Timeline

September 8, 1815

Alexander Ramsey is born in Pennsylvania, the eldest son of Thomas and Elizabeth Kelker Ramsey. His brothers and sisters are Elizabeth, Margaret, Henry, Justus, and Catherine.

June 17, 1826

Anna Earl Jenks, daughter of Michael Hutchinson Jenks and Mary Ridgeway Jenks, is born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

1834-1835

Alexander Ramsey attends Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania.

1837

Ramsey studies law at the John Reed School that later becomes Dickinson Law School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He graduates in 1839.

1840

Ramsey is admitted to the Pennsylvania bar and practices law in Harrisburg. He serves as delegate to the Whig party national convention.

1841

Ramsey is appointed chief clerk of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

1843

Ramsey is elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, serving in the 28th & 29th Congress until 1847.

1845

Anna Jenks visits her father, Rep. Michael Jenks, at the U.S. Capitol, and meets Alexander Ramsey. The couple marries on Sept. 10.

May 30, 1846

Son Alexander Jenks Ramsey is born.

1849

Ramsey is appointed governor of the Minnesota Territory. On May 27, he arrives in St. Paul with his family. The Ramseys stay with Henry and Sarah Sibley in Mendota for one month.

Ramsey founds and becomes the first president of the Minnesota Historical Society in 1849.

1849-1853

Ramsey serves as governor of the new Minnesota Territory.

1850

The first Alexander Ramsey House is built on the same location as the current mansion.

March 30, 1850

The Ramseys' second son, William Henry, is born.

July 28, 1850

The Ramseys' first son, "Sonny," dies.

1851

Alexander Ramsey serves as U.S. Commissioner for three Native American treaties: Traverse des Sioux, Mendota, and Pembina.

November 1, 1851

The Ramseys' second son, William Henry, dies.

1853

The U.S. Senate investigates Ramsey's negotiation of the treaties.

March 29, 1853

The Ramseys' daughter, Marion, is born.

1855

Ramsey is elected mayor of St. Paul.

1857

Ramsey loses election for Minnesota's first state governor to Democrat Henry H. Sibley.

1858

Minnesota becomes a state.

1859

Ramsey is elected Governor of Minnesota on the Republican ticket; he serves from 1860 to 1863.

1861

Ramsey pledges 1,000 Minnesota men to defend the Union two days after Fort Sumter is attacked by the South.

1862

After years of tension between settlers and Native Americans, the U.S.-Dakota War breaks out. Several factors had led to the war, including unkept promises by the government, nefarious practices by nearby fur traders, and a crop failure in 1861. On Dec. 26, 38 Dakota are executed.

1863-1875

Alexander Ramsey is elected to the U.S. Senate on the Republican ticket. He serves in the 38th-43rd Congresses until 1875. He is also the U.S. Commissioner for treaties with the Chippewa, Red Lake, and Pembina bands.

1868

Anna Ramsey inherits from her father. The first Alexander Ramsey House is moved across the street and added to Horace and Cornelia Bigelow's home. Construction of the current Ramsey House then begins.

1869-1870

Anna and Marion tour Europe.

1872

During the summer, Anna Ramsey visits a New York department store and purchases enough furnishings to fill two boxcars. A train carries them back to her St. Paul home. The family and their servants move into the "mansion House" at 265 Exchange Street.

1875

Marion marries Charles Eliot Furness in the Ramsey House parlor. Marion and Charles move to Philadelphia.

1876

The first granddaughter, Anna Earl Ramsey Furness, known as Anita, is born.

1877

The first grandson, Alexander Ramsey Furness, known as Ramsey, is born.

1878

President Rutherford B. Hayes and Mrs. Hayes visit the Ramseys and the state fair. Plans change at the last minute, and President and Mrs. Hayes dine at the Ramsey House.

1879

President Hayes appoints Ramsey as Secretary of War. He serves from December 1879 to March 1881.

A second grandson, Charles Eliot Furness Jr., is born.

1880

Charles Eliot Furness Jr., dies of whooping cough.

Alexander Ramsey is an unsuccessful Republican candidate for U.S. Senate.

1881

Justus Ramsey, Alexander's brother, died of suicide.

1882

Alexander Ramsey is appointed Chairman of the Utah Commission by President James A. Garfield. He serves until 1886.

Charles Furness is hospitalized due to mental illness. Marion Ramsey Furness returns to St. Paul with her children, and daughter Laura is born in the Ramsey House.

1884

Anna Ramsey dies on Nov. 29. Sophie Carlson, a Ramsey servant for 12 years, inherits $1,000. Marion Furness takes over as mistress of the house.

1889

Annie Robertson is hired as cook for the Ramsey - Furness family.

1891

Alexander Ramsey is elected president of the Minnesota Historical Society and serves until his death in 1903.

April 22, 1903

Alexander Ramsey dies.

January 22, 1907

Charles Eliot Furness dies in Rochester, Minnesota.

1926

Dedicated cook Annie Robertson dies. Her funeral services are held in the Ramsey house.

November 1, 1935

Marion Ramsey Furness dies.

1959

Laura Furness dies of cancer.

1964

Anita Furness, the last surviving Ramsey family member, dies, willing the Ramsey house to the Minnesota Historical Society.