Ramsay, David, 1749-1815

David Ramsay (April 2, 1749 – May 8, 1815) was an American physician, public official, and historian from Charleston, South Carolina. He was one of the first major historians of the American Revolutionary War. During the Revolution he served in the South Carolina legislature until he was captured by the British. After his release he served as a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1782 to 1783 and again from 1785 to 1786. Afterwards he served in the South Carolina legislature until retiring from public service.

Born in Lancaster County in the Colony of Pennsylvania, Ramsay attended the common schools before graduating from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) and the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania. After initially practicing in Cecil County, Maryland, he settled in Charleston, South Carolina in 1773. During the American Revolutionary War, Ramsay served from 1776 to 1783 as a member of the South Carolina legislature. During the Siege of Charleston in 1780, when Charleston was attacked by the British, Ramsay served with the South Carolina militia as a field surgeon. He was captured when the British occupied Charleston, and was imprisoned for nearly a year at St. Augustine, Florida, until he was exchanged.

Ramsay served as a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1782 to 1783 and from 1785 to 1786. In the absence of its chairman, John Hancock, Ramsay served as chairman of the Congress of the Confederation from November 23, 1785 to May 12, 1786. In the 1790s, Ramsay served three terms in the South Carolina Senate, and served as its President from 1792 to 1797. In 1794, Ramsay was nominated to the U.S. Senate, but his nomination was defeated on account of his abolitionist leanings. In his own day, Ramsay was better known as a historian and author than as a politician. He was one of the American Revolution's first major historians, who wrote with knowledge and insights acquired by being personally involved in the events of the American Revolution.

Ramsay was appointed by a court to examine one William Linnen, a tailor known for serial litigation and nuisance suits, after Linnen had attempted to murder his attorney. Ramsay reported to the court that Linnen was "deranged" and that it would be "dangerous to let him go at large." After apparently regaining his sanity, Linnen was released; though he threatened Ramsay, the latter did not take the threat seriously. On May 6, 1815, Ramsay passed Linnen on Broad Street in Charleston. Linnen took out a "horseman's pistol" that he had concealed in a handkerchief, and shot Ramsay twice, in the back and hip. Ramsay died a day and a half later and was buried at the Circular Congregational Church in Charleston.