Name Jacob Kaufman | ||
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Jacob Kaufman (15 July 1847 – 20 April 1920) was an important manufacturer and industrialist in Berlin / Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. He built a large lumber operation and pioneered the manufacturing of rubber outerware.
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Biography
Kaufman was born July 15, 1847 in North Easthope Township to German parents, Joseph Kauffman and Anna Stroh. One of ten children Kaufman only attended school during the winter months, working on the family farm the remainder of the year. In 1871 he accepted a position in Gads Hill working for Henry Ratz as a sawyer. Kaufman married Ratz's daughter, Mary (1856-1943), in 1877 and moved to Berlin, Ontario. Together they had seven children, though only four - Emma (1881-1979), Alvin (1885-1979), Milton (1886-19--?) and Edna (1891-1983) - would live to adulthood. Following his move to Berlin, Kaufman founded a planing mill with assistance from his father-in-law. To address a dwindling supply of lumber in the region, Kaufman purchased a plot of land in Muskoka, operating sawmills in Rosseau Falls and Trout Creek to help meet demand.
In 1897, Kaufman built a Victorian style home at 621 King Street West. Sold in the late 1940s, it housed the Ratz-Bechtel Funeral Home funeral home until 2015.
Death
Kaufman died on April 20, 1920. He was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Kitchener.