Untitled From the Biographical Record of the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette, Wisconsin, publ. 1901- page 594-595

RANSOM B. FOLTS, a well-known farmer of Jamestown, Grant county, was born in Onondaga county, N.Y., in 1843, a son of David and Mary (HOAG) FOLTS.

The parents of our subject were born in New York, the father in 1813, and the mother in 1811. They received a limited education, were married in 1836, and lived in New York until 1843, in which year they came West to Milwaukee, which was their home for a time. They moved into Kansas, and then came back to Wisconsin. Here Mr. FOLTS had one or two locations, and then settled at Louisburg, where he has lived for over forty years, now aged eighty-seven. Mrs. FOLTS died in Jamestown in June 1875. Mr. FOLTS has been a Whig and a Republican. In religion he and his wife were connected with the Methodist Church. Of their seven children, three are now living: (1) Albert died in Milwaukee when a boy. (2) Richard, born in New York in 1840, enlisted in Company I, 3d Wis. V.I., was taken sick, and died in hospital at Fredericksburg in the fall of 1861. (3) William died when a young man while his parents lived at Fair Play, Wis. (4) Fred C., born in New York, enlisted in Company I, 3d Wis. V.I., and saw much hard fighting. He married Miss Jennie WILSON, of Grant county, settled in Iowa, and engaged in milling. He died in 1889, leaving a widow and six children, who settled in Wisconsin. (5) Ransom B. is our subject. (6) Mary M. is the wife of Edward CUMMINS, lives in Platteville, and has five children. (7) David B. when a boy enlisted in company K, 44th Wis. V.I., and served in the Army of the Tennessee. He married Miss Nora SHINOE, and is living on his farm near Dickeysville; they have one son, Lisle.

Ransom B. FOLTS obtained a limited education in the common schools of Wisconsin. When nineteen years of age he enlisted in company I, 25th Wis. V.I., and served in the Army of the Cumberland, Gen. Grant commanding. In 1863 Mr. FOLTS re-enlisted, in company D, 43d Wis. V.I., and served until the close of the war under Gen. Thomas.

In 1869 Mr. FOLTS married Miss Annie THURTELL, daughter of Edward B. and Amy (BURNS) THURTELL, old pioneers of Grant county. Mr. THURTELL was born in England, and his wife in North Carolina in 1820. They settled on a farm one mile north of Louisburg, where they lived until his death, in 1876. Mrs. THURTELL still survives, at the age of eighty. There were nine children in their family: (1) Edward died in the Civil war. (2) Walter is a resident of Honolulu. (3) Mary is the wife of George WITHROW, of Chicago, and is now in the Klondike. (4) Frank is a farmer in Iowa. (5) Frederick is a resident of the State of Washington. (6) Harriet is the wife of Hugh CATTNACH, of Minnesota. (7) Grace is the wife of John McKANN, of South Dakota. (8) Belle is the widow of Henry TRAVERS. (9) Annie is the wife of Mr. FOLTS, was born in 1844, and received a district-school education in Jamestown.

Soon after his marriage Mr. FOLTS purchased the present home near Louisburg, where he and his family are living. Children have come to Mr. and Mrs. FOLTS as follows: (1) Edward R., born in March 1870, obtained his education in the Louisburg schools, and for six years was one of the successful teachers of Grant county. He married Miss Julia HOWARD, and is now living on his farm in Dickeysville. (2) Eva May, born in Jamestown, in October 1874, was a student of the State Normal at Platteville for two years, and was then a teacher for four years. She is now the wife of Harry HOWARD, a young business man of Platteville. (3) Mary A. died in childhood.

Mr. FOLTS has always voted with the Republican party. He and his wife both belong to old and honored pioneer families of the county, and for many years have been associated with all forward movements in the community. Both families were noted for their loyalty in the war, and were largely represented on the "firing line."



This biography generously submitted by Carol Holmbeck