Bartholomew Ramsey & Margaret Wiseman, 1776-1843
Birth:
Bartholomew was born around 1776-77 according to information on page 11 of Vol. 1. Further, the author says, "From the best information I can get he was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania..." He was the second son of Richard and Elizabeth Ramsey.
His brothers were: George, John, William, Joel, and Daniel. His sisters were: Letty, Margaret, Jane,Sarah, Mary, and Betsey.
Linda Duffy lists 1777 as Bartholomew's year of birth.
Childhood:
On page 13 of Vol. 1, it says, "At four years of age his mother was anxious for his father to return from the Revolutionary War that he might see how his boy had grown..." That would have been around 1780-81 if his birth information is reasonably accurate.
On page 14 of Vol. 1, there is an interesting little story about Bartholomew's childhood; it says,'' When he was a boy, he used to have a little wagon with wheels made of blocks sawed off a gum log, gum so they would not split easily. He had a sled made from two clapboards sloped at the ends for runners. Someone is now skeptical enough to ask me how I know this. Well, if there is any one of his grandsons who never had a wagon with gum wheels or a sled made of boards, HOLD UP YOUR HANDS!"
Character:
On page 14 of Vol. 1, the author describes his grandfather Bartholomew: "Grandfather Ramsey was a man of sterling character. He was brave and adventuresome but considerate in his ways. He was honest and economical, industrious, but unhasty. Grandfather left impressions of faith in God and honesty of purpose on his children to such an extent that I have never known one of his own sons, daughters, or grandsons or granddaughters, to doubt for a moment the existence of God or doubt the propriety of living an honest life and expecting a future of rewards and punishments."
Education:
On page 13 of Vol. 1, it says, " They (his parents) were not able to give him even a common school education.…"
Military:
Unknown.
Occupation:
Bartholomew was a farmer.
Bartholomew may have operated a sawmill on Gauley River near the mouth of Peters Creek at some point. The mouth of Peters Creek is down in the gorge on the opposite side of the river from Leander via Laurel Creek.
This is a bit of local lore passed along by folks who currently live in the area. There is an old road down Laurel Creek to the river which must have gone to a ferry there in the past. It doesn't, however, seem a likely location for a sawmill due to the difficulty of hauling logs down into the gorge and then hauling the lumber back up to the highland where most everyone lived—then and now.
In any case, Granddad seems to have applied himself to building and operating a farm. Countless days, weeks and months, if not years, must have been spent clearing fields and building the extensive stone fences and walls which are still evident along some fields today. Other walls are to be seen along road edges and running off into what are now woodlands where numerous fields must have once been. His farm was established in virgin wilderness. Farming at that time, I believe, would have been an all-consuming occupation.
Marriage:
On October 22, 1799, Bartholomew Ramsey and Margaret Wiseman were married by Rev. John Wiseman according to the entry in the Monroe County Marriage Record. The marriage bond was made on October 21,1799, before John Hutchison. It is curious here that John Wiseman, rather than Isaac, Margaret's father, signed the marriage bond mentioned above for Margaret.
Bartholomew married Margaret Wiseman around 1798 or 1799 according to Clark Ramsey on page11 of Vol. 1.
Linda Duffy shows the date of marriage as October 22,1799. She lists the place of marriage as Monroe County (West) Virginia. They were both about 22 when married.
Margaret “…was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania in 1777 the year of the bloody sevens." On page15 of Vol. 1, the author goes on to say, “The year 1777 was the most famous year of the Revolution. The year that the battle of Saratoga was fought, one of the 15 decisive battles of the world. The battle of Saratoga was the turning point of the Revolution." Margaret died in 1872 according to the date on her tombstone in the Richmond Chapel Cemetery.
Margaret was the daughter of Isaac Wiseman and Elizabeth Davis. She had 7 brothers and 3 sisters.Her brothers were: Joseph, John, Isaac, Jacob, Samuel, Abner, and William. Her sisters were: Sarah, Rachel, and Elizabeth.
Married Life:
Bartholomew and Margaret had nine children. There were seven boys who were: William (b.11/30/1800 - d. 4/17/1880), Isaac (b. c 1802), Richard (b. c 1805 ~ d c1895), John W. (b. c 1807 ~ d c 1893), James Riley (b. 5/6/1810 ~ d 10/2/1887) (father of author J. Clark Ramsey), Abner H. (b.4/3/1815 ~ d. 1904), and Charles (b. c 1823 ~ d. c 1843). The girls were: Elizabeth (Legg) (b.11/6/1812 ~ d 12/11/1902), and Ludy (Neal) (b. c 1825 ~ d. 1885). (From Ramsey Family History, exc. Abner)
It appears that, either there were more children, or there were some who didn't survive. There are children listed in 1800, 1802, 1805, 1807, 1810, 1812, 1815, 1823, and 1825. That leaves a gap from 1815 until 1823, a period of 8 years which, in their pattern, should have possibly yielded a child in1818 and 1821 (2 more). This begs a question, "Who was Rebecca Ramsey, born February 9, 1819, and died July 4, 1916?" She is buried in the Richmond Chapel Cemetery.
In 1810, Bartholomew Ramsey is listed in the Monroe County census.
The family must have lived in Monroe County, Virginia, from 1799 until 1820. Duffy says they were married in 1799 in Monroe County and Clark Ramsey says on page 12 of Vol. 1, "My understanding is that Bartholomew Ramsey and one or two of his oldest boys came to Fayette and raised some crop in1819 and brought the family in 1820. I have heard my father James Riley) say that he was ten years oldwhen he came to Nicholas, now Fayette. As he was born May 6, 1810, it would be 1820 when he came to Nicholas, now Fayette."
The following children would then have been born in Monroe County: William, Isaac, Richard, JohnW., James Riley, Elizabeth, and Abner H.
Charles and Ludy were born in Nicholas, now Fayette, County.
Bartholomew and Margaret lived in Monroe County, presumably on Dropping Lick, for some 20-21 years.
In1820, when they were around 44, they moved to their new farm near Leander in Nicholas County, Virginia, which is now Fayette County, West Virginia. Leander is located near Hico and north of US-60 where Saturday and Sunday roads come together. The area is also on the opposite side of Gauley River from Carnifex Ferry State Park. The old road through the park leads down into the gorge to the mouth of Meadow River where the old ferry once operated. An old mooring ring is still embedded in the rock on the park side of the river. The old road from the ferry up to Sunday Road (now shown as Co. Rt. 4/6) is called Patterson Lane.
During the Civil War, Hico was called Dogwood Gap. The gap in Dogwood Ridge was called, curiously, Nicholas Gap. Saturday Road was called Nicholas Road and US Rt-60 was called the Lewisburg Pike.
From 1820, Bartholomew and Margaret lived on their farm near Leander the rest of their lives.
For perspective, Clark Ramsey offers the following on page 8 of his book, "When Grandfather (Bartholomew) Ramsey lived in what is now Fayette County, ...the first railroad had not been built. The telegraph and telephone had not been dreamed of. There were no free schools, no automobiles, no gas nor electric lights, not even kerosene lamps, nor cooking stoves, no thrashing machines, no windmills, not even a grain cradle; but wheat was cut by handfuls with a sickle and pounded out with a flail, or tramped out by horses, and cleaned in the wind, or by a sheet rolled at the ends and swung by two men, one at each end, while the wheat was poured from a half bushel."
Religion:
Bartholomew was probably a member of the Methodist Church at Leander which is now the Richmond Chapel. His memorial stone is in the associated Richmond Chapel Cemetery and many of his family members are also buried there.
Richmond Chapel
(Methodist Church at Leander)
Health:
Unknown.
Death:
Bartholomew died at his farm near Leander, Fayette County, Virginia, in 1843 according to Clark Ramsey. He would have been around 67.
Linda Duffy lists “abt May 1836" as his date of death in Fayette County, Virginia. He would, in this case, have been around 60.
The memorial tombstone at the Richmond Chapel Cemetery shows a date-of-death as "1843." This date is questionable because the 1840 census report for Fayette County lists Margaret as the head of household and Bartholomew is not listed. Explanatory notes with the census report say women were not usually listed by name unless they were widowed. I am, therefore, more inclined to accept Duffy's date of 1836; although, I have not found a formal record of his death.
At the top of page 15 of Vol. 1, it says, "He was buried at the Crist graveyard, but the exact spot seems to not be known." There is, however, a memorial stone for Bartholomew and Margaret standing in the near-front of the Richmond Chapel Cemetery, 100 yards, or so, from the church along County Route 3. At the bottom of the stone it says, “A memorial to the pioneer settlers." The opposite side is amemorial to ?/? Legg.
The Crist Cemetery is located approximately 3 miles away. It lies midway and just off the NW side of Gwinn Road (Co. Rt. 4/1) on a hillside between a brick and a log home. Although there is a small directory sign for the Crist Cemetery at the Route 4 intersection, there is no sign visible at the cemetery.
Stone fence, along Gwinn Road
Crist Cemetery, along Gwinn Road