HE MARRIED ELIZA JANE TURNER IN 1875. SHE WAS THE DAUGHTER
OF GABRIEL H. TURNER, A WELCH MAN, AND LUCINDA HUFFMAN, A
DUTCH WOMAN. ELIZA JANE WAS BORN DECEMBER31, 1851 AND
DIED JANUARY20, 1898.
MELVILLE WAS THE YOUNGEST SON OF THE MILLWRIGHT JACOB
RAMSAUR(1801-1865) AND MARY "POLLY" RAMSAUR. THE
MILLWRIGHT JACOB WAS AN ELDER IN THE GERMAN REFORM
CHURCH FOR MANY YEARS, ACCORDING TO HIS HEADSTONE.
ACCORDING TO ENCLOSED MILITARY RECORDS, IT IS BELIEVED
THAT ON JANUARY 5, 1865, MELVILLE ENLISTED IN COMPANY B OF
THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA. HE WAS A PRIVATE AT
CAMP STOKES LIGHT DUTY BATTALION.
IN CATAWBA COUNTY, HE WAS THE ENUMERATOR OF THE CENSUS
IN 1880. (See his handwritten census notes, enclosed in this book) THE 1870,
1880, AND 1890 CENSUS LIST MELVILLE AS A FARMER.
SEVERAL STORIES ABOUT MELVILLE WERE TOLD AT THE MAY 21,
1989 RAMSEUR REUNION BY HIS GRANDCHILDREN. ANN RAMSEUR
PATTERSON TOLD THAT MELVILLE WAS A TEACHER AT CATAWBA
COLLEGE, IN CATAWBA COUNTY, BEFORE IT MOVED TO ITS
CURRENT LOCATION IN SALISBURY, NORTH CAROLINA. LELA
RAMSEUR PLESS SAID THAT SHE REMEMBERED WHEN MELVILLE WAS
BURIED THEY BROUGHT THE BODY BACK TO TOM RAMSAUR'S
HOUSE, WHICH IS LOCATED AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE RAMSEUR
FAMILY CEMETERY IN LINCOLN COUNTY. THEY OPENED HIS COFFIN
IN THE YARD PRIOR TO GOING TO THE CEMETERY POR BURIAL.
THERE WAS AN OLD BLACK MAN, LOYAL TO MELVILLE. HIS NAME
WAS LONG RAMSEUR. "HE GOT DOWN OVER GRANDPA9S BODY,
TOOK OFF HIS BIG STRAW HAT, AND CRIED AS HE TALKED TO
GRANDPA. HE CALLED HIM MASA MEL"
MELVILLE CHANGED HIS NAME FROM RAMSAUR TO RAMSEUR IN
THE EARLY I9OO'S.
MELVILLE DIED IN 1917. HE AND ELIZA JANE ARE BOTH BURIED IN
THE RAMSAUR FAMILY CEMETERY IN LINCOLN COUNTY, NORTH
CAROLINA.
