In the past weeks I have been doing a bit of research on one of my 3rd Great Grandfathers. I have a few things that I want to clear up and make sure that I have good documentation for.
This will be the first of several posts about Silas Calvin Ramsey and this one will simply focus on where he lived throughout his life.
Silas Calvin Ramsey was born in Whitley, Tennessee according to his discharge papers from the Civil War. I could not find a Whitley, but there is a Whitleyville in Jackson County, Tennessee where his father William was living in 1830. Silas Calvin was born in 1827.
In the 1840 Federal Census his father William was in Blue River Township in Harrison County, Indiana. In 1846 Silas Calvin married Sarah Ann Sears in Harrison County. Most likely they lived very near where the little circle with a 64 is. This is Fairdale or Ramsey, Indiana.
I could not find Silas Calvin in the 1850 Federal Census, but he would have been somewhere between Indiana and Iowa.
In the 1854 Iowa State Census Silas Calvin lived in Pleasant Township in Wapello County, Iowa. Most likely in the northern part of the township. Some of his Sears in-laws also lived in the area near Abingdon.
The 1856 Iowa State Census has Silas Calvin Ramsey with a Competine, Iowa address, which is why I believe he would live in the northern part of Pleasant Township.
In most of the pictures you will see Ottumwa as a reference point. This is a place well known to me as I lived there for about 10 years while growing up 🙂
By 1860 Silas Calvin had made a move further west to Moravia which is in Appanoose County.
In 1863 Silas Calvin is listed in a Civil War Draft Registration as being from Taylor Township.
During the Civil War Silas Calvin spent a lot of time in Missouri, but that is a subject for another post.
The 1870 Federal Census has Silas Calvin Ramsey living in Union Township with an address of Union Mills, Iowa.
The 1880 Federal Census has Silas Calvin Ramsey living in Pleasant Township or Monroe County, Iowa. This is also the last census for his wife Sarah as she died in 1880.
In 1883 Silas Calvin got married again to Prudence Smith while still living in Monroe County.
Sometime between 1883 and 1885 Silas made another big move all the way across to Brownville,Nebraska and was living there with his new wife Prudence and her youngest son.
Of course the 1890 Federal Census was destroyed, so I don’t know where Silas Calvin lived then, but by the 1900 Federal Census he was living in Lee Township, Polk County, Iowa. This is of course part of Des Moines the capital of Iowa.
Silas Calvin Ramsey died in 1903 while living in Des Moines and is buried there.
As I mentioned above I have several more posts that I want to write about my research into the life of Silas Calvin Ramsey. However, I needed to establish a timeline and determine where all he lived as part of my research. I will be referring back to this post when I write other posts sometime in hopefully the near future 🙂
Two things I plan on writing about are his service in the Civil War and also the disease he protracted while serving.
Steven
Braman's Wanderings 