their home in Switzerland until after the birth of twelve children. Meantime the father followed the occupation of an architect, and also held an office, known as Land Aman.

Upon emigrating to America in 1842, the senior Mr. Ragatz settled in Sauk County, Wis., of which he was one of the very earliest settlers and pioneer farmers. He purchased a tract consisting of six hundred and forty acres of unimproved land, and with the help of his eight sons he succeeded in clearing a large portion of the property. During the early days of his settlement in Sauk County, he had very few neighbors. To the south his nearest neighbor was nineteen miles distant, and on the west he had no neighbor nearer than the Mississippi River. The village of Milwaukee, about one hundred and twenty miles away, was the nearest market for produce. Though white settlers were few, Indians were numerous, and wild animals abounded. Often at night some member of the family would fire off a gun in order to frighten the wolves from the door of the cabin. The Indians were usually friendly and regarded the white settler with more curiosity than hatred.

The prospects afforded by this new country seemed so favorable that Bartholomew Ragatz wrote a glowing description to his friends in Switzerland, and in the spring of 1843 forty-one families emigrated hither, attracted by his report of the country. These emigrants settled in the vicinity of the Ragatz family, and as the years passed by several hundred families from Switzerland joined them here, making a large and prosperous Swiss settlement. Upon the land first purchased by him, the father of our subject resided until called hence by death in 1859. He and his good wife were the parents of twelve children, of whom only three are now living. They are our subject; Henry, who lives near Benton Harbor, Mich.; and Catherine, whose home is in California.

A child of nine years when he accompanied his parents to America, our subject was reared in Sauk County and received his education in the schools of Sauk City, where he gained a fair knowledge of both the German and English languages. At the age of twelve years he united with the Evangelical Association, and five years later became a Class-leader in the church. When twenty years of age he received an appointment as minister of a mission in the Jefferson Circuit, in Wisconsin, and later was transferred to the Menomonee Circuit, where his position was one of responsibility. Later he was located at Waukesha, Wis., and he has also had charge of the church at Milwaukee. For two years he preached at Lameina, Wis., being sent thence to Racine, and from there to the Prairie du Sac Circuit and Kickapoo Mission, where he had two young men under his charge. He resided in Prairie du Sac for one year, but later, owing to failing health, he discontinued preaching for two years.

Upon resuming his ministerial labors, Mr. Ragatz for a time resided in Wisconsin, at Prairie du Sac, but when the Illinois and Wisconsin Conferences were separated, and the Minnesota Conference was formed, he served as a volunteer delegate to the latter and accepted a charge in that State. For one year he held a pastorate at St. Paul, then spent two years at the Crow River Mission. At that time the Sioux Indians were causing considerable trouble among the white settlers, and during 1861 and 1862 they renewed their depredations. Mr. Ragatz served as a spy during the Sioux wars. Having a young man under his charge and feeling anxious with regard to his safety, he started north toward the mission. Upon arriving at St. Peter’s, he found that over one thousand of the whites had been massacred, ninety-one of the number being his friends, and he officiated at the services held at the funeral. The young man under his charge lived ten miles from St. Peter’s, and contrary to the advice of Mr. Ragatz he went home, and on the following Tuesday morning the Indians came to the door of his house and killed him.

Before Mr. Ragatz reached home the news came to his wife that he had been killed, and the shock was so great as to cause nervous prostration. Our subject returned to Prairie du Sac, and thence went to the Portage Mission in Wisconsin and remained for two years. Later he remained for two years at Prairie du Chien, but on account of an attack of ague he returned to Sauk County. He resided in Troy, Ill., for two years, but upon disposing of his property there, he removed to Chicago, and for six months was in the insurance business with his brother. From that city he came to Berrien County, and purchased eight acres, for which he paid $2,000. At the present time (1893), he is the owner of forty-eight acres, the most of which is devoted to fruit-raising. The land is embellished with a first-class set of buildings and is in excellent cultivation.

May 22, 1856, Mr. Ragatz was united in marriage with Miss Catherina Steiner, and they were the parents of ten children, two of whom are deceased. The surviving members of the family are: Annie, who lives in Waseca, Minn., and is the wife of the Rev. William Stegner; Lydia Agnes, who married Ellis Weber, a merchant of Faribault, Minn.; Julia, who is the wife of Washington Stegner, a merchant of St. Paul, Minn.; Christina, a graduate of a High School and now preceptress at the kindergarten in Whitehall, Mich.; Samuel, a resident of Michigan, formerly a teacher in the Manual Training School at Chicago, and now in Bay City, being employed by Wells & Co., manufacturers of fruit packages; Amy, a graduate of the St. Joseph school and a teacher by profession; and Benjamin and Arthur, who are home. Edward and Julia are deceased. In his political views, Mr. Ragatz has been a Republican, casting his first ballot for Gen. Fremont, and has voted for every President since until 1892, but he is now a strong ally of the Prohibition party.