William Bain Ramsey
WILLIAM BAIN RAMSEY, justice of the peace, Second ward, Parker city, Pa., was born in Sugar Creek township, Armstrong county, April 21, 1837, son of George S. and Eliza (Bain) Ramsey, and a grandson of James Ramsey. He is of Scotch-Irish ancestry.
James Ramsey came from Virginia to Armstrong county, Pa., prior to 1820, settling in Sugar Creek township. He was a tailor, and continued to work at his trade until old age caused his retirement, living to be ninety-six years old. He married a Miss Smith, and they had six children, all now deceased, namely: William; Harriet, who married John Rowe; Fanny, who married Isaac Colbert; Eleanor, who married Joseph London; George S., and James F.
George S. Ramsey, son of James Ramsey, was a man of unusual learning for his day, being a scholar and familiar with the English and German languages. Soon after attaining his majority, he settled in Donegal township, Butler county, Pa., where he followed farming in the summers and taught school in the winters until two years before his death, at the age of forty-one years, at that time being auditor of Butler county. He married Eliza Bain, who survived him. She was a daughter of John and Charity (Sanders) Bain, the former coming from Gettysburg, Pa., to Armstrong county at an early date, settling in Madison township, where he cleared a farm from the wilderness on which he lived until his death. To George S. and Eliza (Bain) Ramsey the following children were born: William B., John S. (deceased), James H. (deceased), a son that died in infancy, George W. and Perry M.
William B. Ramsey was twelve years old when he accompanied his widowed mother and the other members of the family from their home in Butler county to the Bain homestead in Armstrong county, and there he grew to manhood. His education was secured in the common schools. For a number of years he worked at Pine Creek Furnace, seven miles from Kittanning, Pa. On Aug. 18, 1862, he enlisted for service in the Civil war, in Company K, 155th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, for three years or during the war. He took part in the battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg and Gettysburg. From the last named place he was sent to hospital at Washington, D. C., and afterward, on account of poor health, was detailed for light duty, and on April 21, 1864, on account of continued disability, was honorably discharged from a hospital at Philadelphia.
After Mr. Ramsey sufficiently recovered his strength at home he was employed in mining and shipping ore for three years, at Lucinda, Clarion county, Pa., and later from Parker in company with Major W. P. Mobley, and from Bear Creek to Pittsburgh, Pa., until 1870. He then embarked in the coal business, opening coal banks at Parker and Karns City, in Armstrong county, and at St. Joe, in Butler county, and continued in that business until 1886, when he was elected assessor of the city of Parker. He served in that office for twenty-three consecutive years. In 1906 he was elected a justice of the peace, holding over his term, under the new law, from May, 1911, to December, 1911, and on Nov. 7, 1911, was reelected, for a term of six years.
Mr. Ramsey was married Oct. 1, 1857, to Georgiana Curren, a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Garwood) Curren, of Parker, and eight children were born to them, namely: William C., who is deceased; James H.; Elizabeth, who is the wife of William Over; Sarah A., wife of Charles Cratty; Homer S.; Robert G.; Julia A., wife of Dr. Albert M. Hoover; and Jacob M. Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey have been members of the Methodist Episcopal Church for over a half century. He belongs to C. A. Craig Post, No. 75, G. A. R., of Parker, which he served as commander for one year, quartermaster for eight years, and at present as adjutant, serving his fifteenth year in that office. Politically he is identified with the Republican party.
Source: Pages 797-798, Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and Present, J.H. Beers & Co., 1914
Transcribed October 1998 by James R Hindman for the Armstrong County Beers Project
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