On This Date In Twin Cities History - June 25, 1849

On this date in 1849, Minnesota’s first territorial governor, Alexander Ramsey, arrives in St. Paul with his wife Anna, their son, Alexander, and a nurse. The governor and his family had stayed with with Henry H. Sibley at his home in Mendota for about a month prior to travelling to St. Paul. Ramsey was born in 1815 in Hummelstown, Pennsylvania, the son of a blacksmith. He rose within the political ranks of Pennsylvania before being appointed territorial governor of Minnesota at the age of thirty-four. When he arrived, St. Paul had only about 800 residents. The Ramsey’s first home in St. Paul – an abandoned saloon.