A Narrative History of The People of Iowa with SPECIAL TREATMENT OF THEIR CHIEF ENTERPRISES IN EDUCATION, RELIGION, VALOR, INDUSTRY, BUSINESS, ETC. by EDGAR RUBEY HARLAN, LL. B., A. M. Curator of the Historical, Memorial and Art Department of Iowa Volume IV THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Inc. Chicago and New York 1931 GEORGE H. RAMSAY, president of the Economy Coal Company, which has its general offices in Des Moines and the business of which is of both wholesale and retail order, finds satisfaction in giving his active attention to business affairs, though in December, 1928 he celebrated his eighty-fourth birthday anniversary. Vital and alert in both mental and physical powers, Mr. Ramsay is consistently to be designated as one of the grand old men of the business circles of Iowa's capital city. Mr. Ramsay was born in the County of Durham, England, December 29, 1844, and is a son of William and Ann (Heckels) Ramsay, he being now the only surviving member of a family of nine children. William Ramsay passed his entire life in England, and was forty-five years of age at the time of his death, he having been manager of one of the Durham mines of the Cowen Coal Company. In 1863 Mrs. Ann (Heckels) Ramsay came with her children to the United States and made settlement at Morris, Illinois, the closing years of her life having been passed at Streator, that state, and she having been a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. William Ramsay, Sr., grandfather of the subject of this review, was born in Scotland and was a farmer in England at the time of his death. The maternal grandfather, William Heckels, passed his entire life in England and was there identified with the coal-mining industry during a long period of years. Thus it may be said that, along both paternal and maternal lines, George H. Ramsay had inherent predilection for the coal business, of which he is now a prominent representative in Iowa. He began work in the coal mines of his native county when he was a lad of ten years, and in the schools of England he gained his youthful education at night school, but his education was somewhat limited. He was eighteen years of age when he accompanied his widowed mother and other members of the family to the United States, and among his early experiences in Illinois was that of assisting in the laying of tracks on the line of railroad between Perkin and Peoria. Thereafter he worked in the coal mines of that state and finally was made mine foreman at Braidwood, Will County. Upon coming to Iowa he became superintendent of coal mines at Albia, and thereafter he was superintendent of the Oskaloosa mines of the Excelsior Coal Company. He finally became independently interested in coal-mining operations in the vicinity of Oskaloosa and Des Moines, and the company of which he is now the president owns and operates mines in the vicinity of Knoxville, Marion County, these mines supplying much of the product used in the wholesale and retail trade of the company. Mr. Ramsay, as previously noted, is president of the Economy Coal Company, and his son John H. is its vice president and manager. The political convictions of Mr. Ramsay place him in the ranks of the Republican party, and his religious faith is that of the Nazarene Church, of which his wife likewise was a devoted member. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity. Mr. Ramsay is indebted to his own ability and efforts for the success he has achieved, as he became virtually dependent upon his own resources when he was ten years old and found employment in coal mines in his native land. In 1906 he made a month's visit to England, where he enjoyed the surveying of the scenes of his boyhood and the meeting with old family friends, but he states that he was more than glad to come back to the land of his adoption and to his home state. He has made twenty trips to California, but has never faltered in his loyalty to Iowa. In the year 1869 Mr. Ramsay was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Caswell, who was born at Mineral Point, Wisconsin, but reared and educated in Illinois. The devoted companionship of Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay continued nearly sixty years, and the gracious bonds were severed by the death of Mrs. Ramsay in June, 1927. Of the twelve children nine survive the loved mother: John H., who celebrated in 1928 his fifty-eight birthday anniversary, is now vice president of the Economy Coal Company, as previously noted. He married Miss Myrtle Phinney, who was born at Iowa Falls, and they have three children: Bertha, John C. and Charles D. Miss Bertha remains at the parental home; John C., who was reared and educated in Des Moines and Oskaloosa, married, in 1919, Miss Lella Stevens, and they have one child, Dorothy May; and Charles D., who received the advantages of the University of Iowa, is now foreman of the mines operated by the Economy Coal Company, five miles east of Des Moines. Ann, second of the surviving children of the subject of this review, is the wife of Frank Ewing, of Des Moines, who is bookkeeper for the mines of the Economy Coal Company, their children being Wilma and John. Clara, next younger daughter, is the wife of John Nowles, who is engaged in mercantile business in Des Moines. Stella is the wife of Dr. George W. Miser, a physician and surgeon engaged in practice in Des Moines. Robert C. is engaged in the machinery business in Oakland, California. Roy resides in Des Moines and is weighmaster at the mines in his father's company, his one child being a son, Roy, Jr. Dora is the wife of Carl Mayer, who is identified with banking enterprise in the City of Oskaloosa. Margaret is the wife of Thomas Beal, and they maintain their home in Des Moines, Mr. Beal being a commercial traveling salesman. Debbie Clough Gerischer Iowa History Project _http://iagenweb.org/history/_ (http://iagenweb.org/history/) Scott County, Iowa _http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/index.htm_ (http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/index.htm) **************One site keeps you connected to all your email: AOL Mail, Gmail, and Yahoo Mail. Try it now. (http://www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp&icid=aolcom40vanity&ncid=emlcntaolcom00000025)