From Proud Heritage, Volume I by DCPA, currently out of print.
The Ramsey family, of Irish descent, arrived in America in the 18th century and settled in Tennessee.
Samuel Ramsey was born in 1812 at Knoxville, Tennessee. He crossed the Mississippi River and settled in Pettes County, Missouri, where he married Salinda Fuller. Their union produced ten children (Martha, William, Elizabeth, John B., Jesse M., James C., Laura, Fannie, Henry, and Mary). Samuel and Salinda migrated to Texas in 1845 with six children, having patented land with the Peters Colony. “Their first patent was issued prior to 1 July 1848 for 570 acres in Dallas County (Robertson Third Class No. 1816) and in Ellis County (Robertson Third Class No. 1816).” A log cabin was built west of the Crawford Trees property, at the headwaters of Ten Mile Creek, and four more children were born. The home site eventually had two cabins, three barns, cedarhart tree fences, and sheds for various uses. Old City Park in Dallas, Texas has restored and placed the smoke house and curing shed on its premises. Family history has it that Mary Ann, their sixth child, was the first white child born west of the Trinity River. They were listed as farmers in the 1860 U.S. Census and also traded in livestock. Samuel also made burial cases. Salinda Ramsey died in the winter of 1868 at their home in Cedar Hill, aged 46.
Samuel abandoned the farm life in 1868 to his children and moved to Grayson County, Texas where he remarried and died, aged 66, in the Fall of 1888.
Jesse Middleton Ramsey, who at the age of two came to Texas with Samuel and Salinda, was born 17 September 1843 in Sedalia, Missouri. On 21 March 1862, Jesse enlisted in Burford’s 19th Texas Cavalry Regiment with Captain Allen Beard’s “B” Company. This was part of Parsons Confederate Texas Cavalry Brigade. His pistols, Confederate belt buckle, correspondence, and Confederate Army enlistment card are in the possession of Helen Straus Hodge and on periodic display at the Cedar Hill Historical Society museum. His physical description in 1862 was stocky, 5’6″, blue eyes, and sandy hair. He participated in heavy fighting in Arkansas and northern Louisiana along the White and Cache Rivers. He fought at Jenkin’s Ferry, at Cotton Plant, and at Mansfield. He escaped wounds until a loaded gun accidentally discharged at camp causing a minor wound. He was stationed at Alexandria, Louisiana when news of Lee’s surrender was received.
After the war Jesse returned and resumed his livestock and farming business. He made several cattle drives to Kansas City to sell his stock and trade for goods. A rope spun bed and chest are at the home of Helen Straus Hodge. Through the years he amassed one thousand acres near Cedar Hill, complimenting the existing Ramsey home site. The Record of Marks And Brands describes his livestock brand as “Underslope in the right and split in the left ear, 22 February 1870.”
Jesse married Catherine Trees, daughter of Anna Minerva Kimmel Trees and Crawford Trees, Sr., on 22 September 1869. They moved to Cedar Hill in 1870 and he changed occupations to that of merchant while operating the ranch. Catherine was born at the Trees home site, 11 April 1848, and died 8 March 1921 at Cedar Hill. Their children were: William Charles Ramsey, who married Frances Kimmel (born 15 September 1870, died 14 August 1934); John Henry Brown Ramsey who married Jessie May Roberts and upon her death Ella Barker (born 12 July 1873, died 16 March 1955); and Winnie Ann Ramsey who married Marshall Maurice Straus (born 20 February 1884, died 27 January 1971).
After four years he disposed of his merchandising business to J.H. Stewart and for the following fifteen years engaged in the gin business and in the operation of threshing machines. He was also known as one of the most active and influential members of the Methodist Church. He was an elder for more than forty years. He held a leading place in both social and civic affairs in the community and in Dallas County. In 1902, he and other men of his community organized the Citizens Bank of Cedar Hill. Jessie died at the home of his daughter, Winnie Ann Ramsey Straus, 8 September 1927 at Cedar Hill and was buried with his wife, Catherine, at Trees Cemetery.
By Bradley C. Hodge, Dallas
