Ramsdell, Charles W. (Charles William), 1909-1973

Born on 1909 April 5 in Austin, Texas, author and journalist Charles W. Ramsdell, Jr. was the son of noted historian Charles W. Ramsdell (1877-1942) and Susanna Griffith Ramsdell. Through his mother, he was a descendant of Angelina Dickinson Griffith (1834-1869), who with her mother survived the 1836 Battle of the Alamo. Ramsdell attended the University of Texas and traveled extensively in Mexico before working as a historian for the National Park Service and as a translator for the Texas General Land Office. He contributed articles to numerous publications and was a staff writer for the San Antonio Express Magazine for a number of years. Ramsdell published a highly-regarded guidebook, San Antonio, a Historical and Pictorial Guide, in 1959 and updated it in 1968. He translated a work by Alfonso Reyes, Mexico in a Nutshell, for publication in 1964.

Ramsdell married Josephine Miller Bramlett (1905-1957) on 1933 June 13 in Mexico. They were the parents of one son, Charles Michael Ramsdell. Ramsdell died in Greenville, North Carolina, on 1973 August 29 at the age of 64.

References

Charles Ramsdell, Jr. biographical file. Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, San Antonio, Texas.

From the guide to the Charles Ramsdell Papers Col 9278., 1947-1968, (Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library at the Alamo, San Antonio, Texas)