“Valentine Ratz’s grandfather, Valentine Senior, emigrated from Hessen, Germany to Canada in 1828 and settled in Waterloo County on land that is now part of Kitchener-Waterloo. His eldest son Jacob was born that year. Later the family moved to St. Jacobs where they cleared land for a farm. Jacob developed an extensive lumber business in Wilmot Township, Waterloo County. His son Valentine Jr. was born on November 12, 1848, the eldest of eight children.

On February 13, 1872, Valentine married Mary Yeager (sp?) of New Hamburg. Three years later Valentine and his younger brother John purchased 500 acres of land in Stephen Township comprising Lots 10, 13, 14, 15 and 16 on Concession 14. [Ed. note: The H. Belden & Co., 1879 Historical Atlas of Huron County shows the Ratz brothers in possession of Lots 4, 5, 6, 7, and 10, on the 14th Concession of Stephen Township. It appears they acquired the remainder after 1879, or the atlas is in error.] the Most of the land was virgin forest owned by the Canada Company. The Ratz brothers bought a sawmill which had been operated for some years on the east half of Lot 10 in 1875 but before they were able to take possession of it, the mill burned to the ground. In October a local paper reported: ‘A splendid new mill is being erected on the site.’

Valentine and John were enterprising businessmen and capable managers and the mill was well located on the Crediton Road near the centre of the township. They soon built up a thriving lumber business. To ‘feed’ their mill they continued to aquire neighbouring lands. The heavily forested acres were cut for lumber, the land was ‘stumped’ and then sold for farm and pasture.

In 1879, Valentine was elected to the township council. He served as councillor for two years, Deputy Reeve for one year, and Reeve for 14 years. He was selected as Warden of Huron County in 1886, the first Stephen Township resident to hold this office. It was during his time as Reeve that the Grand Bend Cut to Lake Huron was completed.

During the late 1890s, Valentine and a partner organized and financed the South River Lumber Company Limited, located 30 miles south of North Bay. Here they operated a store and sawmill, employing up to 100 men. The mill burned down in 1911 and was not replaced. Valentine was nominated by the Liberals to contest the riding of North Middlesex in 1896. Electioneering began with a meeting in the Crediton town hall in February sponsored by the Liberals and The Patrons of Industry. Valentine and two other speakers gave fiery speeches charging the government with mismanagement of finances.

The election campaign became more heated over the next months. In June, Sir Wilfred Laurier, leader of the Liberal Party and an eloquent speaker, visited Ailsa Craig on behalf of Valentine Ratz. In the same month Prime Minister Charles Tupper visited Exeter in support of the Conservative candidate. According to reports, Sir Charles Tupper was met at the station and conveyed to the meeting place in an impressive procession which included carriages, two bands, hundreds of people on foot and 20 militiamen.

The 1996 election campaign revolved around the issues of tariffs and funding for denominational schools. Both sides were confident of victory and public feeling was intense. In the end the Liberal Party swept into office – but in Ontario, the Liberals and Conservatives won an equal number of constituencies. In the North Middlesex riding, W.H. Hutchins, the Conservative candidate, won by five votes. Valentine Ratz, the Liberal candidate, asked for a recount. On July 6, ‘In a reserved decision affecting the marking of ballots in the North Middlesex recount, Judge Masson declared Ratz elected with a majority of 62 votes.’ It was the 1896 election which ended the domination of federal politics that the Conservative Party had enjoyed since Confederation.

Valentine served until he was defeated in the election of 1900 by John Sherritt, also of Stephen Township. Before the next election in October 1904, the ridings were changed and Stephen and Exeter again became part of the South Huron riding. Mr. Ratz moved to Parkhill and won the North Middlesex riding running as an Independent Liberal. He was appointed to the Senate in 1909.

(below) The Evening Record (Windsor) January 16, 1909; pg.6

Valentine and Mary Ratz lived in Parkhill for five years. When he became a Senator they moved back to Waterloo County and settled in New Hamburg. They celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in February 1922. Valentine Ratz died on March 2, 1924.”

extracted from “The History of Stephen Township”, by Susan Muriel Mack, 1992; pgs. 371-373