Alexander Ramsey | |
|---|---|
 Ramsey, 1855–1865 | |
| 34thUnited States Secretary of War | |
| In office December 10, 1879 – March 5, 1881 | |
| President | Rutherford B. Hayes |
| Preceded by | George W. McCrary |
| Succeeded by | Robert Lincoln |
| United States Senator fromMinnesota | |
| In office March 4, 1863 – March 3, 1875 | |
| Preceded by | Henry Rice |
| Succeeded by | Samuel J. R. McMillan |
| 2ndGovernor of Minnesota | |
| In office January 2, 1860 – July 10, 1863 | |
| Preceded by | Henry Sibley |
| Succeeded by | Henry Swift |
| 5thMayor of Saint Paul | |
| In office 1855–1856 | |
| Preceded by | David Olmsted |
| Succeeded by | George Becker |
| 1stGovernor of Minnesota Territory | |
| In office June 1, 1849 – May 15, 1853 | |
| Appointed by | Zachary Taylor |
| Succeeded by | Willis A. Gorman |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's14th district | |
| In office March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1847 | |
| Preceded by | James Irvin |
| Succeeded by | George Eckert |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1815-09-08)September 8, 1815 |
| Died | April 22, 1903(1903-04-22) (aged 87) Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Party | Whig (before 1857) Republican (1857—1903) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Lafayette College Dickinson School of Law |
| Signature | .png) |
Alexander Ramsey (September 8, 1815 – April 22, 1903) was an American politician, who became the firstMinnesota Territorial Governor and later became aU.S. Senator. He served as aWhig andRepublican over a variety of offices between the 1840s and the 1880s.
Born inHummelstown, Pennsylvania, on September 8, 1815,[1] Alexander was the eldest of five children born to Thomas Ramsey and Elizabeth Kelker (also Kölliker or Köllker).[2] Ramsey was of Scottish and German ancestry.[3]. His father was ablacksmith who committed suicide[4] at age 42[5] when he went bankrupt in 1826,[1] after signing for a note of a friend.[2] Alexander lived with his uncle inHarrisburg, after his family split up to live with relatives.[2] His brotherJustus Cornelius Ramsey served in the Minnesota Territorial Legislature.[6]
Ramsey first studied carpentry atLafayette College but left during his third year. He read law with Hamilton Alricks, and attended Judge John Reed's law school inCarlisle (nowPenn State-Dickinson Law) in 1839. He was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in 1839.[2]
In 1844 Ramsey married Anna Earl Jenks, daughter ofMichael Hutchinson Jenks, and they had three children. Only one daughter, Marion, survived past childhood.[2]
Alexander Ramsey was elected fromPennsylvania as aWhig to theU.S. House of Representatives and served in the28th and29th congresses from March 4, 1843, to March 3, 1847. He served as the first TerritorialGovernor of Minnesota from June 1, 1849, to May 15, 1853, as a member of theWhig Party. Upon his term's completion, he stated he would not run for any public office again. In 1855, he became the mayor ofSt. Paul, Minnesota as an exception to his swearing off of public service. He served in that position for a one-year term.
In 1857, he joined the newly formedRepublican party. Upon the Republican State Convention nominated him unanimously forGovernor of Minnesota on September 10, 1857, he was convinced to leave retirement and accepted the nomination.[7] He would lose the election toHenry Hastings Sibley by only 240 votes.
Ramsey became second governor of Minnesota after statehood in 1860, after defeatingGeorge Loomis Becker in the1859 Governor's election. He served from January 2, 1860, to July 10, 1863. Ramsey is credited with being the first Union governor to commit troops during theAmerican Civil War. He happened to be in Washington, D.C., when fighting broke out. When he heard about the firing onFort Sumter he went straight to the White House and offered Minnesota's services to Abraham Lincoln.
Ramsey called for the killing or removal of theMdewakanton andWahpekuteDakota from the state of Minnesota during theDakota War of 1862. After pressing the Dakota to sell their land, he and other officials stole from the Dakota'sannuities.[8] In response, some of the Dakota attacked American settlements, resulting in the death of at least 800 civilian men, women and children, and the displacement of thousands more.[9] When theFond du Lac band of Chippewa learned of the uprising they sent a letter to Ramsey to forward to President Lincoln offering to fight the Sioux dated September 6, 1862.[10] A few days later on September 9 Ramsey addressed thestate legislature proclaiming:"The Sioux Indians of Minnesota must be exterminated or driven forever beyond the borders of the State," which he justified by citing various outrages against the settlers and violations of their treaties.[11] In the north theChippewa/Ojibwa were having problems with theirIndian agent stealing from them. Gov. Ramsey lead a legislative commission to the Crow Wing agency to address their issues.[12] There 10 chiefs of theLeech Lake and Mississippi bands laid out their concerns and offered to fight the Sioux for the government.[13][14] The commission liked their offer and Gov. Ramsey invited the leaders of 22 bands of Ojibwa to St. Paul. They came on September 23 waving the America flag thinking their offers had been accepted.[15] Ramsey had to instruct them that Major General Pope would not accept their service on the grounds that it would not be good public policy. However, they would be contacted if they were needed.[16] In 1863, in response to continued raids on settlers, he authorized abounty for thescalps of Dakota males.[17]
In January of 1863, Ramsey waselected as senator. He remained as governor until it was announced that RepublicanStephen Miller had won the1863 Minnesota gubernatorial election. He resigned the following day to leave for the senate, leaving Lieutenant GovernorHenry Adoniram Swift as Governor until Miller's inauguration.
He resigned the governorship to become aU.S. Senator, having been elected to that post in 1863 as aRepublican. He was re-elected in 1869 and held the office until March 3, 1875, serving in the38th,39th,40th,41st,42nd, and43rd congresses. He supported theRadical Republicans,[18] who called for vigorous prosecution of the Civil War, and a military reconstruction of the South.[19]
On April 15, 1865, PresidentAbraham Lincoln was assassinated. There were very few senior officials in D.C. that morning. Ramsey was and took part in initiating the transfer of the Presidency to Vice PresidentJohnson.[20] He voted for theImpeachment of Andrew Johnson.[19]
Ramsey served asSecretary of War from 1879 to 1881, underPresidentRutherford B. Hayes.[21] He was one of the commissioners to governUtah from 1882 to 1886 under theEdmunds Act.[21] The act made it illegal for polygamists to vote or hold office. Ramsey and four others were defendants in the Supreme Court caseMurphy v. Ramsey, 114 U.S. 15 (1885). The Supreme Court upheld the federal law that denied polygamists the right to vote.
Late in the fall of 1885 ex-governor Ramsey escorted the son of Chippewa ChiefHole in the Day toWashington D.C. as Minnesota's candidate toWest Point.[22] he died in Saint Paul in 1903 at 87.
TheMinnesota Historical Society preserves his home, theAlexander Ramsey House as a museum. It was added to theNational Register of Historic Places in 1969.
Counties, towns, parks, and schools are named after Ramsey, including:
He was the namesake of the Liberty ShipSSAlexander Ramsey launched in 1942.
Media related toAlexander Ramsey at Wikimedia Commons| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's 14th congressional district 1843–1847 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| New office | Governor of Minnesota 1849–1853 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Mayor of Saint Paul 1855–1856 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Governor of Minnesota 1860–1863 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | United States Secretary of War 1879–1881 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| First | Republican nominee forGovernor of Minnesota 1857,1859,1861 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 1) from Minnesota 1863–1875 Served alongside:Morton S. Wilkinson,Daniel Norton,Ozora P. Stearns,William Windom | Succeeded by |
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