Rash's Surname Index
Notes for David Keller RAMEY
DAVID K. RAMEY,
whose active business life was extended over half a century, stands among the
foremost citizens of his native county, and ranks with the largest lumber
manufacturers in the State. He has lived a busy, enterprising, and useful
life, and been eminently successful. For more than a quarter of a century he
has been a resident of the city of Altoona, and is prominently identified
with many of her public enterprises. He is the eldest son of Frederick and
Martha (Keller) Ramey, and was born October 8, 1821, at Tyrone Forges, Blair
county, Pennsylvania. The paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch,
Francis Ramey, was of French-German stock, and emigrated to America from
Alsace-Lorraine, Germany, about 1788, settling in Pennsylvania. He came over
in one of the sailing vessels of that day, and the trip occupied six months.
His life in this country was brief, as he was accidentally drowned in the
Juniata river, near Petersburg, Huntingdon county, in a short time after his
arrival. Frederick Ramey, the father of David. K. Ramey, was a native of the
province of Alsace-Lorraine, in the great German empire, but came to the
United States with his parents in 1788, when only three or four years of age.
At an early day he located at Tyrone Forges, then in Huntingdon county, now
Blair county, Pennsylvania. He was a forgeman by trade, and became an expert
widely known for his skill. In 1826 he removed to Sinking Valley, this
county, locating on a farm he had purchased there, and continued to reside on
the farm until his death, July 4, 1865, at which time he had attained the ripe
old age of nearly four score years. He and his family were members of the
Evangelical Lutheran church. In politics he was whig and later a republican.
He served in the war of 1812 as a member of the force under the gallant
Commodore Perry, on Lake Erie, and took part in that memorable conflict which
was heralded to the world in Perry's famous dispatch, "We have met the enemy
and they are ours." He married Martha Keller in 1807, and reared a family of
ten children, four of whom-two sons and two daughters-still survive: Daniel
K., a resident of the city of Hollidaysburg, since dead; Mary, who married
William Beyer (now dead), and she now resides at Edgewood, Iowa; Solomon F.,
living in Altoona; Eliza, who became the wife of Michael Breidenbough, and
lives in Antis township, this county; and David K., the subject of this
sketch. Mrs. Ramey, wife of Frederick Ramey and mother of David K. Ramey, was a native of Pennsylvania, and a devoted member of the Lutheran church. She passed away peacefully on December 6, 1861, in the seventy-third year of her age,.
David K. Ramey was reared principally on his father's farm, in Sinking
Valley, this county, and educated in the common schools of his neighborhood,
the school term being three to four months each year and very poorly
conducted. At the age of eighteen he became an apprentice to the trades of
carpenter and house builder, and worked at that business mostly in
Hollidaysburg from early in 1840 to 1865, a little over a quarter of a
century. During the latter part of this time he was extensively engaged in
contracting and building. In 1865 he removed to the city of Altoona, then a
borough with less than 10,000 inhabitants, and purchased a planing mill,
which he successfully conducted for a period of nine years. He then leased
the mill to other parties, who have had it ever since, though he still owns
the property. In 1870 Mr. Ramey formed a partnership with his brother-in-law,
Thomas McCauley, now deceased, and purchased a large tract of timber land in
Clearfield county, this State. A little later they bought a still larger body
of timber land in the same county, and since that time Mr. Ramey has
manufactured and marketed more than one hundred million feet of lumber. He
now owns about thirty-three hundred acres of coal land in Clearfield county,
on which are four coal mines in successful operation. These mines are leased
to different coal companies. Mr. Ramey is also interested in large tracts of
land in the States of Kentucky, Nebraska, and Kansas, besides owning
considerable city property in Altoona, Pennsylvania. He is now mainly engaged
in looking after his various real estate interests.
On February 22, 1844, Mr. Ramey was wedded to Catherine Leamer, a daughter of Jacob Leamer, of Clearfield county, this State, since deceased. She died April 28, 1863, leaving six children, of whom five are yet living, two sons
and three daughters: Frederick, residing in Altoona; Jennie, the wife of
Harry B. Huff, of this city; Susan, who married T. Blair Patton, formerly
postmaster of this city, but now general superintendent of the reformatory at
Huntingdon, Huntingdon county; Samuel S.B., who is in the life insurance
business in Altoona; and Catherine, who wedded William F. Wingard, and also
resides in this city. In August, 1865, Mr. Ramey was again married, this time
to Annie R. Knight, formerly of Maryland, and to this union was born a family
of five children, one son and four daughters: David W.; Bertha, now the wife
of William L. Pennock-(see his sketch); Misses Lorene, Alice, and Annie
Rebecca.
Politically Mr. Ramey is a republican and an uncompromising temperance man, and although he has served as a member of the city council at the urgent
solicitation of friends, he takes no active part in politics, and cares
nothing for official position. He has been a member of the Evangelical
Lutheran church since 1839, and is one of the founders of the Second Lutheran
church of this city. He is a stockholder and director in the electric street
car line of Altoona, and was largely instrumental in the organization of that
enterprise. He is also a stockholder and one of the directors, and was one of
the organizers, of the Altoona Iron Company. He was one of the first to
subscribe to and encourage the Altoona Hospital association, and has served
as one of its directors since the founding of the same, and is at this time
president of the board of directors of the Missionary institute, located at
Selins Grove, Snyder county, Pennsylvania, and also a member of the board of
directors of the theological seminary of the general synod of the Evangelical
Lutheran church, and an earnest worker in and liberal giver to the enterprises
of the church of his choice.
Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb Archives by Linda M. Shillinger LindasTree@@AOL.COM
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