7^th Ransdell generation

Joseph Jackson Ransdell

(1864-1931)[1]

10^th Terhune generation

Laura Bell Terhune

(1865-1942)[2]

             Joseph Jackson Ransdell was born in 1864 in Mercer Co., KY, the sixth of at least nine children of Shelton Ransdell and Amanda Wheeler Young Ransdell.  He also had 8 half brothers and sisters from the first marriages of both parents.

            Some old records give his name as Josiah instead of Joseph.  His father Shelton died when he was 7, and he is named as Josiah in the will[3].    In the 1870 Mercer Co., KYcensus[4] he is listed as Josiah, age 7.  In the 1880 Mercer Co., KY census he is listed as Joseph, age 16.

 Joseph married Laura Bell Terhune on 25 Feb 1886 in Mercer Co., KY.[5]  (see TERHUNE)

Laura was born 16 Mar 1865, the daughter of Garret S. Terhune, Jr. and Anna Eliza Terhune, and lived most of her life in the house near Harrodsburg, KY on Cornishville Road.  Laura Bell's niece, Natalie Terhune, daughter of Laura's brother William, wrote to Laura's granddaughter Beulah Ransdell Hopson,[6] "Your Grandmother Ransdell's old home on the Cornishville Road was my Grandmother Terhune's mother and father's old home.  They called that section and on up the road towards Harrodsburg Terhune Heights.  That was in the early days."  (Natalie's great-grandmother Terhune was Cynthia Young Terhune.)  Laura's parents and, it is believed, her grandparents, always lived in the house. After their marriage Joseph and Laura lived in Laura's home all their married life.  (Another house in the same area, one with gingerbread trim, was destroyed in a tornado in May 2003, and that one may have been Abram and Cynthia Terhune's home.)

In 1971 Beulah Ransdell Hopson visited Harrodsburg and drove by the old house, writing, "I did take a picture of Grandma Ransdell's house where Pop was raised.  It is even nicer on the outside now than it was when we visited there every summer as children."[7]

  Terhune-Ransdell homestead

 (See History of Terhune-Ransdell Homestead)

Joseph and Laura became the parents of 6 sons and 1 daughter, Ora Fay[8], who died in infancy.

Children:

                        Henry Miller Ransdell (1887-1943) m. Rose Ellen Randolph

                        Gilbert Sterling Ransdell  (1888-1969) m. Agatha

                        Mattingly

                        Burnice  Ransdell (1891-1980) m. Lettie Fay Sims

                        Harvey Holman Ransdell (1899-1973) m. Allie Gritton

                        J Lee Ransdell (1901-1985) m. Lottie Teater

                        Hugh Terhune Ransdell (1907-1994) m. Gertrude Carr

Photos—thanks to Carl Ransdell!

Joseph & Laura Ransdell & sons 1927

(from left, Burnice, Harvey, Sterling, Miller, J Lee & Hugh)

The Ransdell Brothers and their mother 1931

(from left, Miller, Burnice, Harvey, J Lee, Hugh,

Laura Terhune Ransdell

missing Gilbert Sterling Ransdell)

The Ransdell Wives 1931

(from left, Gertrude (Mrs. Hugh), Rose (Mrs. Miller), Lottie (Mrs. J Lee),

Allie (Mrs. Harvey), Fay (Mrs. Burnice)

missing is Agatha (Mrs. Sterling Ransdell)

Photos—thanks to M. Meredith!

Ransdell Reunion 1978

( from left, Burnice, Hugh, Gertrude, Allie, Lottie, J. Lee

Photos—thanks to Carl Ransdell!

Laura Terhune Ransdell & son Sterling

Sterling, Laura Terhune Ransdell, Arthur & daughter 1938

       The family appears in the 1900 Mercer Co., KY census as follows:

                        Ransdell, J.J., 36

                             Laura 35

                             Miller 13

                             Sterling 11

                             Burnice 8

                             Harvey 1

      In the 1910 Mercer  Co., Ky. census the family appears as follows:

                        Ransdell, Joseph 47

                            Laura 45

                            Harvey 11

                            Lee 9

                            Hugh 2

     In the 1920 Mercer Co., KY census the family appears as follows:

                        Ransdell, Joseph J. 57

                           Laura 55

                           Harvey H. 20

                           Jay Lee 18

                           Hugh T. 14

        Carl Ransdell, son of Miller Ransdell, remembers visiting his grandparents in Harrodsburg for about a month every summer when he was growing up.  As the "oldest son of the oldest son," Carl believed his grandpa had a special place in his heart for him, and they were very close.  Carl was 14 the summer that his grandfather died, and he recalls the old man was in severe pain from cancer.  Carl said it took him a long time to get over that traumatic experience.

       After four generations in Mercer County, this line of the Ransdell family began to head for other places in the first quarter of the 20^th century.  Miller was first to leave in 1904, serving in the Army and then heading west to Oklahoma and Kansas.  Sterling moved to Fayette County in about 1912,  then Pulaski County, finally settling in Kenton County in northern Kentucky.  Burnice and Harvey eventually moved to Fayette County.   J Lee moved to Indiana and Hugh moved to Dayton, Ohio.  

       Joseph died 27 June 1931 and is buried in the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, Harrodsburg, Ky.[9] 

          Sometime after Joseph's death in 1931, Laura sold the family homestead and went to live with her son Hugh in Dayton, Ohio. 

          She died in Lexington, KY on 16 Feb 1942 while living or visiting with her son J Lee.  The cause of death was listed as lobar pneumonia as a result of influenza.  She is buried beside her husband.

Joseph and Laura Ransdell Tombstone

Sources of information: 

Conversations with their granddaughter Beulah Ransdell Hopson (1916-1996)

Conversations and letter from their son Burnice Ransdell (1891-1973)

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