All,
Here's my Ratcliffe pedigree, starting with myself (I'm following Gary's
lead).
Michael R. Ratcliffe, b 1962, New Brunswick, NJ (raised in Prince George's
County, MD)
Roger H. Ratcliffe, b. 1932, Fargo, ND (raised in Arlington County, VA)
Harry E. Ratcliffe, b. 1898, Wyandotte County, KS (but raised in Smith
County, KS); d. 1972, St. Joseph, MO
George W. Ratcliffe, b. 1864, Marshall County, KS; d. 1945, Arlington
County, VA (at home of son, Harry)
John Gordon Ratcliff, b. 1828, York County, VA (raised in eastern OH and
Wheeling, VA; migrated to Kansas in 1854); d. 1902, Smith County, KS
John A. Ratcliff, b. 1800, York County, VA (migrated to OH, 1838); d. after
1850, Wheeling, VA (or WV, depending on date of death)
John Ratcliff, b. 1766, York County, VA (migrated to Ohio, 1820s); d. 1845,
Guernsey County, OH (listed in York County records as "John Ratcliff,
Quaker")
William Ratcliff, b. 1739, York County, VA; d. 1784, York County, VA
(married Elizabeth Harrison; listed in deeds from the 1760s as "William
Ratcliff H[e]athan". Bruton Parish records list the birth of
William Haythorn, son of Mary Haythorn, on same date as that listed later
for William Ratcliff in the Weyanoke Monthly Meeting records)
William Ratcliffe, b. ?; d after 1766? I'm not certain William
Ratcliffe is father of William Ratcliff, but a deed transferring land from
William Ratcliffe to William Ratcliff Hathan states that he is doing so
"for the Love and Afection he bears unto his aforesaid Son as above
named"
As you can see from the info above, after that initial move out of York
County in the 1820s/1830s as part of the migration of Quakers from
southeastern VA to Ohio, we've been a fairly restless bunch. My
g-g-grandfather, John G. Ratcliff, and his wife, Mary Townsend Ratcliff,
left Wheeling, VA in 1854 to homestead in Marshall County, KS. After
their divorce in the 1870s, Mary took the 4 youngest (including my
great grandfather George) of their 7 sons and homesteaded in Smith County,
KS; John moved to Smith County in 1881 (but set up a separate
household). George bought out his 3 brothers and farmed the homestead
until retiring in the late-1920s, leaving the farm to his son
Harold (my grandfather's twin brother). My grandfather, Harry, was not
interested in farming, studied agricultural economics at Kansas State,
taught for awhile at North Dakota State University (in Fargo), then joined
the USDA in Washington, DC. My father was raised in the DC area, but
left during college and for a brief period of employment in New
Jersey (where I was born). He and my mother moved back to the DC area
in 1965; I've lived here ever since (except for two years in graduate
school).