Epaphroditus Ransom (March 24, 1798 – November 11, 1859) was an American politician who served as the seventh governor of Michigan and as a justice of the

Michigan Supreme Court The Michigan Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is Michigan's court of last resort and consists of seven justices. The Court is located in the Michigan Hall of Justice at 925 Ottawa Street in Lansing, the sta ...

Early life in Massachusetts and Vermont

Ransom was born in

Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts Shelburne Falls is a historic village in the towns of Shelburne and Buckland in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The village is a census-designated place (CDP) with a population of 1,731 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Spr ...

. There is disagreement about the year of his birth, sometimes given as 1787, 1796, or 1798.Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society
Sources have also shown two different dates of death, November 9 and 11. His tombstone shows he died at the age of 61 on November 11, 1859, which agrees with the 1798 year of birth. He was the fourth of twelve children and was educated at various schools in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

, such as Chester Academy of

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

for four years. He studied at Northampton Law School in Northampton, Massachusetts receiving his degree in 1823, and then began his own practice in

Townshend, Vermont Townshend is a New England town, town in Windham County, Vermont, Windham County, Vermont, United States. The town was named for the Townshend family, powerful figures in British politics. The population was 1,291 at the 2020 United States Census, ...

. He married Almira Cadwell on February 21, 1827, in Montpelier, Vermont, and they had four children, yet two would die during infancy. He was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives, but after seeing his siblings move to Michigan Territory as well as receiving advice from former Vermonter and Michigan Territorial delegate,

Lucius Lyon Lucius Lyon (February 26, 1800September 24, 1851) was a U.S. statesman from the state of Michigan. Along with Louis Campau, Lucius Lyon is remembered as one of the founding fathers of Grand Rapids, Michigan, the state's second-largest city. A ...

, decided instead to move his family there in 1834.

Life and politics in Michigan

After over a month of traveling by wagon and steamboat, the Ransoms arrived in Michigan Territory on November 14, 1834, in the small town of Bronson, which is now Kalamazoo, Michigan. There he gained admittance to the bar and began practicing law. He took up farming and other business ventures and soon became active in politics. He served in the state legislature and became that area's first circuit court judge, riding horseback through the wilderness to hear cases. Ransom was appointed by Governor Stevens T. Mason as an associate justice of the state Supreme Court in 1837 and served as chief justice from 1843 to 1848. In one notable issue, he issued a declaration in 1840 that prevented the removal of the Catholic Potawatomi from their lands in southwestern Michigan.

7th Governor of Michigan

In 1848, Ransom resigned from the court after being elected

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, and was the first governor to be inaugurated in Lansing, Michigan, after the state capitol moved there from

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

. During his term as governor, the first

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

line from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

was completed and the first message sent on March 1. There were two notable immigrations to the state during his administration. A group of Dutch immigrants came to western Michigan, led by Rev. Van Raalte, of the

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family and ...

. They founded the city of

Holland, Michigan Holland is a city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa, which is fed by the Macatawa River (formerly known locally as the Black Ri ...

and later established

Hope College Hope College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Holland, Michigan. It was originally opened in 1851 as the Pioneer School by Dutch immigrants four years after the community was first settled. The first freshman college class matricu ...

. James Jesse Strang led the other immigration, consisting of a faction of

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into severa ...

followers. They settled on Beaver Island in northern Lake Michigan. Strang founded a kingdom there with a capital, St. James named for himself. Strang was even elected to the state legislature twice, but anti-Mormon sentiment and his totalitarian rule of the island led to his assassination. Because of Ransom's strong anti-slavery position, the state

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

did not re-nominate him for governor in 1850. He was elected again to the state legislature in 1853 and 1854. He was also the first president of the Michigan Agricultural Society, which was instrumental in the creation of both the

Michigan State Fair The Michigan State Fair is an annual event originally held from 1849 to 2009 in Detroit, the state's largest city. In 2009 the governor declined to fund it because of other priorities. Because agriculture still has a major place in the Michigan ec ...

and Michigan State University. He served as regent of the University of Michigan from 1850 to 1852 and was a co-founder of the village of

Augusta, Michigan Augusta is a village in Kalamazoo County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 885 at the 2010 census. The village is mostly within Ross Township, though a small portion extends south into Charleston Township. Augusta is situated ...

Death in Kansas

His private business ventures were ruined by the Panic of 1855, and in 1857, Ransom gratefully accepted appointment from

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

James Buchanan as receiver of the public monies for the Osage Land Office in Fort Scott, Kansas. He died at the age of 61 in Fort Scott and is interred at Mountain Home Cemetery in Kalamazoo.

References

External links

Biographical Portrait
from ''1892 Portrait & Biographical Album of Genesee, Lapeer & Tuscola Counties'', Chapman Bros
Michigan Supreme Court Historical SocietyLocal History from the Kalamazoo Public Library
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ransom, Epaphroditus 1798 births 1859 deaths 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American judges Vermont postmasters Democratic Party governors of Michigan Democratic Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives Members of the Vermont House of Representatives Regents of the University of Michigan Michigan state court judges Chief Justices of the Michigan Supreme Court Northampton Law School alumni People from Fort Scott, Kansas Burials in Michigan People from Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts 19th-century American Episcopalians Justices of the Michigan Supreme Court