Today I share with you gravestones of the Ransdell family buried in Providence Cemetery. 

Solomon Sharp Ransdell was the son of William P. Ransdell and Susan Yates, born April 9, 1863.  William and Susan’s marriage bond is dated December 20, 1858.  According to vital statistics they were married December 23 – ‘William Yates, 21 years old, single, born and lives in Mercer County; Susan F. Yates, 15 years old, single, born and lives in Mercer County.’  In the 1860 census William is listed as a miller.  They live in the first district of Washington County, with the Post Office designated as Sharps Mill.  Is this where William worked?  Was his first-born son named for his employer?  Notice that Solomon Sharp, generally known as S. S., was born five years after his parent’s marriage. Were other children born in this time period that perhaps died at a young age?

S. S. Ransdell married Nannie L. Cosby about 1888. 

They were blessed with six children:

1. Albert Ransdell, born c. 1889.
2. Miller Burrus Ransdell, born May 18, 1895.
3. Jesse Ransdell, born about 1897.
4. Margaret Susan Ransdell, March 9, 1897 – August 9, 1918, married Elmer W. Anderson.
5. Lee Herbert Ransdell, January 28, 1899 – June 26, 1919.
6. John W. Ransdell, born about 1900.

Life for the family went on as usual till 1918.  Margaret met and married Elmer Anderson.  The couple married, but Margaret died three months later, leaving her husband and family in mourning.

The Lexington Leader, Fayette County, Kentucky

Thursday, May 9, 1918

Harrodsburg, KY., May 9 – Miss Margaret Ransdell, of Salvisa, and Elmer Anderson, of Griffith, Minn., were married here at the home of Joe VanArsdall by the Rev. R. N. Bush, pastor of the Salvisa Methodist Church.  The wedding came as a surprise to their friends.  The young people left for Lexington.

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The Harrodsburg Herald, Mercer County, Kentucky

Friday, August 16, 1918 

Many friends in this county were grieved over the closing of the bright young life of Mrs. Margaret Anderson, wife of Mr. Elmer W. Anderson, who passed away Sunday at St. Joseph Infirmary, Lexington, following an operation. She had been married just three months and her death has cast a shadow over all who knew her. She was a lovely character and with bright prospects for a happy life, and had been for some years a member of the Baptist church. The remains were brought to her old home at Salvisa and the funeral held in the Baptist Church there conducted by the pastor, Rev. Brown, assisted by Rev. Bush, of the Methodist church. The interment was in the Providence cemetery. One of the largest crowds ever at a funeral in that section attended the obsequies, and she was tenderly laid to rest beneath a wealth of flowers. Besides her husband she is survived by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Sharp Ransdell, and five brothers, Messrs. Albert, Jeff, Miller, Herbert and John W. Ransdell, all of this county. Mr. Anderson’s mother, Mrs. William Anderson, of Winthrop, Minn., was called here by the illness and death of her daughter-in-law.

Less than a year later son Herbert dies of tuberculosis.

The Harrodsburg Herald, Mercer County, Kentucky

Friday, July 4, 1919

Thursday afternoon death spread its shadow over the home of Mr. and Mrs. S. S. Ransdell and took from the family Mr. Herbert Lee Ransdell, the fifth of their six children. Young Mr. Ransdell was twenty years of age, a bright and winsome fellow, who eighteen months ago was stricken with tuberculosis. He bore his suffering with such patience and fortitude that it endeared him even more closely to those about him. He was a splendid young man with fine traits of character that gave promise of a magnificent manhood and his untimely passing is a source of deep sorrow to all who knew him. The funeral was held at the Salvisa Baptist church, of which he has been a devout member for several years, and the burial was at the Providence cemetery.

Solomon Sharp Ransdell died March 7, 1920, eight months after his son.

Richmond Daily Register, Madison County, Kentucky

Friday, March 26, 1920

At Salvisa, S. S. Ransdell, 67, was convalescent from influenza and able to sit up, when, he suddenly exclaimed, “Herbert has come for me; I must go,” and lay back dead.  His son Herbert, 20, died several months ago.

The Harrodsburg Herald, Mercer County, Kentucky

Friday, March 12, 1920 

Mr. S. S. Ransdell, a splendid citizen of the Bondsille section, died Monday morning about 9:30 o’clock, from influenza which attacked his heart. He would have been 58 years of age next month, and was an honorable, upright gentleman, living each day the Christianity he professed twenty-five years ago when he became identified with the Baptist church. He will be sadly missed from the neighborhood where he resided, as he was helpful to all and a friend wherever friends were needed. His funeral took place Tuesday afternoon at the Salvisa Baptist church conducted by his pastor, Rev. Mahan, the burial being under the rites of the Modern Woodmen Lodge, of which he was a staunch and loyal member. Mr. Ransdell is survived by his wife and four sons, Messrs. H. A., J. L. and M. B. Ransdell, who live at home, and Mr. H. A. Ransdell, who lives at Salvisa.

Nannie Cosby Ransdell lived another two decades.

The Lexington Herald, Fayette County, Kentucky

Friday, April 7, 1944

Mrs. S. S. Ransdell

Harrodsburg, Ky., April 6 (Special) – Mrs. Nannie l. Ransdell, 79, died at her home in Salvisa Wednesday night after an illness of two years.  She was a daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Cosby and was born and reared in Mercer County.  Mrs. Ransdell was the widow of the late S. S. Ransdell.

She is survived by four sons, H. Albert Ransdell, Salvisa; Jesse L. Ransdell, Harrodsburg; Miller B. Ransdell, St. Joseph, Mo., and John W. Ransdell, Salvisa, and four grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Salvisa Baptist Church, of which she was a member, conducted by her pastor, the Rev. Charles A. Jolly, of Louisville, assisted by a former pastor, the Rev. Wayne E. Todd, of the First Baptist Church, Danville.  Burial will be in Providence Cemetery.  Bearers will be E. B. Miller, Oscar Brown, C. B. Sullivan, Sr., K. A. Perkins, W. H. Keightley and T. H McCoy.

Nancy’s death certificate lists both parents as born in Culpeper County, Virginia.  Her mother is listed as Margaret in the census records, and was a daughter of Henry Wright per her marriage consent to Thomas Cosby dated May 28, 1845.  Margaret Susan Ransdell was named for both her grandmothers.