William G. Ramsay Family Papers, 1828-1958

William G. Ramsay (1866-1916) was trained as a civil engineer and became head of the Engineering Department of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. The collection includes business and family papers.

William Gouverneur Ramsay was the son of Joseph Gales Ramsay (1843-1899) and Anne Morris Ramsay (1846-1910). He was born August 23, 1866 at the Presidio, San Francisco, California. He trained as a civil engineer at the University of Virginia, finishing his course work in 1887. His employment included numerous engineering positions with the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, for which he worked sporadically from 1883 until 1892.

In 1892, Ramsay joined the Chicago sales office of the Repauno Chemical Company and Eastern Dynamite Company. While in Chicago, he was involved with the construction of the Chicago drainage canal. In 1894, Ramsay was transferred to the New York sales office of Repauno where he was head of the sales office until June 1898. He left to organize Company “A,” 1st U.S. Volunteer Engineers in response to the Spanish-American War. He served in the war as captain of the company and was promoted to major of the 1st battalion, 1st volunteer engineers and spent much of the time in Puerto Rico.

After his return from military service in 1899, Ramsay became president of the newly-established Great Northern Manufacturing and Supply Company, located in Terre Haute, Indiana. According to the company's articles of incorporation, its purpose was to mine coal and other minerals, manufacture and sell supplies, and own and operate general merchandise stores. The company maintained powder magazines and storehouses; however, the company primarily sold powder it purchased from Du Pont, Laflin & Rand, and Hazard for mining use in the Indiana coal fields. The Great Northern Manufacturing and Supply Company went out of business in early 1902 due to insufficient business.

With the demise of Great Northern, Ramsay joined the newly-formed engineering division of the Eastern Dynamite Company as chief engineer in 1902. When the Eastern Dynamite Company assigned its assets to Du Pont in 1903, Ramsay became Du Pont's chief engineer and directed the construction of many of the largest explosives factories in the United States. These included: Sterling, near Birmingham, Alabama; Barksdale, Wisconsin; Louviers, Colorado; du Pont, Washington; Senter, Michigan; Atlas, Missouri; Bacchus, Utah; and Hopewell, Virginia. He also oversaw the construction of a pulp mill at Newhall, Maine, as well as wharves and torpedo factories, and was responsible for large additions and repairs at existing factories. In 1916, Ramsay became a director and vice president of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, in addition to retaining his position as chief engineer. He died September 28, 1916 at his home, Dalhousie, Guyencourt, north of Wilmington, Delaware, following a brief illness of pneumonia.

Caroline (“Lena”) Johnson Canby (1872?-1958) was a daughter of Samuel Canby and Rebecca Tilghman Canby. She was educated at Misses Hebbs School in Wilmington, Delaware, and married Ramsay in January 1892. She was interested in cultural and educational institutions and traveled extensively. She was a member of the Delaware Society of Colonial Dames of America and was one of the first presidents of the Wilmington Garden Club. The Ramseys had five children: Caroline Johnson Ramsay, born 1893 (married Alfred du Pont Chandler); Elizabeth Gouverneur Morris Ramsay, born 1894 (married Van Wyck Ferris and Theophilus Persons Chandler); Joseph Gales Ramsay, born 1896; Mary Morris Ramsay, born 1898 (married William Elliot Phelps); and Jane Tilghman Ramsay, born 1900 (married Winder Laird Stabler).

The William G. Ramsay Family Papers (1828-1958, four linear feet) consist of Ramsay's personal and business papers, as well as his family's personal papers. The collection was donated to Hagley Museum and Library in two groups in 1991 and 1992 by Sophie Chandler Consagra, Ramsay's granddaughter. The papers primarily consist of correspondence received by Ramsay and his family. Accession 2014 has seven series; the letters are arranged by recipient of the correspondence.

The first series is William G. Ramsay's papers (1888-1946) which are arranged by subject. The first subseries, Business Papers, includes correspondence Ramsay received (1888, 1891-1911) while working for Repauno (1892-1898), Great Northern Manufacturing and Supply Company (1899-1902), and E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (1903-1916). The letters primarily pertain to routine matters and subjects include the powder business, employees, competitors, customers, prices, and agents' concerns. The Great Northern correspondence also discusses strategy for selling powder to Indiana mines and dealings with local miners' unions. Additional business records reflect Ramsay's employment with Great Northern and Du Pont. These include notebooks; drawings and specifications for powder magazines; records regarding the assignment of Great Northern Manufacturing & Supply Company; Du Pont Company booklets “Life Insurance for Employees” and “Pension Rules and Regulations”; and a program and reports from a Du Pont superintendents' meeting.

William G. Ramsay's personal papers consist primarily of correspondence he received from his wife, Caroline (“Lena”) Johnson Canby Ramsay, prior to and after their marriage. The letters (1888-1911) are personal and discuss social life and times in Wilmington, Delaware; literature; courtship and marriage; household administration; family life; and health. It appears that there are some letters missing, such as the period he was serving in the Spanish-American War in 1898. Other letters Ramsay received (1888-1916) were from his mother Anne Morris Ramsay, brother George Douglas Ramsay, and father Joseph Gales Ramsay and friend and business colleague, Hamilton M. Barksdale, and others. There is also a letter book which contains copies of letters Ramsay wrote regarding his military service and insurance.

Ramsay's personal papers include military papers (1898-1915) which mostly consist of correspondence Ramsay received regarding the Spanish-American War; financial papers (1892-1919) including receipts, correspondence and notes on stocks and investments, and a grocery account notebook; estate papers (1916-1946); a manuscript he wrote about his visit to Yucatan in 1898; and miscellaneous items (1892-1916, n.d.).

The second series is Caroline (Lena) Johnson Canby Ramsay Papers (1881-1907). These papers are personal and primarily consist of correspondence she received from her husband, William G. Ramsay during the years 1888-1893, 1902-1903, 1907. There are letters missing from this subseries. Ramsay frequently wrote about business and was descriptive about the scenery on his trips. Lena Ramsay also received letters from her parents Rebecca Canby and Samuel Canby, sisters May Canby and Ethel Canby, and mother-in-law Anne Morris Ramsay. The series does not contain any correspondence that Lena Ramsay received after the death of her husband. The series also consists of stories written by Lena Ramsay as well as school copy books.

The third series consists of the papers of Anne Morris Ramsay, the mother of William G. Ramsay. The papers include correspondence received (1902-1908), estate papers (1899, 1902, 1910), financial papers (1908-1909), and papers regarding the estate of one of her ancestors, Sarah Morris de Vaugrigneuse (1904).

The papers of William and Lena Ramsay's eldest child, Caroline Ramsay Chandler, comprise the fourth series. The series consists of correspondence received (1903-1911) from friends; and correspondence received (1958) regarding the death of her mother. The fifth series contains correspondence received (1900, 1910-1911) by Joseph Gales Ramsay, the Ramsays only son. Series six contains correspondence received by George Douglas Ramsay, William G. Ramsay's younger brother. The seventh series is family miscellany (1828-1923) and consists of legal papers, stray letters, Ramsay children school papers, and writings.

There are several manuscript collections at Hagley which should be used in conjunction with Accession 2014. William G. Ramsay's business papers should be used in conjunction with the Du Pont Company Records, Accession 500, Series II, Part 1, numbers 595-599, financial records of Great Northern Manufacturing and Supply Company; Accession 500, Series II, Part 2, numbers 986-988, papers of Hamilton Macfarland Barksdale regarding the Great Northern Manufacturing and Supply Company. Accession 473, the Papers of John J. Raskob, file 1897, contain papers pertaining to William G. Ramsay's estate's sale of stocks to Raskob. Accession 2049 contains biographical information on William Ramsay, and newspaper clippings and correspondence received by Du Pont regarding his death.

Accession 2014 contains useful information for researchers interested in business history. William Ramsay's business papers, although chiefly from the middle years of his career, show the career path of a Du Pont Company officer, and his role as president of the newly formed Great Northern Manufacturing and Supply Company. Additionally, the letters written by Ramsay to his wife, particularly during the years of their courtship, document his early career and describe the strenuous work of an engineer involved in railroad construction. However, the strength of the collection pertains to gender relations in the United States from the late nineteenth through the early twentieth centuries. The correspondence between William and Lena Canby Ramsay documents the concerns and evolution of a couple through dating, engagement, marriage, and raising children.