Early Life in Massachusetts and Vermont
Ransom was born in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. There is disagreement about the year of his birth, sometimes given as 1787, 1796, 1797, or 1798. Sources have also shown two different dates of death, November 9 and 11. His tombstone shows he died at the age of 61 on November 11, 1859, which agrees with the 1798 year of birth.
He was the first of twelve children and was educated at various schools in New England, such as Chester Academy of Vermont for four years. He studied Northampton Law School in Northampton, Massachusetts receiving his degree in 1823, and then began his own practice in Townshend, Vermont. He married Almira Cadwell in 1827 and they had four children, yet two would die during infancy. He was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives, but after seeing his siblings move to Michigan Territory as well as receiving advice from former Vermonter and Michigan Territorial delegate, Lucius Lyon, decided instead to move his family there in 1834.
Read more about this topic: Epaphroditus Ransom
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