J. G. M. Ramsey
Encyclopedia
James Gettys McGready Ramsey (March 25, 1797 – April 11, 1884) was an American historian, physician, and businessman, active primarily in East Tennessee
during the nineteenth century. Ramsey is perhaps best known for his book, The Annals of Tennessee, a seminal work documenting the state's frontier and early statehood periods. Ramsey was also a major advocate for development in East Tennessee, leading efforts to bring railroad access to the region, and helping to organize the region's first medical society.
As the son of a prominent Tennessee statesman, Ramsey encountered as a child many of the state's important early political figures, giving him a unique historical perspective on the state's early years. After his father's death, Ramsey began compiling a vast collection of historical documents related to the state's Watauga
, Franklin
, and Southwest Territory
periods. After years of exchanging advice and notes with fellow historian Lyman Draper
, Ramsey published the 700-plus page Annals in 1853. While the book has been praised for its attention to accuracy and factual detail, modern historians have criticized it for its lack of historical inquiry and its overemphasis on biography and warfare.
A lifelong states' rights Democrat, Ramsey supported the Confederacy
during the Civil War
, and was forced to flee Knoxville ahead of the city's Federal occupation in 1863. While the war left his family and finances in ruins, Ramsey nevertheless returned to Knoxville in the early 1870s, and gradually rebuilt his fortune. His funeral procession in 1884 was the largest ever witnessed in Knoxville until that time.
descent. In 1783, Ramsey's father helped James White
explore what is now the Knoxville area, and later served in various capacities in the State of Franklin
and Southwest Territory
governments. Guests who frequented the Ramsey House during Ramsey's formative years included John Sevier
and Willie Blount
, and Knoxville founders James White and Charles McClung
.
Ramsey studied with private tutors as a child before attending the Ebenezer Academy, located in what is now West Knoxville
. He graduated from Washington College
in 1816, and later studied medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
. He married Margaret Crozier in 1821, and began practicing medicine in Knoxville.
and Holston
rivers, named "Mecklenburg" after his mother's native Mecklenburg County, North Carolina
. Along with a large mansion, Mecklenburg included a 4,000-volume library that contained many important documents pertaining to Tennessee's early history, as well as a ferry
at the head of the Tennessee River
.
As early as 1825, Ramsey had proposed connecting Knoxville with the Atlantic Coast
via railroad, which would have given the region's farmers better access to markets in Charleston
. Over the years, Ramsey negotiated several hundred thousand dollars worth of bonds, which funded the first railroads built in the region. Ramsey also championed improvements to the Tennessee River that would give Knoxville's river merchants year-round access to the Mississippi River
. In 1828, the first steamboat to reach Knoxville, the Atlas, docked at Mecklenburg, prompting Ramsey to give a speech on the meaning of patriotism.
During the 1850s, Ramsey served as a director of the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad, which finally brought railroad access to Knoxville in 1855. In 1858, the Bank of East Tennessee, of which Ramsey was also a director, collapsed due to overspeculation. The bank chose to pay off its largest depositers instead of its smaller (and less affluent) depositers, causing outrage throughout the region. Knoxville Whig editor William "Parson" Brownlow
, who had been at odds with Ramsey since the 1840s, sued on behalf of these depositers and won a civil judgement against Ramsey.
The Annals of Tennessee, which covers the state's history to 1800, was finally published in 1853. Contemporary historians such as Draper, George Bancroft
, and Benson John Lossing
, praised the Annals, while others, such as William B. Campbell
and A. W. Putnam, derided it. The book sold moderately well, and a second edition was published within a few years.
The book is an invaluable account of many of the state's early historical events, especially considering that many of the documents on which it was based were destroyed during the Civil War. Modern historians, however, criticize Ramsey for focusing almost solely on battles and biographies of key figures, while ignoring economic and social factors that contributed significantly to the state's early settlement. The book has also been criticized for its unbalanced organization, providing a torrent of details on some events and scant details on other, equally important events.
.
During the secession crisis that followed Lincoln's election in November 1860, Ramsey grew increasingly frustrated with East Tennessee's refusal to align itself with the South. Ramsey suggested that most East Tennesseans were too "ignorant" to understand the secession issue, and accused Brownlow (who was pro-Union) of using the Whig to brainwash them. After the fall of Fort Sumter
, Ramsey wrote to Governor Isham Harris, and suggested he bypass a voters' referendum on Tennessee's Union ties and simply dissolve them by proclamation.
, calling Brownlow the "prime mover and instigator" of Union sentiment in the region, and demanded he be court-martialed.
As the war raged on, Ramsey's fortunes collapsed. His son, Arthur, was killed in battle, his daughters Charlotte and Henrietta died, and two other sons were captured. When the Union Army occupied Knoxville in 1863, Ramsey and his family were forced to flee. His home, Mecklenburg, with its 4,000-volume library, was burned by an arsonist (Ramsey claimed the arsonist had been hired by Brownlow). Brownlow seized Ramsey's townhouse in Knoxville, and had Ramsey's youngest daughter, Susan, expelled from the city. Ramsey's son was forced to sell the family's ancestral home in East Knoxville. Ramsey himself spent the latter half of the war in various cities around the region, continuously fleeing the Union Army's advance.
, which they called "Exile's Retreat." Brownlow, now governor of Tennessee, refused to pardon Ramsey, and ordered his arrest. Ramsey's friends, however, managed to obtain for him a presidential pardon from Andrew Johnson
, issued in November 1865. Ramsey returned to Knoxville 1872. He began practicing medicine again, and managed to regain some of his property through a series of complicated lawsuits.
When Ramsey died in 1884, the flag at the Tennessee State Capitol
was lowered to half-mast. The Knoxville Chronicle reported that Ramsey's funeral procession was the largest in the history of Knoxville. Ramsey was buried next to his father at the Lebanon-in-the-Fork Presbyterian Church Cemetery, near the confluence of the French Broad and Holston rivers.
, serving as its first recording secretary. After the war, he served as president of the Tennessee Historical Society. The stone house of Ramsey's father, completed the year of Ramsey's birth, still stands on Thorngrove Pike in East Knoxville, and is currently a museum.
Ramsey was the inspiration for the George Washington Harris
short story, "The Doctor's Bill," which describes a doctor's comical attempt to obtain payment from the county for the treatment of a local pauper. Ramsey, called "Doctor Blank" in the story, probably told the story to Harris at some point. The story also mentions Ramsey's old mentor, Joseph Strong ("Dr. S").
While criticized by modern historians, the Annals of Tennessee remains an important source of factual information regarding the state's early settlement, and has been republished several times. In 1918, the East Tennessee Historical Society published a short pamphlet written by Ramsey that details the history of the Lebanon-in-the-Fork Presbyterian Church. In 1954, the Tennessee Historical Commission
published an autobiography Ramsey had written to venerate his family's actions during the Civil War, along with some of his personal correspondence.
East Tennessee
East Tennessee is a name given to approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee, one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. East Tennessee consists of 33 counties, 30 located within the Eastern Time Zone and three counties in the Central Time Zone, namely...
during the nineteenth century. Ramsey is perhaps best known for his book, The Annals of Tennessee, a seminal work documenting the state's frontier and early statehood periods. Ramsey was also a major advocate for development in East Tennessee, leading efforts to bring railroad access to the region, and helping to organize the region's first medical society.
As the son of a prominent Tennessee statesman, Ramsey encountered as a child many of the state's important early political figures, giving him a unique historical perspective on the state's early years. After his father's death, Ramsey began compiling a vast collection of historical documents related to the state's Watauga
Watauga Association
The Watauga Association was a semi-autonomous government created in 1772 by frontier settlers living along the Watauga River in what is now present day Elizabethton, Tennessee...
, Franklin
State of Franklin
The State of Franklin, known also as the Free Republic of Franklin or the State of Frankland , was an unrecognized autonomous United States territory created in 1784 from part of the territory west of the Appalachian Mountains that had been offered,...
, and Southwest Territory
Southwest Territory
The Territory South of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Southwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 26, 1790, until June 1, 1796, when it was admitted to the United States as the State of Tennessee.The Southwest Territory was...
periods. After years of exchanging advice and notes with fellow historian Lyman Draper
Lyman Draper
Lyman Copeland Draper, was a librarian and historian who served as secretary for the Wisconsin Historical Society at Madison, Wisconsin. Draper also served as Superintendent of Public Instruction of Wisconsin 1858-1860....
, Ramsey published the 700-plus page Annals in 1853. While the book has been praised for its attention to accuracy and factual detail, modern historians have criticized it for its lack of historical inquiry and its overemphasis on biography and warfare.
A lifelong states' rights Democrat, Ramsey supported the Confederacy
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
during the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, and was forced to flee Knoxville ahead of the city's Federal occupation in 1863. While the war left his family and finances in ruins, Ramsey nevertheless returned to Knoxville in the early 1870s, and gradually rebuilt his fortune. His funeral procession in 1884 was the largest ever witnessed in Knoxville until that time.
Early life
Ramsey was born in a temporary cabin at what is now the Ramsey House (the house was still under construction) in 1797, the fourth son of Francis Alexander Ramsey and Peggy Alexander, both of Scots-IrishScots-Irish American
Scotch-Irish Americans are an estimated 250,000 Presbyterian and other Protestant dissenters from the Irish province of Ulster who immigrated to North America primarily during the colonial era and their descendants. Some scholars also include the 150,000 Ulster Protestants who immigrated to...
descent. In 1783, Ramsey's father helped James White
James White (general)
James White was an American pioneer and soldier who founded Knoxville, Tennessee, in the early 1790s. Born in Rowan County, North Carolina, White served as a captain in the county's militia during the American Revolutionary War...
explore what is now the Knoxville area, and later served in various capacities in the State of Franklin
State of Franklin
The State of Franklin, known also as the Free Republic of Franklin or the State of Frankland , was an unrecognized autonomous United States territory created in 1784 from part of the territory west of the Appalachian Mountains that had been offered,...
and Southwest Territory
Southwest Territory
The Territory South of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Southwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 26, 1790, until June 1, 1796, when it was admitted to the United States as the State of Tennessee.The Southwest Territory was...
governments. Guests who frequented the Ramsey House during Ramsey's formative years included John Sevier
John Sevier
John Sevier served four years as the only governor of the State of Franklin and twelve years as Governor of Tennessee. As a U.S. Representative from Tennessee from 1811 until his death...
and Willie Blount
Willie Blount
Willie Blount served as Governor of Tennessee from 1809 to 1815. He was the younger half-brother of William Blount, representative of North Carolina to the Continental Congress and governor of the Southwest Territory....
, and Knoxville founders James White and Charles McClung
Charles McClung
Charles McClung was an American pioneer, politician, and surveyor best known for drawing up the original plat of Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1791. While Knoxville has since expanded to many times its original size, the city's downtown area still roughly follows McClung's 1791 grid...
.
Ramsey studied with private tutors as a child before attending the Ebenezer Academy, located in what is now West Knoxville
West Knoxville
West Knoxville is the section of Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, that lies west of the city's downtown area. It generally stretches from Sequoyah Hills on the east to the city's border with Farragut on the west...
. He graduated from Washington College
Washington College Academy
Washington College Academy is a private Presbyterian-affiliated educational institution located in Limestone, Tennessee. Founded in 1780 by Doctor of Divinity Samuel Doak, the Academy for many years offered accredited college, junior college and college preparatory instruction to day and boarding...
in 1816, and later studied medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
. He married Margaret Crozier in 1821, and began practicing medicine in Knoxville.
Business interests
After his father's death in 1820, Ramsey succeeded him as president of the Knoxville Branch of the Bank of Tennessee. During the same period, he began building a large plantation at the confluence of the French BroadFrench Broad River
The French Broad River flows from near the village of Rosman in Transylvania County, North Carolina, into the state of Tennessee. Its confluence with the Holston River at Knoxville is the beginning of the Tennessee River....
and Holston
Holston River
The Holston River is a major river system of southwestern Virginia and east Tennessee. The three major forks of the Holston rise in southwestern Virginia and have their confluence near Kingsport, Tennessee. The North Fork flows southwest from Sharon Springs in Bland County, Virginia...
rivers, named "Mecklenburg" after his mother's native Mecklenburg County, North Carolina
Mecklenburg County, North Carolina
-Air:The county's primary commercial aviation airport is Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte.- Intercity rail :With twenty-five freight trains a day, Mecklenburg is a freight railroad transportation center, largely due to its place on the NS main line between Washington and Atlanta...
. Along with a large mansion, Mecklenburg included a 4,000-volume library that contained many important documents pertaining to Tennessee's early history, as well as a ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
at the head of the Tennessee River
Tennessee River
The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 652 miles long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names...
.
As early as 1825, Ramsey had proposed connecting Knoxville with the Atlantic Coast
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
via railroad, which would have given the region's farmers better access to markets in Charleston
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
. Over the years, Ramsey negotiated several hundred thousand dollars worth of bonds, which funded the first railroads built in the region. Ramsey also championed improvements to the Tennessee River that would give Knoxville's river merchants year-round access to the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
. In 1828, the first steamboat to reach Knoxville, the Atlas, docked at Mecklenburg, prompting Ramsey to give a speech on the meaning of patriotism.
During the 1850s, Ramsey served as a director of the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad, which finally brought railroad access to Knoxville in 1855. In 1858, the Bank of East Tennessee, of which Ramsey was also a director, collapsed due to overspeculation. The bank chose to pay off its largest depositers instead of its smaller (and less affluent) depositers, causing outrage throughout the region. Knoxville Whig editor William "Parson" Brownlow
William Gannaway Brownlow
William Gannaway "Parson" Brownlow was an American newspaper editor, minister, and politician who served as Governor of the state of Tennessee from 1865 to 1869 and as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1869 to 1875...
, who had been at odds with Ramsey since the 1840s, sued on behalf of these depositers and won a civil judgement against Ramsey.
The Annals of Tennessee
Ramsey began accumulating historical documents pertaining to the state's history during the 1830s. He began writing The Annals of Tennessee in 1840, but the project stalled as Ramsey struggled with a lack of information regarding certain periods, and attempted to address certain contradictions in his source documents. A major catalyst for Ramsey during this period was his friendship with historian Lyman Draper, who first visited Ramsey in October 1844. Draper, who was compiling documents for a history of the Trans-Allegheny region, helped Ramsey fill in a number of gaps, and provided him with technical advice.The Annals of Tennessee, which covers the state's history to 1800, was finally published in 1853. Contemporary historians such as Draper, George Bancroft
George Bancroft
George Bancroft was an American historian and statesman who was prominent in promoting secondary education both in his home state and at the national level. During his tenure as U.S. Secretary of the Navy, he established the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1845...
, and Benson John Lossing
Benson John Lossing
Benson John Lossing was a prolific and popular American historian, known best for his illustrated books on the American Revolution and American Civil War and features in Harper's Magazine. He was a charter trustee of Vassar College.-Biography:Lossing was born February 12, 1813 in Beekman, New York...
, praised the Annals, while others, such as William B. Campbell
William B. Campbell
William Bowen Campbell was governor of Tennessee from 1851 to 1853.-Biography:Campbell was born in Sumner County, Tennessee, later leaving to study law in Virginia. He returned to Tennessee in 1829 in order to establish a law practice at Carthage, in Smith County...
and A. W. Putnam, derided it. The book sold moderately well, and a second edition was published within a few years.
The book is an invaluable account of many of the state's early historical events, especially considering that many of the documents on which it was based were destroyed during the Civil War. Modern historians, however, criticize Ramsey for focusing almost solely on battles and biographies of key figures, while ignoring economic and social factors that contributed significantly to the state's early settlement. The book has also been criticized for its unbalanced organization, providing a torrent of details on some events and scant details on other, equally important events.
Secession crisis
Ramsey had long sought to bring a Deep South-style economy to East Tennessee. He believed the South was morally superior to the North, and detested the idea that Knoxville would become industrialized along the lines of northern manufacturing centers. This brought him into conflict with Brownlow and business leaders such as Perez Dickinson, who believed the region's abundant coal and iron resources made industrialization Knoxville's most lucrative option. Ramsey was also radically pro-slavery, going so far as to call for the reopening of the Atlantic slave tradeAtlantic slave trade
The Atlantic slave trade, also known as the trans-atlantic slave trade, refers to the trade in slaves that took place across the Atlantic ocean from the sixteenth through to the nineteenth centuries...
.
During the secession crisis that followed Lincoln's election in November 1860, Ramsey grew increasingly frustrated with East Tennessee's refusal to align itself with the South. Ramsey suggested that most East Tennesseans were too "ignorant" to understand the secession issue, and accused Brownlow (who was pro-Union) of using the Whig to brainwash them. After the fall of Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter is a Third System masonry coastal fortification located in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. The fort is best known as the site upon which the shots initiating the American Civil War were fired, at the Battle of Fort Sumter.- Construction :...
, Ramsey wrote to Governor Isham Harris, and suggested he bypass a voters' referendum on Tennessee's Union ties and simply dissolve them by proclamation.
The Civil War
During the war, Ramsey served as a Confederate treasury agent, and two of his sons served in the Confederate Army. His eldest son, John Crozier Ramsey, was appointed District Attorney of Knox County. In this capacity, the younger Ramsey issued indictments against the city's pro-Unionists, and in December 1861, had Brownlow arrested for treason. As rumors spread that the Confederate Army was planning to release Brownlow, the elder Ramsey wrote to Jefferson DavisJefferson Davis
Jefferson Finis Davis , also known as Jeff Davis, was an American statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, serving as President for its entire history. He was born in Kentucky to Samuel and Jane Davis...
, calling Brownlow the "prime mover and instigator" of Union sentiment in the region, and demanded he be court-martialed.
As the war raged on, Ramsey's fortunes collapsed. His son, Arthur, was killed in battle, his daughters Charlotte and Henrietta died, and two other sons were captured. When the Union Army occupied Knoxville in 1863, Ramsey and his family were forced to flee. His home, Mecklenburg, with its 4,000-volume library, was burned by an arsonist (Ramsey claimed the arsonist had been hired by Brownlow). Brownlow seized Ramsey's townhouse in Knoxville, and had Ramsey's youngest daughter, Susan, expelled from the city. Ramsey's son was forced to sell the family's ancestral home in East Knoxville. Ramsey himself spent the latter half of the war in various cities around the region, continuously fleeing the Union Army's advance.
Later life
At the end of the war, the Ramseys wound up in a house in Charlotte, North CarolinaCharlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
, which they called "Exile's Retreat." Brownlow, now governor of Tennessee, refused to pardon Ramsey, and ordered his arrest. Ramsey's friends, however, managed to obtain for him a presidential pardon from Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States . As Vice-President of the United States in 1865, he succeeded Abraham Lincoln following the latter's assassination. Johnson then presided over the initial and contentious Reconstruction era of the United States following the American...
, issued in November 1865. Ramsey returned to Knoxville 1872. He began practicing medicine again, and managed to regain some of his property through a series of complicated lawsuits.
When Ramsey died in 1884, the flag at the Tennessee State Capitol
Tennessee State Capitol
The Tennessee State Capitol, located in Nashville, Tennessee, is the home of the Tennessee legislature, the location of the governor's office, and a National Historic Landmark. Designed by architect William Strickland, it is one of Nashville's most prominent examples of Greek Revival architecture...
was lowered to half-mast. The Knoxville Chronicle reported that Ramsey's funeral procession was the largest in the history of Knoxville. Ramsey was buried next to his father at the Lebanon-in-the-Fork Presbyterian Church Cemetery, near the confluence of the French Broad and Holston rivers.
Legacy
During his lifetime, Ramsey helped establish the East Tennessee Medical Society, serving as its first president, as well as the East Tennessee Historical SocietyEast Tennessee Historical Society
The East Tennessee Historical Society , headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, is a non-profit organization dedicated to the study of East Tennessee history, the preservation of historically significant artifacts, and educating the citizens of Tennessee...
, serving as its first recording secretary. After the war, he served as president of the Tennessee Historical Society. The stone house of Ramsey's father, completed the year of Ramsey's birth, still stands on Thorngrove Pike in East Knoxville, and is currently a museum.
Ramsey was the inspiration for the George Washington Harris
George Washington Harris
George Washington Harris was an American humorist best known for his character, "Sut Lovingood," an Appalachian backwoods reveler fond of telling tall tales...
short story, "The Doctor's Bill," which describes a doctor's comical attempt to obtain payment from the county for the treatment of a local pauper. Ramsey, called "Doctor Blank" in the story, probably told the story to Harris at some point. The story also mentions Ramsey's old mentor, Joseph Strong ("Dr. S").
While criticized by modern historians, the Annals of Tennessee remains an important source of factual information regarding the state's early settlement, and has been republished several times. In 1918, the East Tennessee Historical Society published a short pamphlet written by Ramsey that details the history of the Lebanon-in-the-Fork Presbyterian Church. In 1954, the Tennessee Historical Commission
Tennessee Historical Commission
The Tennessee Historical Commission is a Tennessee state government agency, a division of the Department of Environment and Conservation, that has missions related to the state's history and historic preservation....
published an autobiography Ramsey had written to venerate his family's actions during the Civil War, along with some of his personal correspondence.
External links
- J. G. M. Ramsey Papers, 1789-1944 — University of North Carolina's Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library
- The Annals of Tennessee – Google Books
- Ramsey's Annals of Tennessee to the End of the Eighteenth Century (1853) — Online edition, annotated and fully searchable
- History of Lebanon Presbyterian Church, "In the Fork"