My Great Great Grandfather

My Great Great Grandfather

My name is Hansel and many people wonder how in the world did a guy from Dallas, Texas get a name like that. Nowadays I go by Hans, which was the result of the relentless teasing that I received in elementary school. You know ... the whole Hansel and Gretel thing. Of coarse, by the time middle school rolled around, the Hans and Franz skit on Saturday Night Live came out and my cheerleaders had a new cheer ... "I am going to pump you up!"

Now that I am older, I am glad to have the name that I was given because I know who the man is that I was named after. I was named after my mother's grandfather, Hansel Engleduff Ratliffe.

I was told that my Great Great Great Grandfather Carroll had a farm in Missouri next to a German family. The husbands name was Hansel Engleduff and it's said that Hansel did something for my ancestor so great that he named his first born child after him. That is how my Great Great Grandfather got the name Hansel Engleduff Ratliffe.

Soon after his birth they packed up their belongings in a wagon and headed off for Oklahoma to take part in the Oklahoma land rush in the 1800's. My Grandmother Ratliffe was pregnant so Hansel at a very young age had to walk most of the way from Missouri to Oklahoma. Once they were there, they faced many more problems that came with the land rush. What about the Indians? What if one of the other racers decides they want our land and tries to kill us for it? Winter is coming and we won't have time to build shelter on the new land.

That first winter on the claim was spent in a cave dug into the side of a creek. Can you imagine at such a young age spending an Oklahoma winter in a creek in the middle of no where, living off of the land? I can't.

That is where my Great Great Grandfather Ratliffe grew up and spent most of his life until World War I came along. Like many Americans, my Grandfather enlisted in the army to help his country. Many of his neighbors and other farm boys did the same. He was quickly shipped off to France to fight the Germans. He survived that test of fortitude only to come back and find that many friends and men of his community were missing because of that costly war.

Soon after this hardship he encountered more ... The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. When you would think that he might already be a broken man, he survived even these tests of time.

My Great Great Grandfather rebounded from all of this to become a respected farmer, successful businessman, and founder of Ceres Baptist Church. He was the rock upon which the family that I know today was built upon and the principles that he instilled at that time have been passed down to me. Who I am today is a result of his fortitude, determination, discipline, and strength of character.

My Grandmother Dobbs always used to tell me, "Never forget who you are." When I think of that phrase, I see not only my Great Great Grandfather Hansel Ratliffe, but many of the men in my family; and hope that I can live up to the standard by which they lived their lives. It is more than that though. When I do anything, I almost imagine all of these men standing behind me like a strong army. An army that gives me power. Not the kind of power that corrupts, but the kind that gives me the strength to persevere through the toughest of times because I know that they endured far more because they wanted more for their families.

In the end, I look back at my Grandfather Hansel and see the impact that his strength of character made on so many lives and it inspires me to develop that same kind of character so that I can help carry on his legacy.