Taken from Kratz books of 1892 and 1982...
same text in Meyer book of 1896 (page 284-286)

His life is the story of an independent self-sufficient pioneer with abundance of ability and energy. In the fall of 1852 his father and mother died in the space of five weeks. Left an orphan at the early age of 14 years, he went to Plumstead, Pennsylvania, where he attended one winter term of school. In the following spring he hired to H. K. Myers for eight months at farm work. Then apprenticed to his brother Abraham at wagon-making, serving one year and nine months.

In the spring of 1856, he faced towards the West, believing there were better things in store for the young than in the densely inhabited East; went to Whiteside County, Illinois, and worked at wagon-making, breaking prairie with an ox team, threshing, etc.

He married in the spring of 1860.

In the spring of 1863 they loaded their goods and effects in an old wagon and started for Kansas. Their whole wealth consisted of a team, wagon, bed, stove, a few minor articles of household goods, and $21 in cash. They started for a point in eastern Kansas to find a home for themselves, and on May 10, 1863, located in Appanoose Township (P. O., Pomona), Franklin County, Kansas. Here they lived in a log cabin with puncheon floor and clapboard roof. In August Mr. Kratz joined the State Militia, and served in Kansas and Missouri 18 months. While on such duty the family remained without a protector, and he had permission to go home at times and get supplies for their maintenance. The nearest mill was 20 miles away and run only one day in a week. The nearest trading store was at Lawrence, 32 miles distant. The Militia was disbanded in 1864, and from that time Mr. Kratz was able to be at home and care for his family.

Neighbors were a long distance apart. No settlement except along the streams, and it was common to visit neighbors 10 or 12 miles distant. The Sac and Fox reserve was near by and Indians were plenty, but always peaceable and friendly. Mrs. Kratz was left alone one night, and, sleeping with the doors open, several Indians entered to inquire for whisky. She informed them the whisky, if there was any, was at the wakeup, about three miles distant, and they retired.

In the winter of 1865, through the kindness of two of their old neighbors in Illinois, Messrs. C. C. Alexander and John Benjamin, who advanced the money, they were able to buy a stock farm of 152 acres; 37 acres of this was afterwards sold to assist in paying for the balance. In 1878 Mr. Kratz purchased 240 acres, making a farm at this date of 355 acres. In the spring of 1866 he erected a log cabin 16x16 feet foundation. This the family occupied until the fall of 1873, when a more commodious house was built, but this the family soon outgrew, and in the spring of 1886 a house costing over $3,000 was erected. In an early day Mr. Kratz determined to give strict attention to raising stock, and he never allowed himself to lose sight of this idea. He had at times 150 head of cattle, 40 head of horses, and 200 hogs feeding, making a specialty of fattening beef cattle. The business was not always prosperous, owing to grasshoppers, chinch bugs and dry weather. School facilities were always good--probably as good as many in the older states. Mr. Kratz served on the School Board in his district 24 years.

He wrote the introduction to the original Kratz Family History published in 1892.

• Married: 1860 ⁴

1. Frances R. Kratz b: 26 DEC 1860
2. William Henry Kratz b: 26 JUN 1867
3. Horace Clement Kratz b: 22 AUG 1870
4. Lemuel Abraham Kratz b: 7 FEB 1872
5. Amy Elizabeth Kratz b: 18 AUG 1876
6. Harriet Emeline Kratz b: 29 MAR 1878
7. Esther Amelia Kratz b: 23 NOV 1882

1. Title: A Genealogical Record of the Descendants of Christian and Hans MEYER and Other Pioneers
   Author: Fretz, A. J.
   Publication: Harleysville, Pennsylvania: News Printing House. 1896.
   Note: full title: A Genealogical Record of the Descendants of Christian and Hans MEYER and Other Pioneers Together with Historical and Biographical Sketches, Illustrated with Eighty-seven Portraits and Other Illustrations
   Repository:
   Media: Book
   Page: page 284
2. Title: A Genealogical Record of the Descendants of Christian and Hans MEYER and Other Pioneers
   Author: Fretz, A. J.
   Publication: Harleysville, Pennsylvania: News Printing House. 1896.
   Note: full title: A Genealogical Record of the Descendants of Christian and Hans MEYER and Other Pioneers Together with Historical and Biographical Sketches, Illustrated with Eighty-seven Portraits and Other Illustrations
   Repository:
   Media: Book
   Page: page 286
3. Title: A Brief History of John Valentine KRATZ and a Complete Genealogical Family Register with Biographies of his Descendants
   Author: Fretz, A. J.
   Publication: Elkhart, Indiana: Mennonite Publishing Co., 1892.
   Note: full title: A Brief History of John Valentine Kratz, and a complete genealogical register with biographies of his descendants from the earliest available record to the present time. With portraits and other illustrations.
   Repository:
   Media: Book
4. Title: A Genealogical Record of the Descendants of Christian and Hans MEYER and Other Pioneers
   Author: Fretz, A. J.
   Publication: Harleysville, Pennsylvania: News Printing House. 1896.
   Note: full title: A Genealogical Record of the Descendants of Christian and Hans MEYER and Other Pioneers Together with Historical and Biographical Sketches, Illustrated with Eighty-seven Portraits and Other Illustrations
   Repository:
   Media: Book
   Page: page 285