Capt. Eli Ramsey

RAMSEY, MONTAGUE, BROWN

Posted By: Alice Daniels (email)
Date: 9/10/2013 at 18:28:15

Semi Weekly Iowegian
April 28, 1905

CAPT. RAMSEY DIES
OLD SOLDIER OF MEXICO AND CIVIL WARS
WAS SEVENTY-SIX YEARS OLD

Respected and Well Known Old Citizen—
Had Been in Poor Health
for Some Time—Funeral Was Thursday

The death of Capt. Eli Ramsey, on Tuesday evening, April 25, removed another of the old and prominent citizens of Centerville numbered among its best types of citizenship. His age was
76 and his wife and one son survive him.
Capt. Ramsey was born March 8, 1829, in Shelby county, Tenn. Later moving to Bellville, ILL., and then to Perry county, that state. In 1846 he enlisted in the Mexican war and fought at Beuna Vista under Gen. Taylor. He was but 17 when he enlisted, but he made a good soldier and remained in the service till the close of the war. Three years ago he revisited the battlefield of Beuna Vista and picked up as a memento of the battle a bullet still lying there. In October, 1849, he was married to Miss Lucy Montague, of Pinckneyville, ILL., and in 1851 moved to Keokuk. A son, William, was born to them. In 1861 at the first call for
volunteers he enlisted with the Second Iowa. At Fort Donaldson he was badly wounded in the thigh and lay on the field an entire night. In 1863 he was made captain and near the close was elected major, but was not commissioned. A sunstroke received in the service affected his health in later years.
In 1879 he came to Centerville and with C. G. Wentworth engaged in brick making and contracting. In 1889 his wife died. In 1891 he was married to Mary A. Brown, a friend
of his younger days in Illinois, and she survives him.
On every hand are heard words of commendation for his life of good deeds and upright living. He was a member of the Baptist church, a member of the board of trustees, and his influence went far for the cause of Christianity in the community. Fraternally he was a Mason, having become such at Keokuk in 1857. The funeral Thursday afternoon was attended by Jackson lodge, No. 42, at the late residence on N. Main, and Rev. J. D. Vannoy, of the Baptist church, delivered the funeral sermon. Interment was at Oakland cemetery.