Family:William Ramsey and Mary Unknown (2)

Information on William Ramsey and Mary:

http://www.ramseyfamilyspa.org/f/Newsletter2005_02.pdf

I believe we have found Mary Clark’s mother. Mary Clark is named as William Ramsay’s granddaughter in his will.

The progenitor of our family in America is WilliamRamsay (Ramsey). According to great grandson Dr. J.G.M. Ramsey, William arrived in America in the 1730s.1His first wife had fallen overboard and drowned enroute to America.2Her name was Mary.3William probably landed in New Castle, Delaware where he settled4and where Reynolds Ramsey was born in 1736.5William died near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in 1777.6He named three descendants in his will: Isabella, Reynolds and a grand-daughter Mary Clark. That means Mary Clark’s father was Mr. Clark and her mother was a Ramsay (Ramsey).

Research has uncovered a marriage license issuedby the Immanuel Anglican Church to Mary Ramsay and James Clark on April 22, 1762 in New Castle, Delaware.7Since there is no mention of Mary Ramsay’s family, we cannot be sure. However, fromthe circumstantial evidence, it seems quite possible that Mary Ramsay is the daughter of William Ramsay and the mother of Mary Clark.

The evidence is presented below. Because there are three Marys mentioned here, I will call themmother Mary, daughter Mary and granddaughter Mary.

First: William Ramsay’s granddaughter was named Mary Clark. Scottish naming conventions also indicate the grandmother of Mary Clark could be named Mary. The name of William Ramsay’s first wife is given as Mary. Also, according to Scottish naming convention, a mother named Mary would give that name to her third daughter, so the Mary Ramsay who married James Clark may have been the third daughter of William and Mary Ramsay.

Second: Daughter Mary is the correct age to be a sister to Isabella and Reynolds. Isabella was born in Ireland in 1731, a daughter to William and Mary Ramsay.8Reynolds was born in New Castle, Delaware in 1736,9a son of William and Martha Ramsay (William’s first wife had died enroute to America). If daughter Mary was born in Ireland about 1730, she would be 32 years old when she married in 1762. That is older than most marriages at that timebut still quite possible. If, on the other hand, she was the daughter of William’s second wife, Martha, she could be between 20 and 30 years old when she married. A third possibility that we see in a later generation is the child of the second wife being named after someone in the family of the first wife. John McKnitt Alexander Ramsey’s mother was Ann Agnew, not Peggy Alexander. John McKnitt Alexander Ramsey was named after Peggy Alexander’s son who died before his mother. If I had to pick, I would say daughter Mary Ramsay was the daughter of Williamand Martha Ramsay. That would make her Reynolds sister and Isabella’s half sister. My only reason for picking this scenario is it allows her to be younger when she is married.

Third: Daughter Mary’s location fits the location ofthe early Ramseys in America. Reynolds Ramsey was was born in Newcastle, Delaware in 1736.10He grew up in New Castle and practiced his trade in Philadelphia, PA where he met and married his wife, Naomi Alexander. We know they moved to and settled near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania after they were married.11We also know, from the Manor of Maske Papers, that William claimed land near Gettysburg as early as 1740.12If you take a map of Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland and draw a straight line from New Castle, Delaware to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and back to New Castle, you will have a triangle of where the family lived and operated between 1736 and 1800. It is doubtful there are two Ramseys in that triangle at that time who had a daughter named Mary Clark.

Fourth: The marriage record is from Newcastle County, Delaware and we can place William and Reynolds in that county during the period in question. We can place Reynolds’ marriage to Naomi in that vicinity on 24 Sep 176113, just before Mary’s marriage to James Clark. William Ramsay, yeoman, provided surety to the bond of marriage of Charles Graham of London Britain in May 1759 in New Castle County.14

Fifth: Granddaughter Mary was probably not married when her grandfather died. The will states the red heifer goes to Mary Clark. If Mary Clark was born in 1762, she would be about 15 years old when her grandfather died in 1777.

Again, this is circumstantial evidence but there is little evidence that falls outside of what we know about the rest of the family. The only unusual bit of information is that the license was granted by an Anglican Church. Up to this point all other evidence points to William and his off-spring being Presbyterian. The subject is certainly open to further investigation but it provides a solid bit of information to use for future research.

Fred Ramsey, Olympia, Washington