A Very Victorian Christmas: Our Visit to the Alexander Ramsey Mansion in St. Paul

By Lisa Kroulik © November 28, 2011

Believe it or not, there was one historic place in the Twin Cities available to me as a member of the Minnesota Historical Society that I had not seen yet. That would be the Alexander Ramsey mansion in St. Paul. Alex Ramsey was the first governor of the territory of Minnesota in 1849. When it became a state in 1858, Ramsey was the second state governor. He and his wife, Anna, and their daughter, Marion, moved into the home in 1868. Two other Ramsey children died during childhood.

The Ramsey mansion was equipped with both hot and cold running water, gas lighting and hot water radiators. All of these were considered to be exquisite luxuries at the time. To furnish the home, Anna Ramsey went to New York and purchased furniture, artwork and much more. It took two train boxcars to ship it from New York back to Minnesota.

The Ramsey's only surviving child, Marion, moved into the mansion with her three children after she had her husband, Charles Furness, committed to a mental institution in 1882. She had also lost a child in infancy, Charles, Jr. Anna Ramsey died in 1884 and Alexander Ramsey in 1903. Marion's children, Anita, Ramsey and Laura, grew up in the mansion with their mother and grandfather.

Following her parents' death, Marion Ramsey Furness took over running the mansion. Upon her death in 1935, Ramsey granddaughters Anita and Laura Furness remain unmarried and living in the mansion until their own deaths in 1959 and 1964. Anita Furness, the last surviving member of the Ramsey family, willed the home to the Minnesota Historical Society.

My husband and I, both photography buffs, were very disappointed that indoor photography was not allowed in the Ramsey mansion at all. The reason given was that the flash from cameras can destroy the integrity of the wood and other belongings within the house. That was a real bummer, but understandable from a historical perspective.

Just walking into the Ramsey house was a sight to behold. In the Victorian era, ceilings were often very high to present an appearance of openness, elegance and wealth. Indeed, the first thing you notice when you walk in are the 14-foot high ceilings, followed by the carved walnut furnishings, marble fireplaces, chandeliers made of crystal and original furniture from the 1870s and 1880s. The Ramsey's were said to have never thrown anything away, and that is obvious immediately. It was also very important to Marion Furnish to preserve her father's legacy.

After we got through the front door, our family of four was lead on a tour by three different staff people, one of whom was in full acting mode as John the cook. John gave us a tour of the kitchen where he "worked" as a servant, regaling us with how his employer had running water when most of St. Paul did not. Before we left, he passed around a plate of fresh cookies, straight from the 1860s oven.

After munching on our cookies, we were handed off to another tour guide to see the upstairs of the Ramsey mansion. There are 15 rooms in the home in all, but we did not see all of them. We were able to see the grandchildren's play room, complete with toys from that era; Alex Ramsey's study, some bedrooms, the library and the parlor where Anna Ramsey received guests.

One of the highlights was going through the living area that was all decorated for Christmas. The Christmas tree in that room was approximately 12 feet high, as tall trees symbolized wealth just as high ceilings did. It was decorated with many ornaments of the time, including dradels from Mr. Ramsey's German heritage.

On October 27, 1849, several communities around the capitol city of St. Paul were given the name Ramsey County in honor of Minnesota's first territorial governor. Today, Ramsey County encompasses 18 suburban cities and one township. It had a population of nearly 510,000 people in 2010.