RAMSEY

By Kelly Warman-Stallings
The Ghost Towns of Central Missouri

Located in Osage township, in the northeast part of the county, the small settlement of Ramsey was established in the late 19th century. There is some controversy on the town's actual location. Some believe it was situated on the Big Tavern Creek, while others commonly insist it was on Humphreys Creek. Nevertheless, it was ten miles southeast of Tuscumbia and eighteen miles from Dixon, which was its shipping point. The post office came into existence in 1880 and mail was delivered once a week to the patrons nearby. Another controversy involving this mysterious hamlet was the naming of it. Some say the village was named after the Ramsey family who lived in the area and another source claims it received its name after a town in England.

Ramsey P.O. from 1904 Atlas

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Location of Ramsey/Capps from 1904 Atlas

Thomas Doubikin, who organized the post office, was the postmaster. Doubikin lived 6 miles east of this post office at Caenby, the first post office he organized in his home. It is said this community leader was responsible for the naming of Ramsey, as well as Caenby and Clasby. All three of these post offices were named after towns near his ancestral home in Yorkshire, England.

The small settlement consisted of two churches (Christian and Methodist), a justice of the peace (Fielding Bilyeu); a livestock farmer (W.Z. Burton); a cooper/barrel maker (J. Golden); a constable (Wm. Heartgraves); two livestock dealers (J.G. Lurton and W.E. Wilson). It is not known to the author whether or not the settlement had a general store or blacksmith, but most likely it did. Most small communities did not survive long without these necessary businesses during the last century.

The post office was discontinued in 1910, and it wasn't long after that the town of Ramsey began to die out and eventually disappear. The old settlement of Capps was also referred to as Ramsey, but it was located 2 1/2 miles north of old Ramsey post office. Another Controversy!

Ancestral Names: Abbett, Blankenship, Bilyeu, Brumley, Burton, Cross, Dayton, Golden, Heartgraves, Lurton, Pierce, Ramsey, Wickhan, Wilson, Doubikin