page_title: J. G. M. Ramsey
section_title: Early life
hierarchical_section_title: J. G. M. Ramsey / Biography / Early life
caption_attribution_description: English: Daughters of the American Revolution marker at the Ramsey House in Knox County, Tennessee, USA, commemorating the site as the birthplace of Tennessee historian James Gettys McGready (J.G.M.) Ramsey.
context_page_description: James Gettys McGready Ramsey was an American historian, physician, planter, slave owner, and businessman, active primarily in East Tennessee during the nineteenth century. Ramsey is perhaps best known for his book, The Annals of Tennessee to the End of the Eighteenth Century, a seminal work documenting the state's frontier and early statehood periods. Ramsey was also a major advocate for development in East Tennessee, leading efforts to bring railroad access to the region, and helping to organize the region's first medical society.
  As the son of a prominent Tennessee statesman, Ramsey encountered as a child many of the state's important early political figures, giving him a unique historical perspective on the state's early years. After his father's death, Ramsey began compiling a vast collection of historical documents related to the state's Watauga, Franklin, and Southwest Territory periods. After years of exchanging advice and notes with fellow historian Lyman Draper, Ramsey published the 700-plus page Annals in 1853.
context_section_description: Ramsey was born in a temporary cabin at what is now the Ramsey House (the house was still under construction) in 1797, the fourth son of Francis Alexander Ramsey and Peggy Alexander, both of Scots-Irish descent.  
  Francis Alexander had left Pennsylvania possessing only his horse, and both a surveying compass and chain during 1783 at age 19 after having been invited by his material uncle John Alexander to live with him on Big Limestone Creek at what was then Washington County, North Carolina (now Greene County, Tennessee) and within approximately one mile of the Martin Academy founded by the Rev. Samuel Doak.
  Also during 1783, Ramsey's father helped James White explore what is now the Knoxville area, and later served in various capacities in the State of Franklin and Southwest Territory governments.  Guests who frequented the Ramsey House during Ramsey's formative years included John Sevier and Willie Blount, and Knoxville founders James White and Charles McClung.
  Francis Alexander married Margaret "Peggy" Alexander from Mecklenburg, North Carolina on April 7, 1789 and moved his 23 year old bride to his Limestone residence where they lived until 1792 or 1793, when they moved away to Swan Pond. Swan Pond is located within the Lebanon In The Fork area east of Knoxville where the Holston River meets at a confluence with the French Broad River, these rivers together forming the beginning of the Tennessee River.
  J.G.M. Ramsey studied with private tutors as a child before attending the Ebenezer Academy, located in what is now West Knoxville.  He graduated from Washington College (previously, Martin Academy) during March 1816, and later studied medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.  He married Margaret Crozier in 1821, and began practicing medicine in Knoxville.
caption: DAR marker at the Ramsey House, recalling the site as J.G.M. Ramsey's birthplace
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