Perry McCuen Ramsey
PERRY McCUEN RAMSEY, jeweler and agent for custom-made clothing at Parkers Landing, was born Nov. 30, 1847 in Donegal township, Butler Co., son of George S. and Eliza (Bain) Ramsey, natives of Carlisle and Gettysburg, Pa., respectively.
James Ramsey, paternal grandfather of Perry M. Ramsey, came to Sugar Creek township, Armstrong county, prior to 1820, and for many years worked at tailoring, being very proficient at his trade. He continued to reside in that township until his death, which occurred at the extreme old age of ninety-six years.
George S. Ramsey, son of James Ramsey, and father of Perry M. Ramsey, was reared to manhood in Sugar Creek township, but after attaining his majority he went to Donegal township, Butler county. Having become an English and German scholar, he divided his time between teaching in the winter and farming in the summer. He gained a widespread and honestly earned reputation for intergrity and efficiency, and at the time of his early demise, when only forty-one years old, he was auditorof Butler county. George S. Ramsey and his wife had a family of five children: William B., John S. (deceased), James H. (deceased) George W. and Perry M.
John Bain, maternal grandfather of Perry M. Ramsey, was numbered among the sturdy pioneers of Madison township, Armstrong county, coming here from Gettysburg. He cleared off and developed a fine farming property, which continued to be his home until his death. His wife was Charity Saunders, and one of their children, Eliza, married George S. Ramsey and became the mother of Perry M. Ramsey.
Perry McCuen Ramsey was reared through a normal boyhood to maturity on the old Bain homestead, and attended the Madison township district schools. After leaving school he learned the carpenter's trade. The fall of 1869 marked his arrival at Parkers Landing. Here he secured employment with Roberts & Black, at Tank building, remaining with them until the spring of 1870, when he went to Kellersburg, Armstrong Co., Pa., continuing to work his trade there for a year. Returning to Parkers Landing, he became associated with his brother, William B. Ramsey, a coal dealer, remaining with him from 1873 to 1880. In the latter year he formed a new partnership, as member of the firm of Kirkbride & Ramsey, and handled flour and all kinds of feed for a year. Mr. Ramsey then bought out his partner, and continued alone for a year, when he sold the business and embarked in the grocery trade. Until 1887 he continued to operate his grocery, then selling it and going into teaming enterprise, which engrossed his attention until the fall of 1893, when he went to Findlay, Ohio.For four years he was employed in that city as clerk and cashier in a wholesale and retail dry goods store. Returning once more to Parkers Landing, he interested himself in several lines until 1900, when he embarked in the custom-made clothing business., which he has built up to large proportions. On April 11, 1911, respondingto a well defined demand he added a jewelry department which he has found profitable, and he has since put in a line of kodaks, and has a laundry and dry claening agency.
The first wife of Mr. Ramsey was Lottie Jane, daughter of Samuel and Mary (Rhodes) Myers, of Deanville, Armstrong Co., Pa. By this marriage he had two daughters: Mary G., wife of Elliott A. McGinnis, of Scio, Ohio; and Lottie J., wife of George Leary, of Findlay, Ohio. Mr. Ramsey was married second to Louisa P., daughter of Adam and Barbara (Byers) Thane, of Parkers Landing, both natives of Germany. Three children were born of this marriage: Lida, wife of Dean W. Parker, of Toledo, Ohio; Perry M., deceased; and Amy, wife of Henry L. Ewald. Mr. Ramsey 's third marriage was to Harriet Yockey, daughter of Peter and Catherine (Myers) Yockey, of Worthington, Pa. Two children were born of this last union, Anna Vivan and Knerr, the latter deceased. Mr. Ramsey has eleven grandchildren and one great-grandchild, all living. Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey are members of the First Methodist Church of Parker City. Politically he is a Republican. He is a good business man and excellent citizen, and has many warm personal friends in the community where his interests have been centered for so many years. While not seeking for public honors, Mr. Ramsey represented the Second ward in the city council for six years, during the eighties, and in November, 1913, was again elected to represent that ward in council. Though sixty-six years old he is remarkably well preserved and as active as ever.
Source: Pages 736-736 Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and Present, J.H. Beers & Co., 1914
Transcribed October 1998 by Rodney G Rosboroughv for the Armstrong County Beers Project
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