Ramsey

ramsey


Ramsey Post office was created on 18 Feb 1884, it was discontinued on 31 Jul 1917.

The Ramsey Community was first settled around 1845 by the Culbreath family and was known as the Redbud Community, probably due to the Redbud trees. The Culbreath family were bear hunters and after hunting declined, they moved to other areas. The second  know settlers were the Wyatts. Mrs. Wyatt was the frist person to be buried in the Ramsey Community. In 1852 the Dedrnans  emigrated from Alabama. R. D. Dedman is the only know charter member of Prosperity Baptist Church. Other pioneers were the Jones, Sissons, Proctors, Wheelers, Nutts and Smiths. 

Lumber was king in the Ramsey area. The land was covered in giant Oak, Gum and Pine. Several trees were cut measuring 20 feet in circumference at the ground. The area also grew cotton. J. B. Wheeler operated the first cotton gin and gristmill and powered both with horses. The first timber in the area sold for commercial use was by J. B. Wheeler in 1889. Timber is still the major enterprise in Ramsey and Dallas County. 

Ramsey never had a permanent railroad; however, due to its vast resources of timber a rail line was constructed in I893 by the Fordyce Lumber Company to haul timber born the deep woods. Fordyce Lumber Company later sold to Georgia Pacific. The first southern pine plywood mill was constructed by Georgia Pacific in Fordyce and is currently the major employer in the Fordyce area. 

R N. Parham was a plantation owner and was the first to establish a mercantile business in Ramsey. He also built the first saw mill and steam operated cotton gin. Frank Barnes sawed the first board at the mill. Today, the Barnes family owns several acres of timber, a small saw mill and the Fordyce Picture Frame factory. Squire Ramsey ran the first post office in the Redbud community. 

The Redbud Community was later renamed Ramsey, in honor of Squire Ramsey. Today, Ramsey is served by a Fordyce rural route, There are no commercial businesses in Ramsey today. 

Two of the early churches that settlers attended were the Macedonia Baptist Church and the Redbud Methodist Church. The  Macedonia Church was several miles from the Ramsey Community and the Redbud Methodist was in the Redbud (Ramsey) community. Not far from the Ramsey Community were the Temperance Hill Methodist Church and the Salem Presbyterian Church. Temperance Hill Methodist Church still hoIds services once a month. The Salem Church was organized in J895 by Reverend J. M. Brown but later disbanded and was razed in 1924. The history of the Redbud Methodist Church is not known, but the church does not exist today. The Macedonia Baptist Church still holds services.

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