Whiteside County IL Archives Biographies.....Ramsay, Frank D 
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Deb Haines http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00003.html#0000719 January 31, 2008, 12:56 am

Author: Portrait/Bio Album, Whiteside County IL 1885

Frank D. Ramsay, attorney at Morrison, is one of the leading lawyers of 
Whiteside County, of which he is a native. Luther Ramsay, his father, is a 
pioneer of the county, and came here from his native State when he was at the 
threshold of manhood. He was born Sept. 19, 1818, and in 1839 came to the 
township of Coloma, as an assistant of Leonard H. Woodworth, chief engineer in 
the construction of the canal around the rapids in the river above Rock Falls. 
He spent six months in the work, meanwhile securing a claim in territory that 
is now included in the township of Hume. In the fall of 1839 he went back to 
his native State, returning in the autumn of the succeeding year to take 
possession of his property in Hume Township. He removed thence in 1843 to 
Prophetstown, and has since been a resident of that township. He has been 
prominent in its agricultural development, and is the proprietor of one of the 
magnificent farms which gives Whiteside County its prestige among the 
agricultural districts of Illinois. The farm contains 320 acres and is 
contiguous to the village of Prophetstown, where Mr. Ramsay is now living in 
retirement, after a life of unusual activity. He spent some years in 
mercantile business at Prophetstown. Caroline M. (Smith) Ramsay, his wife, was 
born in May, 1827, in Poultney, Rutland Co., Vt. Her parents, Stephen D. and 
Tilly (Manly) Smith, settled at Prophetstown in 1840, where they are still 
living. Mr. Smith was born in 1798, and is 87 years of age. In 1855 he 
purchased a farm adjoining the village of Prophetstown, in which he then 
resided; and in 1871 it was platted and a portion of the village is now 
located thereon. The families of Smith and Ramsay are inseparably connected 
with the history of the early days of progress and improvement in Whiteside 
County. Mr. Ramsay is the oldest child of his parents, and he has one sister, 
Lucy E., who is the wife of George B. Adams, editor of the Morrison Herald. 
Christine is the adopted daughter of the senior Ramsay and his wife, and lives 
with them at Prophetstown. Mr. Ramsay was born in Prophetstown, Whiteside Co., 
Ill., Sept. 27, 1846. He obtained his elementary education in his native 
county and completed his course of study at Dixon University. After leaving 
school he engaged as a clerk and also became interested in various other 
avenues of employment until 1867, when he entered the law office of Frederick 
Sackett at Sterling, to fulfill a long cherished purpose and obtain a 
comprehensive knowledge of law and familiarity with office routine under 
competent instruction. He had, by previous study and reading at odd intervals, 
obtained a general knowledge of the profession he purposed to enter; and, 
after a course of diligent application under the preceptorship of Mr. Sackett, 
he was admitted, in the spring of 1868, to practice in all the State Courts of 
Illinois. He has since been admitted to the privileges of the Federal Courts. 
On obtaining his credentials, he came to Morrison and opened an office in 
company with O. F. Woodruff. After a partnership of a year's duration, they 
severed their business relations. During the construction of the branch of the 
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad through Whiteside County, Mr. Ramsay 
officiated as attorney for the corporation and acted in the same capacity for 
some years subsequent. His practice has gradually extended and is one of the 
largest in Whiteside County. The rank of Mr. Ramsay in his profession is such 
as might be expected of a man of his caliber, possessing a disciplined mind, 
combined with perseverance, energy and unimpeachable integrity. He inherits 
the directness, clear foresight and sturdy adherence to purpose which 
distinctively characterize the ancestral stock to which he traces his origin. 
The Scotch-Irish, who came from Londonderry to escape interference with what 
they considered their religious liberty, have given to this country an element 
which manifests as little deterioration through descending generations as any 
other which enters into our composite nationality. It is noted for 
independence of character and freedom from ostentation; and while its 
representatives possess a laudable and normal ambition to rank fairly with 
others in the world's contest, they covet no place or position which involves 
sacrifice of others. They are champions of common rights and arrogate to 
themselves no privileges save those which secure their right to lead pure and 
honorable lives of effort and usefulness. Of this class Mr. Ramsay is a 
representative. In his professional relations he holds a degree of confidence 
which is in itself the best possible evidence of the quality of his efforts in 
behalf of his clients. He is fitted by nature and training for an effective 
advocate; he is direct in method, imbued with an earnest belief in his work, 
and formulates his comprehension of points at issue in language that is 
chiefly noticeable for its pertinence to the case, and its entire freedom from 
effort to produce oratorical effect. He is a clear logician and is able to 
present the course of an argument with a perspicuity that is far more 
effective than rhetorical display. Mr. Ramsay is still a young man, but has 
achieved through hard work and a persistent determination, a position in his 
profession and in his relations generally, which is a safeguard to his future. 
A determination to do well that which is to be done, leaves little possibility 
of retrogression. He was united in marriage, Feb. 1, 1872, at Prophetstown, to 
Lovisa McKenzie. Their two children were born as follows: Luther R., May 18, 
1876; Robert M., Feb. 14, 1879. Mrs. Ramsay was born Aug. 7, 1848, in 
Prophetstown. Her parents, William R. and Harriet (Martin) McKenzie, came to 
that township in 1837. The portrait of Mr. Ramsay appears on a previous page. 
It is copied from a likeness taken in 1885.

Additional Comments:
Portrait and Biographical Album of Whiteside County, Illinois, Containing Full-
page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative 
Citizens of the County. Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1885.

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