Information from Dorothy Glen, Wright, Larabee, Crawford, Hammond, RootsWeb WorldConnect Project.
Commemorative Biographical Record of the County of Essex, J. H. Beers, Toronto, 1905, p. 85-87:
Rev. Alexander Scratch (Kratz), a retired minister of the Methodist Church, a direct descendant of one of the pioneer families of Essex County, and one of the most highly revered citizens of Leamington, was born in Gosfield township, Essex, July 18, 1826, son of Henry and Isabella (Wilkinson) Scratch.
The name of Scratch is a corruption of Kratz... Peter Kratz, who "lost his life in the year 1759, while assisting in burying the dead after a battle between the Romans and Protestants concerning religion." This is his record. Just where the battle was fought is not known, but his home was at a village some three miles from Frankfurt-on-the-Main, called Teutonhoofer. Of his wife nothing is known.
On Feb. 14, 1756, at Teutonhoofer, was born Leonhard Kratz, son of the above mentioned Peter. Of his early years there is no record, but in 1776, at the age of twenty, he was a soldier in an army that came to America from Germany to help England quell the rebellion of her Colonies... Under Gen. Burgoyne they participated in that General's historic invasion, which ended in his surrender of his whole army at Saratoga, Oct. 11, 1777, to the American Gen. Gates. The German (or Hessian) contingent of the surrendered army was marched into the colony of Virginia, and there held prisoners of war two years, one of the stipulations of the surrender being that they should take no further part in the war. They were offered free passage home, or the privilege of sharing with loyal subjects of King George in grants of land. This was in 1779, and when this offer was made public Leonhard Kratz was absent on a furlough, visiting some friends but recently arrived from Germany. During his absence his company disbanded, some eagerly returning home. Whatever would have been Leonhart's choice the time to make it was past when he returned to headquarters and found that some of his comrades had gone, and some had cast their lot with the inhabitants of the New World. He, himself, was by force of circumstances obliged to remain, and, naturally, he determined to avail himself of the guaranteed land grants.
In 1779-80, many colonists left Virginia for Kentucky, and among the numerous bands was one in which traveled the Munger and Toffelmeyer families and Leonard Kratz, the last named being, from a previous knowledge of the country, the guide. The Indians were hostile and the whites were in constant danger. In the Munger family was a daughter Mary, between whom and the young guide sprang up a lasting affection. They sought parental sanction, but this was positively denied, as the young suitor was a stranger-a soldier from a distant land. The unhappy state of affairs required a desperate remedy, and Leonhard proved himself master of the situation. Biding his time until they were well advanced into the wilderness, he halted, and declared he would no longer act as guide unless consent to his marriage with Mary Munger was given. This was done, and as soon as a properly authorized person was obtained their marriage ceremony was performed, in the open air, by the side of the wagons holding all their earthly possessions. The party then proceeded to the fertile valley of the Licking in Kentucky. Ruddell's, a station for protection against the Indians, was built, and the settlers made preparation for the next spring's planting. The open enmity of the Redmen made this a most difficult task, it being necessary to wield an axe or a hoe with one hand while the other held a gun. In the spring of 1780, after their corn was in, came the terrible raid of six hundred Indians and Canadians, the former under the notorious Simon Girty, and the whole under Col. Byrd. The settlers became the prey of the Indians, the young wife of Leonhard Kratz giving birth to her first child during the excitement of the parley at the station. Her husband, also a prisoner, was loaded with a huge copper kettle on his back, the marks of which he carried all his life, and, torn by his physical anguish and his fears for his young wife, from whom he was separated, his sufferings can be better imagined than described. A few hours' delay was made owing to the mother's critical condition, and then the women and children were placed in boats and carried down the river. A few evenings later, as they unloaded to camp for the night, the young mother, her babe in her arms, staggered from weakness, and sank at the root of a tree, and the poor baby's head struck the tree, causing instant death. With her own hands Mrs. Kratz hollowed out a grave, and buried her first born from sight. The men were marched across the country, and starvation almost closed the suffering of Leonhard Kratz, still bound to his copper kettle. A squaw, Mona Du Quatte, took pity on him, and slipped him food, and years afterward he was able to repay her by kindly care in her old age. The men prisoners were taken to Detroit, and purchased from the Indians by Gen. McCoombs, the price being paid in blankets. Under kindly care of the authorities their strength returned. Mr. Kratz had no knowledge of his wife, but he kept constant watch of the boats arriving with prisoners from all over the country. At last she came, but so bent, so emaciated, he did not recognize her until she called him by name, and then he bore her in his arms like an infant to quarters where she would be cared for.
In 1781 Leonhard Kratz and his wife located on Hog Island, and once again began life together, and in time a son, Peter, was born to them. As Mr. Kratz had never been discharged from the army, some unfriendly comments had been made, calling him a deserter. This he determined to have corrected, that his children could bear a name untarnished. It necessitated a trip to Germany, which he made in 1782, securing his honorable discharge, and thus forever setting that question at rest. At the end of eighteen months he returned home to find his son Peter had died in his absence. About 1785 they moved to Trenton, Michigan, and in 1787 became tenants of Gen. McCoombs, on Grosse Ile. In 1792, the Governor of Canada having offered grants of land to the U. E. Loyalists and other who had assisted Great Britain in the war, Leonhard Kratz and his family again became subject to the British King. The lot given him was No. 9, in Gosfield township, County of Essex, Ont., containing 200 acres, and this he exchanged with an old German for Lot No. 2, later purchasing No. 9, thus becoming the owner of 400 acres. The log house first erected was replaced in 1823 by a spacious brick home.
Leonhard Kratz was a prominent man. His education had been acquired in the Old World, where he enjoyed advantages not to be obtained in a new country. He was reared in the faith of the Episcopal Church, and while he never united with any other denomination he freely gave to all, and his home was always open to the clergy, regardless of creed. He was hospitable and generous, and the Indians often sought favors of him, regarding him a man of great bravery and daring. Through the influence of the first schoolmaster in Gosfield, McMurray by name, who insisted that the name Kratz was, in reality, Scratch, and ought to be so spelled, the change was made, Leonhard, himself, finally submitting to it. He died at Gosfield Aug. 12, 1829. His wife died in 1840.
To Leonhard and Mary (Munger) Kratz were born the following children, eleven in all: The first died as above stated; Peter died while his father was in Germany; Susanna, born on Hog Island, July 23, 1785, married, Feb. 9, 1802, John Wigle, and died Jan. 29, 1860; Peter (2), born at Trenton, Michigan, Nov. 29, 1785, married in Colchester, May 3, 1808, Mary Wigle, and died March 14, 1871; Isabella, born on Grosse Ile, May 18, 1788, married, at Mt. Pleasant, Feb. 12, 1805, Wendel Wigle, and died May 21, 1881; Katie, born on Grosse Ile, in 1789, married George Friend, and died in 1812; Mary, born on Grosse Ile, July 26, 1791, married at Gosfield, Dec. 16, 1813, and died at Jeffersonville, Indiana, April 6, 1870; Elizabeth, born at Gosfield, July 25, 1793, married in Gosfield, May 31, 1809, Charles Howard Friend, and died in Lockland, Ohio, July 7, 1853; Leonard, born in Gosfield in 1795, married --Sellars, had one daughter, and died in Ohio; Henry, born in Gosfield, April 5, 1797, is mentioned below; John, born in Gosfield, July 24, 1801, married in November, 1818, Sarah Malotte.
Henry Scratch (Kratz) was born in Gosfield township, April 5, 1797, and his entire life was passed in his native township. For some years he was successfully engaged in the practice of medicine. In 1818 he joined the Wesleyan Methodist Church, and in 1847 he was ordained a Methodist minister. He was greatly beloved in the community, and he died universally regretted, Jan. 23, 1861. In Colchester, in 1817, he married Isabella Wilkinson, who was born May 25, 1798, daughter of John Wilkinson, a native of County Derry, Ireland, who came to Malden township in 1801, and died that fall. To Henry and Mrs. Scratch were born children as follows: (1) Peter, born May 6, 1818, married Sept. 11, 1838, Mary Lytle, who was born July 3, 1820, and died Nov. 28, 1854. Their five children were, Henry, Elizabeth, Nicholas, Thomas and Theodore. (2) Mary Ann, born April 3, 1820, in Gosfield, married there, Sept. 5, 1838, Thomas Govereau, born in Amherstburg April 19, 1815. Their nine children were Melissa, Peter, Hester (who died at the age of eight years), Clarissa, Lewis, Alexander, Sylvester (who died at the age of four years), Mary and Arthur. (3) John, born March 2, 1822, married (first) Harriet Randall, and (second) Sarah Wright, and had six children, Benjamin, Darius, Mary Ann, Martha, Alexander and Sarah. (4) William, born March 20, 1824, married Charlotte McDonald, and had seven children, Lucy, Viola, Floretta, Almeron, Arnold, Estelle and Henry. (5) Alexander is referred to farther on. (6) Clarissa, born May 10, 1828, married June 4, 1848, Joshua Adams, who is mentioned elsewhere, and had three children, Isabella, Mary and Hester. (7) Melissa died at the age of six years. (8) Edgerton, born July 31, 1834, married May 12, 1854, Jane Cowan.
Alexander Scratch (Kratz) was born July 18, 1826. The common schools afforded him a substantial foundation for his future attainments, and he enjoyed also a period of study under Col. King, a noted educator of that time, residing in what is now Kingsville. His school days ended, he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. Reared in a Christian home, he early gave himself to the services of his Master. In 1871, after sixteen years as a local preacher, he regularly entered the ministry. His first charge was the Rondeau circuit in the County of Kent, from which he was transferred to Fort Erie, Ont., whence after two years he was sent to Vienna, County of Elgin. Three years of faithful labor there ended with his appointment to Sweaburg, County of Oxford, where he remained a like period. One year more in Vienna and then his appointments, in order, were: Embro and Thamesford, County of Oxford, three years; Durham, two years; Salem, County of Bruce, three years; Everton, County of Wellington, one year; and Mildmay, County of Bruce, one year, thus completing forty years of faithful and devoted work in the Lord's vineyard - twenty-four years of reguarly ordained ministry, and sixteen in local preaching. Earnest himself, he was gifted with the eloquence that comes from true love and sincere faith, and from an inborn knowledge of his subject. In his own daily life he has followed, as best he knows, the teachings of the Nazarene, and through his efforts and the force of his noble example and self-sacrifice many have been brought to Christ. In June, 1895, he was superannuated, and located in Leamington. There, with his beloved wife, he is now passing the evening of his life in rest and comfort, and although now in his seventy-ninth year he is still active, and ever ready when called upon to labor in the cause he loves so well.
In February, 1847, Rev. Alexander Scratch was married to Ann L. Adams, who was born in Colchester township June 1, 1828. Five children came to bless their home: (1) Salonis, born Nov. 19, 1847, married Alice Jane Cowan, who died Aug. 6, 1899. They had two children, one now deceased, and Elmer, living. (2) Matthew M., born Aug. 8, 1849, married Eliza French, and they have seven children, Alexander, Edmond, Lucy, Howard, Alvin, Florence and Reneldo. (3) Edgerton, born March 17, 1851, married Jane Jeffries, and had nine children. (4) Joshua, born Aug. 29, 1853, died the following November. (5) Priscilla Ann, born Aug. 3, 1856, married Joseph Craddock, and has fourteen children living; several are deceased.
Mrs. Scratch proved herself an ideal minister's wife, assisting her husband ably and energetically in his material and spiritual duties. As a sound theologian, she was often able to help him on difficult subjects. She has long been an efficient Sunday-school teacher, and has often served as superintendent of the Sunday-school.
Maria (Mary Ann)
Munger
Child1 Scratch ca 1780-ca 1780
Peter Scratch ca 1781-ca 1782
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